Page 2 of Merrily Ever After
‘I did,’ he replied. ‘Your granny had chickens, until the fox got them. And we had an old cat called Fergus, who only lost all his front fangs so we—’
‘Changed his name to Fangless!’ Freya finished for him. ‘Poor Fergus. So could I …?’
‘It’s snowing!’ Harley yelled suddenly. ‘I just felt a snowflake on my face. YES!’
I looked up to the sky. A few tiny specks floated in the air. It was certainly cold enough, but it was a bit early in the season for Derbyshire to get its first snowfall.
‘Hello, snow, I’ve missed you!’ Freya squealed, instantly forgetting about her mission to get a pet.
She stretched her arms out, attempting to catch the snowflakes on her tongue.
‘Me too,’ said Harley heavily.
‘Just sleet, I think,’ Cole commented, examining the dots on the sleeve of his coat.
‘Typical,’ Harley muttered.
‘You never know,’ I said, noting Harley’s disappointment. ‘It might snow properly before the day is out.’
‘I hope so, because then school will close, and I won’t have to go. Not like in Whistler. The weather doesn’t stop anything there,’ Harley commented, his voice managing to combine hope with nostalgia.
I felt for him; while Freya had slipped back seamlessly into the life she’d had before their year in Canada, Harleywas still missing what he’d left behind. It didn’t sound as if he was too keen on school either.
I glanced at Cole to see if he’d picked up on his son’s tone, but it didn’t look like it. Instead, he scooped up his daughter and pretended to dance with her.
‘Oh, the weather outside is frightful,’ he started to croon. ‘But Freya is so delightful.’
The little girl laughed and wriggled free. ‘If it snows lots, I’m going to build a snowman. And sledging!’ Her face lit up at the prospect. ‘Can we go sledging?’
‘But it won’t snow lots, will it?’ Harley said flatly. ‘Because this is England. Anyway, we left our sledges in Whistler.’
I put a tentative arm around his shoulder. ‘Then we should get new ones, so that when it does snow properly – which it will at some point – we’ll be ready. You’ll have to show me how it’s done; I’ve never been on a sledge in my life.’
‘No way!’ Harley looked at me in disbelief and then grinned. ‘It’s easy, I can teach you.’
‘You’re on,’ I said, pleased to have made him smile. I was still working on my role in their lives; as their dad’s girlfriend, I wasn’t always sure what I should or shouldn’t say or do. This time, it looked as if I’d got it right. I felt something on my face and looked up. ‘I think it might be snow, you know.’
Harley and Freya scampered ahead, chatting about where the best place to go sledging would be, and Cole wrapped his arm around my waist, drawing me close.
‘Thank you,’ he murmured, leaning in to kiss me.
‘For what?’ I asked, checking that the kids weren’t looking.
I wasn’t yet comfortable with public displays of affection with their father. My best friend Nell once told me that it had taken two years before she felt able to even holdhands with Olek in front of his son, Max. I’d scoffed at her at the time, but now I knew exactly how she’d felt.
‘For being a wonderful woman.’ He kissed me again. ‘For being brilliant with my kids and making co-parenting so much more fun than when I was doing it alone.’
‘You’re welcome.’ My voice was casual, but inside my heart soared. Sometimes I felt like pinching myself; I loved this man and I knew he loved me.
Ahead of us, the children were laughing as Freya got stuck climbing over the stile. Once on the other side, we’d almost be in town. Another five minutes or so and we’d be at Astrid’s, where, no doubt, Fred would be waiting for his slice ofapfel strudeltoo.
Cole and I picked up our pace and I snuggled against him. ‘Is there anything more exciting than the first snow in winter?’ I mused happily.
He pretended to think about it. ‘Actually, yes, I think there is.’
He was very handsome, my man, I thought, taking in his rugged features, the healthy glow from a working life spent outdoors and deep brown eyes which were sparkling with mischief.
‘It was a rhetorical question,’ I said with a laugh. ‘I’m sure if I really thought about it my brain would come up with something. But look how much fun your kids are having. And imagine if we were to get snowed in and had to spend the day cosied up in front of the fire or digging our way out of Holly Cottage to fetch supplies.’
