his arms and deliberately giving me a wide berth.
I cringe inside.
Oh, hell, he obviously does not want a repeat of my shameful performance of earlier. His action in avoiding contact with me there really couldn’t be clearer. How mortifying!
‘I’m…just going to get out of these clothes,’ I murmur.
He looks over, his mouth twitching at the corner. And I realise what I just said.
‘I’ll be putting more on, obviously,’ I add, in an attempt at a joke. But he’s stirring the drinks and doesn’t seem to hear me, so I duck out.
I hare up the stairs and stand at the window, gazing out at the glowing Christmas tree on the green. Snow is falling heavily now, swirling against the window pane. Tears prick my eyes. It’s all so bloody romantic…
Aware that Ronan will be wondering why I’m taking so long, I quickly change into my favourite joggers, fluffy socks and a cute top, then leave the bedroom. Heading for the stairs, I glance out of the landing window that overlooks the side of Moon Cottage, and something catches my eye. Stopping dead in my tracks, I peer down.
A grey, ghostly shape is moving about in next-door’s back garden…they seem to be holding something, wielding it like a weapon, stabbing the earth over and over again. I hold my breath and watch, fascinated, for a moment. In the semi-dark, it’s difficult to see properly.
Is he digging?
A chill runs through me as I recall the bloody knife in the barn and Maud’s description of the grave-shaped patch of earth at the back of Moon Cottage. I run into the kitchen and blurt out what I’ve just seen.
Ronan frowns. ‘Digging in the garden when it’s pitch-black outside?’
‘I know. It has to be the man who locked me in the barn just now.’
He follows me up the stairs and a feeling of relief washes through me. At least now, Ronan will realise that I wasn’t imagining things.
‘It definitely looks like he’s digging. See what you think,’ I say, rushing over to the landing window.
We stare out across the garden and my heart sinks.
The figure has vanished…
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
When I wake next morning, I groan with embarrassment, recalling the events of the night before.
I’m still not sure if I was locked in the barn or not, although I know I saw a man in the garden later. But as he’d vanished by the time we went back to look, Ronan probably thinks I imagined that as well. Even more humiliating is the memory of him giving me a very wide berth in the kitchen, following my over-the-top display of gratitude in the barn…when I kissed him by mistake.
And now I’ll have to face him over breakfast and act as if nothing happened.
Unless…I could avoid all that awkwardness by leaving the cottage today. This morning. Right now, in fact, since Ronan doesn’t seem to be up and about yet. I sit up in bed and strain to hear any signs of movement in the cottage.
Nothing.
I’ve been thinking I should probably go home anyway. Especially after the texts Krystle sent me after the Zoom call, telling me she’s still undecided about her and Adam, and practically begging me to return to Sunnybrook so she can talk it all over with me.
I pull on my dressing gown and slippers, and tip-toe downstairs to fill the kettle. Standing there, waiting for it to boil, my mind wanders off to other areas I’d really rather avoid. That awkward encounter with Ronan when I quite literally threw myself at him…
I drum my fingers on the bench as something really alarming occurs to me. It isn’t the fact that I hugged Ronan that’s been bothering me. It’s how it made me feel when I flung my arms around his neck and felt his strong body next to me, his hands at my back. My head is spinning even now, just thinking about it.
But I came here to get over Adam. I’m still processing my feelings over him, and the last thing I need is to find myself attracted to someone else…someone who seems to be in a bad place himself. That’s just next level complicated.
I need to leave now. Before Ronan wakes up.
Abandoning the idea of coffee, I decide to get going immediately. I’ll call at a café on the way home and get my fix of caffeine then. But right now, I need to pack and get on the road. I take the stairs two at a time, as softly as I can,