Page 53 of Rescuing Rosie
‘That he’s not for you. He’s so … well.’ He gave a small laugh. ‘All the girls like him, and I saw that you did too. But you understand him, whereas most people don’t.’
Rosie smiled. ‘Honest? I thought about a fling, because my self-esteem needed a boost, and Dale wasveryhard to say no to. But the way he treated Madison opened my eyes, and then I properly got to know you and I fell … oh, nice little pun there, Ant. I fell, and then I fell. On a fell.’
Ant closed his eyes for a moment.
‘It took me by surprise,’ she went on, ‘but the feeling was – is – so strong. Full disclosure – I’ve never felt like this before. It just feels soright.’
He took his hand from hers and traced his fingers down her cheek, then along her lips, and she shivered.
‘From the moment I saw you wading through that stream –’ He shook his head a little, ‘– can’t explain, but there was something about you. It was almost like I knew you from somewhere.’ He kissed her again, and his hands moved down, pulling her hard against him. ‘I haven’t had a moment’s peace since,’ he muttered.
‘I hope I might bring you peace,’ she said, reeling from the kiss, ‘though Dale called me “chatty”, which he said was the opposite of you, and you’ll probably find that quite annoy–’
He silenced her with another kiss, and it went on for a long, long time.
He stopped, and hugged her to him, stroking her back. ‘You live so far away. How would we do this?’
‘Remote working,’ she said, catching her breath. ‘Doesn’t get much remoter, right?’ She explained about Madison’s book. ‘I’m thinking I might park myself up here for a while. Madison’s going to stay for as long as I need her face to face, then we can carry on by Zoom or whatever. I guess I’ll find a rental for a few months. I was going to move out of my London flat anyway; it’s too expensive for one.’
‘So you’ll be staying for a while – that’s great news.’
They were quiet, and Rosie tuned into the gentle lapping of the waves, the birdsong, the soft, cool caress of the mountain breeze.
‘Did you catch anything?’ she asked.
‘No. Couldn’t focus.’ He gave her a squeeze.
She lifted her head from where it had been resting on his chest. ‘You know, I thought up north was all chimneys andmills and rows of houses like inCoronation Street. And grim moorlands and terrible weather.’
Ant nodded. ‘That’s quite accurate, actually. But Cumbria’s got this surprise part.’
Rosie laughed. ‘I guess the next few weeks will show me what the north’s really about. I think I’m already in love.’ She paused. ‘With it.’
‘Well – there’s a flat above the shop,’ he said. ‘We’ve been using it for storage, but we could shift stock into the spare room so it was liveable. If you were interested?’
‘Oh my gosh, really?’
‘Mate’s rates.’
‘I’m at the hotel until next weekend,’ said Rosie.
‘That’d give us a few days to get it ready.’
This was moving so fast, and it felt as if Fate was cheering Rosie along the final stretch towards a finish line.
‘Want to take a look?’ he asked.
‘Love to.’
‘Let’s get you to the car then – I’ll come back for the gear.’
He scooped her up and carried her along the beach, and she rested her head on his shoulder. This was all so new, so sudden, but so right. She’d never felt so sure of anything in her life.
On the drive back they didn’t say much, and Rosie now understood the appeal of ‘companionable silence’. Her parents always put on the car radio, Reuben had listened to political podcasts, or his (his) playlists, interspersed with his thoughts on the uselessness of every driver around him and why the fuck they’d coned off the dual carriageway again.
Ant drove calmly, if a little slowly, giving way to other drivers, waving them on, never complaining that they were tourists with no idea of the width of the road. Rosie gazed out of the window, marvelling at the prettiness of this place, almostunable to believe she’d get to live and write here, at least for a while. Maybe longer.
Occasionally Ant pointed out fells he’d climbed with Wainwright (who was lying in the back, lifting his head each time he heard his name).
