Page 60 of Snow Going Back

She frowned as Lance turned off the road.

‘This isn’t the way out. This is a dead end.’

‘Is it?’ he asked in a strange voice.

He smiled broadly, a twinkle in his eye, and it immediately left her feeling uneasy.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked.

He pulled up on the side of the road and cut the engine. ‘I want to show you something.’

‘What?’ Kate’s concern increased further.

‘Come on.’ Lance got out of the car and walked around to open her door.

He took her hand and led her over to a large house, and Kate’s stomach flipped horribly. She shook her head in horror as he pulled out a key, and as he opened the front door, her hands flew to her face.

Lance took her reaction as amazement, and his smile widened. ‘Isn’t it something? You’re speechless, I know. But you haven’t even seen inside yet. Come on.’ He guided her forward into the house, and she let him, lost for words.

The hallway alone was almost the size of her little London flat. A curved oak staircase stood at the centre of the house, and the state-of-the-art kitchen and the manicured garden that she could see beyond were both huge.

‘It’s thedream, Kate,’ Lance said excitedly. ‘The absolutedream. Five double bedrooms, three with en suites, and a walk-in wardrobe off the master that you’lllove. There’s a games room, built-in cinema and another room down here I thought we could turn into an office.’ He opened a set of double doors. ‘Look at this. Look at that view, Kate. I think this one even rivals yourparents’.’

‘Whose dream?’ she muttered, feeling sick.

‘What was that?’ Lance asked.

Kate looked at him, her shocked expression finally darkening into a deep frown. ‘I said,Whose dream?Whose dreamis this,Lance? Because it isdefinitelynot mine.’ She put her hands up onto her head as she looked around, then dropped them, turning to face him in anger. ‘Tell me you haven’tboughtthis?Please. Tell me you haven’t.’

Lance recoiled as if stung. ‘What is thematterwith you?’ he asked. ‘Why onearthare you yelling at me?’

Kate just shook her head and leaned over, trying to pull in a deep breath, which suddenly didn’t feel possible. She hadn’t realised she was shouting. She recognised this feeling though. She was having a panic attack. ‘Lance, I need to get out of this house.Did you buy it?’ she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

‘No,’ he answered coldly. ‘I didn’t. I just arranged to have the key to show you around. I wanted to see what you thought of it. Well.’ He turned away, placing his hands on his hips. ‘NowI know.’

‘Yes, now you do,’ Kate responded, closing her eyes. ‘Can we please go now?’

‘Yes,’ he replied curtly, marching away to the door without bothering to look back at her.

They drove out of the village in silence, and Kate stared across the fields with her arms crossed over her middle, feeling thoroughly miserable.

Lance eventually looked over, still furious. ‘Are you going to tell me what that was all about?’ he demanded. ‘Because right now, I’m completely in the dark.’

Kate’s frown deepened. ‘Why did you do that? Why didn’t you talk to me about it?’

‘Because I was trying to do somethingnice!’ he exclaimed. ‘I was trying to make itfunandexciting. I thought you’d be happy.’

‘Butwhy?’ she asked. ‘What about that did you think would make me happy?’

Lance’s face twisted into an incredulous frown. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Very,’ she responded. ‘Ihatesurprises, which you know. And if you’d ever actuallyasked, you’d know that the idea of moving back to the tiny village where I grew up fills me with dread.’

‘What?’ Lance asked. ‘That’sinsane. It’s one of the most sought-after places to live in thecountry. What’s gotintoyou?’

Kate stared at him, wondering how they could be on two such completely different wavelengths. ‘Nothing’sgot into me. That’s just how Ifeel.’

Lance lifted a hand off the wheel and let out a sound of hopelessness, then dropped it again with a shake of his head. ‘Right.OK. I can’t pretend to understand that in the slightest, but if that’s how you feel,that’show you feel. We’ll look elsewhere. I just thought you’d want to be close to your parents when we had kids, that’s all.’

---