Page 49 of A Cornish Winter's Kiss

When Charlotte started setting up the karaoke machine, Emily’s heart sank. The last thing she felt like doing was singing. She just wanted the day to be over so that she could go upstairs and wallow in the misery she was feeling. It was exhausting trying to hide it and painting on a smile, but the last thing she wanted was for her parents to think it had something to do with her decision to stay in Cornwall. In a way it did, but she shouldn’t have to choose between them and Jude. If the two of them were supposed to be together, they’d have found a way of working through it, but instead he’d taken the first opportunity to run back to London. She’d been convinced their connection had gone way beyond that, and it had left her wondering if real life was always going to fall short when she’d spent so long filling her head with stories like Sophia’s.

‘Can you stop being so miserable and pick a song?’ Charlotte thrust the list of options in Emily’s direction. They’d had the karaoke machine since they were both still living at home fulltime, and the most recent songs were from the 2010s as a result, but they stretched right back to the 1960s.

‘You could always do “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” by The Smiths. You’re in the right sort of mood for it.’ Charlotte poked out her tongue. ‘Either way, you’ve got to do something. It’s tradition. We’ve sung karaoke every Christmas Day for the last fifteen years.’

‘Maybe it’s time to break with tradition.’ Emily pushed the songbook back towards her sister. They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them willing to back down, and then the doorbell rang.

‘That’s probably Gary and Louise.’ Emily’s father moved to stand up. ‘I told them to pop in for a drink. I thought they might be lonely with James out in Thailand for Christmas.’

‘Don’t get up, Richard, I’ll go to the door.’ Jake was already halfway out of the room when he made the offer, probably pleased of the chance to get away from his wife and her sister bickering about karaoke. Gary and Louise had been Emily’s parents’ neighbours for the last ten years, and they had an eighteen-year-old son who was currently travelling the world on a gap year. It was typical of Emily’s dad to worry about them missing their son. When the lounge door opened again, Emily expected to see the two of them following Jake into the room, and she caught her breath when she realised it was Jude.

‘What are you doing here?’ She couldn’t stop herself from blurting out the question, the sharpness of it obvious even to her own ears.

‘I heard it was karaoke time.’ He exchanged a glance with Charlotte’s husband. ‘And I didn’t want to miss out. That’s if I’m not gatecrashing?’

‘Of course you aren’t, son.’ Her dad sounded as delighted as he looked, and her mother was beaming too. It was justEmily who felt as though she’d somehow dropped into a parallel dimension.

‘You’re going to sing karaoke?’ She widened her eyes. It had been enough of a shock when he’d been willing to take on Bronte at Just Dance, but she’d have bet every penny she owned that Jude would rather run naked around Port Agnes than sing karaoke in her parents’ front room.

‘If you’ve got the right song.’

‘If it’s pre-2010 then we’ve probably got it.’ Charlotte handed him the songbook. ‘Check it out, it’s in alphabetical order of song title.’

Jude flicked through the pages until he found what he was looking for. ‘Right, I’m going to give song number 293 a go. It was one of my mum’s favourites, but that’s not the only reason I’m singing it.’

Jude took a deep breath as the first strains of Abba’s ‘Take A Chance On Me’ filled the room. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on the TV as the lyrics appeared, but if he was nervous about making a fool of himself, he was hiding it well. Maybe it was because he could carry a tune; it was nothing like the butchering that Emily and Charlotte usually gave to whatever songs they ended up picking. The only time Jude took his eyes off the screen was when he sang the title line of the song. The first time he looked at Emily, she stared back at him, her mouth dropping open, wondering if she’d wake up any moment and realise this was one of those weird dreams she sometimes had when she’d eaten too much cheese or chocolate. But by the third time he did it, Jude was grinning, and she found herself laughing. He was making a complete idiot of himself, in the best kind of way, but even better was the fact that he didn’t seem to care.

‘I think we all got the not-so-hidden message in that song.’ Charlotte was laughing too as she took the microphone off Judewhen he finally finished. ‘Would you like to sing something in response, sis?’

‘I think I’d rather have a chat with Jude without an audience.’ Emily stood up and held out her hand to him.

‘Spoilsport!’ Charlotte called after her, but there wasn’t a force on earth that could have persuaded Emily to have the conversation she needed to have with Jude in front of her family.

‘I thought you were going back to London?’ They’d barely reached the quiet of the kitchen before she blurted out the question.

‘So did I, but then I realised I couldn’t leave without making it absolutely clear how I feel about you.’ Jude was holding her gaze, and she wanted to treat this moment with the seriousness it deserved, but every time she thought about him belting out those lyrics she wanted to laugh.

‘So you decided to sing an Abba song?’

‘I was planning to come and tell you that I want to do whatever it takes to make this work, or at least to give it our best shot. But when I got in my car, I had a text message from your sister.’

‘How did she get your number?’

‘Apparently she got it off your phone.’

‘I should have known she was up to something when she asked to borrow it to take a photo of the twins. She said her battery was dead.’

‘She’s a resourceful woman and she’s also a straight shooter. She told me you were moping around, and that we were both as bad as each other for not being honest about what we wanted. She also said I should come here and tell you exactly how I felt, because you’d decided you were done with being the one to put yourself on the line and taking the risk of getting hurt.’

‘That’s not what I said to her.’ Emily tried to give him a nonchalant look, but what Charlotte had told him was spot on,even if she hadn’t said it to her sister in quite that way. It was time to stop pretending. She’d always said she didn’t want to play games, and her attempts to do so had just left her feeling miserable.

‘If you meant what you said or, more accurately, sung’ – she couldn’t suppress another smile at the thought of his karaoke performance – ‘then yes, I want to take a chance on you.’

‘Oh, believe me, I meant it. I don’t publicly humiliate myself for just anyone, you know.’ Jude pulled her into his arms. ‘I should have said all of this to you as soon as you told me you were staying, but I’m still getting used to talking about the way I feel. I’ve been pretending not to feel anything much at all for so long, and I’m not going to be able to break that habit overnight, but I promise I’ll get there. I know we’ve got stuff to sort out about how the logistics of all this are going to work too, but you took a man who didn’t even believe in love and showed me I was wrong in the most convincing way possible, by making me fall in love with you.’

A slow smile crept across Emily’s face. Her feelings for Jude had been something she hadn’t been able to control, and there’d been so many moments when she’d been sure he felt the same, but then he’d close down again and pull away. She’d been almost certain he’d never admit to himself that they could have something special, let alone share that belief with her. Now here he was, putting everything on the line and taking a huge risk by telling her how he felt. Emily knew she’d be taking a leap of faith by getting involved with Jude. The thought of being with him thrilled her, but it terrified her too, because he had the power to break her heart. Despite that, there was still no doubt in her mind that he was worth it. As complex and infuriating as he could sometimes be, Emily had never felt as strongly as this about anyone before. She loved Jude, and now it was her turn to be honest.

‘I had to make you fall in love with me, because if it had only been me falling for you, I’d have proven you right, and then you’d never have been able to finish your book.’ Emily looked up at him. ‘And Gary Barlow would never have forgiven me if he didn’t get to hang out with Rufus again.’

‘See, I told you love was all about transactions, and now I know you only want me for my dog.’ Jude smiled, and she gave an elaborate shrug.

‘Does that change how you feel about me?’

‘Not one little bit. You’re stuck with me now, Em, and you’ve only got yourself to blame.’ Jude smiled again, and she couldn’t wait another second to kiss him. She had no idea how many romance novels she’d read in her lifetime, but it must have been hundreds. It didn’t matter how many it had been, or that she and Jude hadn’t worked out the details; she was still utterly convinced that not one of those stories had an ending more perfect than this.

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