I can tell, and the guilt I feel at leaving her on her own ramps up a notch.
After lunch, I stay in the kitchen and lose myself in baking a batch of orange and lemon cupcakes. While they’re cooling on the rack, I make chocolate chip cookies, then I stir fresh lemon juice into a bowl of icing sugar and finish off the cupcakes with a smooth layer of icing. I stand at the window, licking the remains of the delicious lemon icing off the spoon, wondering what Adam is doing right this minute. He’ll probably still be in his workshop.
It’s four o’clock and getting dark, so I go around drawing all the curtains and switching on lamps. Then I curl up on the sofa, still thinking about Adam.
Has he told Krystle how he feels about her yet?
My insides shift uneasily. Even if he has, she’s told me she’s not interested in him. She thinks he’s too short for her. So I probably don’t need to worry that they’ll get together. I feel sad for Adam, though. I know what it’s like when your feelings for someone aren’t returned…
Just then, a text pings through, and it’s Krystle to tell me she was unpacking some shopping and put a bag of sugar on the wet draining board, which meant the bottom dropped out of it and there was sugar all over the floor. I laugh and shake my head, relieved there’s no mention of Adam.
I text back telling her she’ll need to mop the floor, as well as hoover it, otherwise it’ll be very sticky to walk on. A second later, when my phone pings again, I groan to myself, convinced it’s Krystle wanting to know where we keep the mop.
But it isn’t.
It’s a text from Adam.
Hi there, my long-lost friend. I’ve been thinking about that nearly kiss we had in the bar that time. Is it something we need to talk about? Or even try again? Just a thought. Hope you’re enjoying the weather and making lots of snowmen while you have the chance. Adam xx
I stare at the message, my head reeling.
The kiss must have meant something to him as well, then. I assumed he’d forgotten all about it, but maybe he’s been thinking about it ever since…just like I have?
I’m confused, though. He told me he likes Krystle.
Unless…
Is it possible my absence has made him realise he actually has feelings for me?
Oh, God, I’m so confused. But there’s no denying the way I feel. My heart is bounding along like a puppy discovering snow for the first time, and despite all my protestations that I’m better off on my own, I know for a fact that if Adam wants to try that kiss again, I’ll be one hundred per cent there for it!
I sit there, in a dazed and happy glow, imagining kissing him properly, and wondering if I’m actually going to get my Christmas wish, after all. I’m so completely lost in my lovely day dreams that the next time I glance at the clock, I’m astonished to see that it’s almost six. I get up and look out into the darkness. If I pack up and leave now, I could be back in Sunnybrook by eight. Maybe I could arrange to meet Adam for a drink when I get there, at the same bar as last time…
I’m on the point of running upstairs to pack, when I get a text from Fen, my boss at the café, who’s also a friend. She wants to know if I’d like to do a Zoom call with the girls because they’re in the process of organising something special.
I grab my laptop, which is on charge in the living room, and click on the link Fen has sent me, and immediately, a gorgeous Christmas tree appears on the screen, bringing a big smile to my face.
‘Hi, Carrie.’ Fen stops winding her string of shiny red tinsel around the branches and waves. And then Ellie, Katja and Primrose appear on-screen, grinning at me.
‘Hi, there, you lot.’
The screen suddenly goes blank and I groan with frustration. My laptop battery is on its last legs and in order to work, the charger needs to be plugged in. But even the charger connection seems to be temperamental these days…
I wiggle the charger, the laptop springs to life and I click on the link again.
‘Sorry about that. Laptop problems. So the Brambleberry Manor Café finally has a Christmas tree?’
‘It does indeed,’ grins Ellie. ‘What do