Page 63 of Playing for Keeps

Hugh caught Allie’s eye before they both whipped their heads around.

“Oh!” Allie said, then paused. “Wait. What is that?”

“Water,” Hugh said slowly, then changed his mind. “No, not water.”

They stood side by side, staring across the valley at the hill opposite which was entirely blue.

“Flowers,” they said at once.

Hugh’s phone buzzed and they both glanced down at the message from Caitlin.

I love that you got to see ponies as well as the bluebells. Enjoy!

“That’s so pretty,” Allie said, her gaze sweeping back to the sea of bluebells. “I’ve never seen so many in one place before. At first glance, it really looked like water.”

“It’s fairly spectacular,” Hugh agreed.

Allie scanned the area, searching for the perfect picnic spot. Somewhere with a view of both the bluebells and the ponies would be ideal.

Half an hour later, she was utterly full and wonderfully content, stretched out on the blanket beside Hugh. The ponies had moved on, but every time she looked over at the bluebells she was stunned by the sight of them swaying in the breeze like rippling water.

“Sorry,” Hugh said as he replied to yet another message from Emmy. He’d been having a back and forth with her for the last few minutes and had apologised several times already.

“I told you it’s fine.” Dragging her eyes from the bluebells, Allie rolled onto her back. “What’s Emmy short for?”

“Emma.”

“Not actually shorter then.”

“No.” He finished writing a message, then settled beside her, propping himself on his elbow. “She hates Emma. It’s Emmy or Em.”

“Emma’s a beautiful name.”

“I think so. She disagrees.”

“Did you choose it?”

His eyes narrowed as though it was a stupid question. “Yeah.”

“I meant was it you or your wife?” She chuckled. “Whose suggestion was it?”

He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think it was mine. We drew up a list … I guess we ended up with about ten possibilities. Then we took it in turns to cross out a name. Eventually, there was only Emma left.”

“That’s a good way to decide.” Allie looked right into Hugh’s hazel eyes. “How old were you when you had Emmy?”

“Twenty-two when she was born.”

“Wow. Was she planned?”

“Yes. Although everyone always assumes she must have been an accident.”

“You were really young.” She searched his features while she waited for him to go on but he didn’t say any more on the subject. “Tell me about it,” she finally said with an encouraging look.

His eyebrows inched together and for an unnerving moment she thought he was going to clam up. It hit her just how much she wanted to know.

“Nancy and I got together in secondary school. She was my first girlfriend.” His gaze went overhead. “We both went to university in Exeter. I proposed in the third year. We got married quickly, and we both knew we wanted kids …” He turned on his side to face Allie. “I think I wanted a family more than Nancy. I was desperate to have kids and I think maybe she just got caught up in my enthusiasm for it.”

“I can’t imagine someone agreeing to have a baby unless they really want it too.”

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