Page 78 of The Twelve Dates of Christmas
“That’s the thing,” said Phil. “There won’t be any catching up. When I heard she was sick I...”
“You realized you were still in love with her?” said Kate gently.
“I’m sorry,” said Phil.
“For what?” asked Kate. “For being honest?”
“I’m sorry if you feel I led you on,” said Phil.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” said Kate. “When do you fly out?”
“Tonight.”
“I’ll be sending positive vibes your way,” said Kate.
“In another time...” said Phil. “Things might have been different.”
“In another time,” said Kate. “They might have been.”
“Take care of yourself, Kate.”
“You too.”
Kate felt a little pang of disappointment, but she wasn’t entirely surprised; he had spoken about his ex with such reverence on their date that the only real surprise was Phil himself not realizing he was still in love with her.
Oh well, thought Kate.That’s one down...
She finished her supper and went back to her sketches, a little wistful maybe but not altogether sad. She hoped Phil got the chance to tell his ex how he felt.So many people looking for love, she thought. She thought of her dad and Evelyn, and it made her smile. She hoped it would work out for them.
Kate worked until nine o’clock and then ran upstairs to squirt perfume, zhoosh her hair, and reapply makeup superfast. At 9:29 p.m. she stepped outside her front door. In the lamplight she realized she still had paint under her fingernails and was about to go back in and take a scrubbing brush to them when a black SUV pulled up outside her house.
Richard wound his window down.
“Hello, Kate,” he said, smiling. “Ready?”
His voice was smooth; it reminded Kate of polished oak and freshly ground coffee. She smiled, a wide, toothy, excited smile, which shedidn’t seem able to switch off or even turn down to a sensible flirty smile; she was by all accounts looking as goofy as she felt.
She made her way ungracefully—slipping twice—to the passenger side and climbed in. The car smelled of Richard and it made Kate’s bones go bendy.
“How was your day?” he asked.
“Busy,” said Kate. “How was yours?”
“Dull,” said Richard. “But improving by the minute!”
“Where are we going?” Kate asked.
“You’ll be able to guess shortly,” he replied.
Richard navigated the snowy maze of roads that led out of Blexford and even in the dark with no streetlights, Kate recognized the road to Blexford Manor.
“We’re going to the manor?” Kate said.
Richard nodded and smiled.
“Well, it seemed only right,” he said. “Now that we’ve had our second first date, we can enjoy our first second date where we should have had our first first date!”
“Blimey,” said Kate.
