‘What?’ he asked, making my cheeks burn as brightly as if I’d been caught saying the words out loud. ‘Did you want the tea poured before the milk? I can never remember which way you’re supposed to do it.’
‘No,’ I said, my voice catching as I quickly looked away, ‘milk in first is fine.’
* * *
We walked the length and breadth of the mighty cathedral and Finn pointed out his beloved green men before buying postcards of them from the well-stocked shop.
‘Do you want to come to mine for supper?’ I asked, as we hopped on a bus which would take us most of the way back to the square.
It was already getting dark and, weighed down with our various purchases, we didn’t much feel like making the trek back on foot.
‘I would,’ he smiled.
‘Fantastic.’
‘But I’m not going to.’
‘Why not?’
While we had finished drinking our tea, I had been devising great plans to make the end of the day as memorable as the rest of it had been.
‘Because I want you to have an early night,’ he told me.
‘I was planning to,’ I huskily replied.
What was he doing to me? I’d never sounded so wanton.
‘Not that sort of early night,’ he grinned, ‘as much as I would love that.’
‘Then why don’t we?’
‘Because,’ he said, leaning around me to ring the bell for our stop, ‘I’ve got another busy day planned for tomorrow and both you and Nell will need to be ready early.’
‘Nell?’
‘Yes,’ he said, standing up and taking more than his share of the bags, ‘I feel bad that she’s been home alone, so tomorrow we’re taking her with us and she’s going to have a whale of a time.’
Kind, considerate, caring and with an eye to the welfare of my beloved Nell, Finn really was the stuff of dreams.
* * *
He was true to his word, and early the next morning he arrived to take me and Nell, complete with an overflowing picnic basket, packed full of treats and cooked sausages, off on our next adventure.
‘I’m sorry we’ve got to take your van,’ he said, once we’d eaten more rolls from Blossom’s and everything was packed.
‘That’s all right,’ I told him, tossing him the keys, ‘as long as you’re happy behind the wheel.’
‘More than happy,’ he said, jumping into the driving seat.
I knew he hated not having his own vehicle, so the evening before, in lieu of the early night, I’d added him as a named driver to my insurance so he was covered to chauffeur me about. I was looking forward to taking in the scenery, assuming there was going to be some. I still had no idea where we were headed.
‘So,’ he said, as he pulled to the side of the road and pointed at the view about an hour later, ‘what do you think? Any good?’
‘Very good,’ I nodded, clapping my hands together.
‘I know it won’t be warm, but there’s a great pub we can thaw out in. It’s dog friendly and they do a really decent lunch.’
‘Let’s go for it,’ I grinned. ‘It’s been ages since I’ve been to the seaside.’
‘Wynmouth has a stunning beach,’ Finn told me, ‘and I’ve checked the tide times so we should be able to explore the rock pools if you’ve packed enough clothes to keep out the wind.’
It was a bit on the breezy side, but Nell had a great time tearing up and down the beach and the rockpools were surprisingly busy. Not in terms of visitor numbers – we had the whole stretch of sand to ourselves – but the pools were full of activity, the occupants seemingly unaware of the bitter temperature above their watery world.
‘Have you had enough?’ Finn asked Nell, once she had finally run out of steam and flopped down, panting at our feet.
‘I don’t know about her,’ I said, rubbing my hands together, ‘but I’m starting to feel it.’
Looking at the colour of Finn’s nose, I guessed he was chilly too.
‘Right,’ he said, ‘let’s head to the pub. This sea air has given me an appetite.’
I was in complete agreement and more than happy to while away the afternoon in The Smuggler’s, the only pub in the village and which had a roaring fire, a surprisingly exotic menu (Finn and I both had steaming bowls of curried crab) and a landlord with the most beguiling green eyes.
All too soon, and because Wednesday was a workday for both of us, we