Page 66 of The Twelve Dates of Christmas
They kissed again, kisses hot enough to melt the snow. This time Kate’s phone burst into a shrill ring. She extricated herself reluctantly from Richard’s embrace.
“I’ve got to take this,” said Kate. “Shewillcall the army if I don’t respond.”
Richard laughed quietly and held up his hands in surrender.
Kate answered the phone.
“Hi, Laura, everything’s fine, can I call you back?”
“I’ve got the air, land, and sea rescue services on speed dial,” said Laura.
“Five minutes,” Kate promised.
“Sorry,” Kate said to Richard as she ended the call.
“Don’t apologize,” said Richard. “It’s good to have friends that look out for you.”
He pulled her to him and kissed her once more on the lips and then released her.
“I’ll call you,” he said.
“Make sure you do,” said Kate. “Or I’ll set my friend on you.”
Richard laughed.
“I promise,” he said.
Kate climbed into her car and wound down the window.
“I think this might be the best first date I’ve ever had,” said Kate.
“I aim to please.” Richard smiled.
Richard waited while she started the car, and she could see him still waving as she pulled out of the car park. Two minutes down the road she parked under a streetlamp and called Laura.
“Once an hour!” said Laura.
“I know, I know, I’m sorry. I was in the middle of a really big Connect Four contest,” Kate explained.
“Obviously,” said Laura.
“No, really,” Kate said. “It was amazing!”
Kate briefly filled Laura in on the evening’s events, and when she had satisfied her that Richard wasn’t a maniac, she carefully drove home along the snowy roads. The hill to Blexford was well salted and soon Kate was letting herself into her house and making herself a mug of cocoa for bed.
Her phone blipped and she snapped it up, thinking it might be a message from Richard, but it was only a photograph of Christmas truffles from Matt. Kate pulled her warmest walking gear out of her wardrobe and laid it out, ready for the morning.
She climbed into bed and sipped her cocoa in the dark. She relived her kiss with Richard and her stomach flipped. Maybe Richard would be the balm to soothe the longing in her heart.
•••••
It was freezing cold and bright blue skies as Kate wandered over the soft mossy floor in the forest clearing to meet the hiking group for the seventh date.
She’d woken up wondering whether she ought to tell Phil right away that she’d met someone. Would it be somehow immoral to pursue two men at the same time? But then she reasoned, surely out of twelve dates you were bound to meet more than one person with whom you made a connection. And she clearly recalled her nan telling her about how she used to go on lots of different dates, with a different man each night; she’d go dancing one night, to the cinema on another, maybe to a show. And if it was good enough for her nan, it was good enough for her.
The winter sun leaked through the spindly tangle of white-dusted branches overhead and cast a gray-blue light on the scene. The burnt umber of ancient tree trunks stood out starkly against their pale surroundings.
People wandered about trying to identify their dates beneath hats and scarves and winter coats. Two reps stood in the middle of the group, ticking off names and helping couples find one another.
