Page 47 of A Cornish Winter's Kiss

‘Good walk?’ Her words sounded accusatory, but if Jude noticed, he wasn’t showing it.

‘Yes, but I think you were right about the snow coming. It’s bitterly cold.’

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him he’d better get on the road to London sooner rather than later in that case, but somehow she held it in. She already felt like a complete idiot for falling so hard for him, and she was determined not to let Jude see the full extent of her foolishness.

‘The kids will love that.’

‘I think you’re amazing.’ His words took her by complete surprise, and she shook her head. This wasn’t how she’d expected the conversation to go, and he didn’t get to say things like that when he’d already decided that he’d taken all he needed from her. But he wasn’t finished yet. ‘I knew you were special, but when you said you were staying here to look after your mum and dad, I realised just how incredible you are. You’ve helped me so much, and I don’t think I’d ever have finished the book without you.’

‘But now you’re ready to do it?’ She fought to keep her voice steady, and he nodded slowly.

‘I spoke to Marty while I was out and I’ve decided to head back to London tomorrow night to get stuck into the edits.’ He hesitated for a moment, as if he was expecting her to respond, but she had no idea what to say to him. The idea she’d had of asking him to stick around suddenly seemed even more crazy, and she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud. So it was left to Jude to continue. ‘With everything you’ve got going on, I’m sure the last thing you want is me hanging around.’

When she finally found her voice, her tone was so tight it made her throat feel sore. ‘I suppose it makes sense for you to go sooner rather than later.’

‘Yeah.’ Jude had that look again, as if he was about to say something else, but then he just shook his head. ‘I’ll go and say goodbye to your parents, and then me and Rufus will get out of your hair.’

‘Okay, great.’ Emily turned back to the sink, blinking back the tears that were burning her eyes. She wasn’t going to let him see just how much she wanted him to stay. She’d been a fool for love once too often already. It was time to take a leaf out of Jude’s book and try to shut off her feelings, before they swallowed her whole.

21

Emily was really glad she’d offered to cook Christmas dinner. She couldn’t be expected to join in with all the fun and games that made up an Anderson family Christmas while she was elbow deep in potato peelings. It also meant she wasn’t able to check her phone every five seconds to see whether there were any new messages from Jude. He’d texted to wish her a happy Christmas and she’d responded in kind, keeping things short and sweet. But it hadn’t been any different to the kind of message she’d have sent a friend, and not even a particularly close one at that.

She’d been about ten minutes from serving the dinner up when Jasmine had called.

‘Happy Christmas, Em, I’m on my third glass of champagne so this is shaping up to be a good one!’

‘That’s great. Happy Christmas, Jas.’ Emily put the call on speakerphone while she stirred the gravy, and she thought she’d done a good job of sounding far more upbeat than she felt.

‘Okay, what’s wrong?’ Her best friend had always known her far too well, but she didn’t want to get into this on Christmas Day, and she didn’t want to bring Jasmine down either.

‘Nothing, I’m fine. I’m just on Christmas dinner duty and it’s stressing me out a bit.’

‘Well, that’s a load of crap.’ Charlotte’s voice behind Emily made her jump, and her face flushed red.

‘Do you mind? I’m having a private conversation with Jasmine.’

‘You don’t mind, do you, Jas?’ Charlotte moved closer to the phone.

‘Absolutely not, I just want to know what the hell is going on. It’s Christmas Day and Em sounds like she’s spent the day filling in her tax return.’

‘She’s miserable because she’s decided to stay in Cornwall to look after Mum and Dad, and a certain handsome author is going back to London tonight.’ Charlotte sounded exasperated and Emily was already regretting confiding in her sister, but it was too late now.

‘You’re staying in Cornwall?’ Jasmine sounded horrified.

‘I’ve got to, Mum and Dad need me.’

‘You don’t have to. I love you for offering, but I don’t want you to have to put your life on hold, and I don’t think they will either.’ Charlotte sighed. ‘She won’t even let me speak to them about the option of having some paid help. I’m not denying Dad needs a break, but I’m sure this isn’t the only solution.’

‘I want to stay in Cornwall. It’s where I need to be right now, and nothing either of you can say will change my mind.’ Emily stirred the gravy so vigorously that a big puddle of it splashed over the side of the pan and almost put the gas burner out.

‘Then why the hell do you sound so miserable?’ Jasmine had clearly decided that Charlotte was right.

‘I…’ Emily had never been able to lie to her best friend or her sister, and they were already on her back, so she might as well tell them the truth. ‘I did think that maybe Jude and I hadsomething special. But when I told him I was staying, his first reaction was to leave even sooner than he’d originally planned.’

‘Don’t you think that might be because by staying in Port Agnes you’re essentially putting an end to your relationship? He’s probably gutted.’ Jasmine’s response made Charlotte shriek in agreement.

‘That’s what I said!’ Emily’s sister wasn’t done with sharing her opinion yet either. ‘Do you know what’s worse, Jas? She hasn’t even told him that she wants to try and make this work. He probably thinks she’s not interested in him if she’s staying. But if he could see her face now, looking like a slapped arse, he’d know how miserable she really is.’

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