Page 129 of All Wrapped Up
The central display was full of lit pumpkins and there were strings of lights, too, all with warm orange bulbs. The atmosphere was one of harmony as I handed out sweets to the trick or treaters and felt blessed to live amongst such a wonderful community, especially now Jason had turned out to be a friend, rather than a fiend.
‘Are you ready to go?’ Ash asked, as lots of people headed back to the town hall for the second film and a few others made for the pub in a fascinating variety of creepy costumes. ‘I don’t think anyone will notice if we slip away now, do you?’
Even though Jeanie’s fancy-dress party in The Mermaid had a thrilling reputation, Ash and I had decided not to attend. Pixie had been alone at the cottage a good long while alreadyand as my beau had plans for a predawn start the next day, he had suggested a very early night.
‘I’ll pick you up at four,’ he told me on the drive home.
‘I’ll be ready,’ I promised.
‘And wrap up warm.’ I had a good idea of what he had in mind, but didn’t want to ruin the surprise. ‘And no, we can’t take Pixie, but don’t worry, because we’ll be back before she wakes up and misses us.’
‘Are you going to come in?’ I asked as he drew up at the gate.
‘Not tonight,’ he said, leaning across the seat to kiss me goodnight, ‘otherwise it won’t be worth me going back to the barn.’
‘All right,’ I said, as I undid my seatbelt. ‘I’ll see you in the morning, then.’
I still wasn’t quite ready to suggest that he didn’t have to go home and I wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t asked. I didn’t feel in any way pressured to move our relationship along and I loved him all the more for that. I was still getting used to having him in my heart, so giving him access to my bed wasn’t something I was going to rush. That said, if his kisses continued to fill me with such desire it probably wouldn’t take as long as I had originally thought…
‘Oh, my god!’ I shouted. ‘This is amazing!’
Knowing how much I loved the birds that visited my garden and how keenly I had tracked the migrating geese that traversed the Fenland sky above, Ash had sacrificed my Sunday morning lie-in for an extremely early morning drive out to the north Norfolk coast and a stretch of marshland that seemed rather off the beaten track.
‘How many do you think there are?’
‘According to the most recent counts,’ Ash told me as the air was filled with another intense wave of wing beats and honks, ‘well over fifty thousand pink-footed geese, alone.’
‘That’s incredible!’ I gasped.
‘And there are other breeds mixed in with them, too.’
‘Amazing!’
‘I originally planned to come at dusk, when they return to the roost, but the guy who manages this stretch of the marsh is a mate of Will’s and he said we could sneak up here, but only at dawn, because this spot isn’t open to the public.’
‘Well, I really appreciate it,’ I told him, reaching for his hand. ‘And I don’t mind the early start at all. It’s a spectacular sight.’
‘I’m so pleased you’re enjoying it,’ he said, pulling me into his side. ‘Not every woman would want to get up in the dark and cold and drive all this way to see and hear this.’
‘Well,’ I said, thinking that what with the gift of my fairy and the bird table and feeders, he already knew me so well, ‘fortunately, I’m not every woman.’
‘That you’re not,’ he said huskily as he looked down at me. ‘You’re utterly unique.’
We were already completely keyed into one another and, as we kissed under the flying flocks who were heading off to their feeding grounds, I found I suddenly didn’t want to wait any longer to complete our relationship. It was time.
‘Are you ready to go home?’ Ash asked me, as the clamour of hungry geese started to die down and the sky grew lighter.
‘Yes,’ I said, my words filled with far more meaning than he could yet comprehend, ‘I’m ready.’
Chapter 28
By the time November fifth, the day of the bonfire party on the edge of town, rather than at Wynthorpe Hall as I’d been told was usual, dawned, my life had changed beyond all recognition when compared to what it had been the year before. Then, I hadn’t had so much as a sparkler to celebrate the day with, whereas now, I felt like I had an entire box of fireworks at my disposal.
I had completed the cottage renovation, I had a whole host of new friends, including perfect Pixie, I had organised and was overseeing the inaugural Wynbridge Autumn Festival, there was a new job on my horizon, my Insta account was still thriving and, most surprisingly of all, I had healed my heart enough to open it again and let love in.
What a phenomenal and transformative few months I had created! The intention I had pinned to Aurora’s skirt had been about being brave enough to continue to walk the path I had started out on, but now it felt like I had sprinted miles along it.
Ash had been initially tentative about my suggestion that we should move our relationship forward when we arrivedhome after the trip to see the geese, but once I had convinced him that I was ready for the upgrade, he was both delighted and willing to acquiesce.
