far, so I might as well cut back on trying. He’d been gone for the best part of a week now and it was time I started coming to terms with the end of our brief, but wonderful, time together.
* * *
It soon became apparent that everyone else’s cheerful little felt birds seemed to be much sturdier than mine and far more tightly packed, but I soldiered on, determined to make the best of it while I mulled over what Mum had said when she and Jackson had turned up the weekend before.
I might have turned down a return to Broad-Meadows, but perhaps I should consider moving on once I was sure the Prosperous Place grounds were back in fine fettle and the Winter Garden was the success Luke had wanted it to be.
Of course, my maudlin meanderings weren’t really about my job. I absolutely adored the place, my home and my many new friends in Nightingale Square, but the thought of living and working in Norwich, without Finn, wasn’t something I wanted to face long-term. I had only managed to carry on that week because he wasn’t actually there and I was under such a tight deadline. Trying to function with him in the vicinity when the pressure was off was going to be impossible. I would wait the winter out and then search for a new position in a different county in the spring.
The thought made tears spring to my eyes and I yelped in pain as the needle missed its mark and ended up embedded in the side of my finger.
‘There,’ said Lisa, shooting Heather a look. ‘You said I was being over the top, Heather, but it does bloody hurt, doesn’t it, Freya?’
‘More than I would have ever thought possible,’ I sadly replied.
* * *
At the end of the session we all had a look at each other’s efforts. There were some fine specimens amongst the flock, but unfortunately, mine wasn’t one of them.
‘I know,’ said Heather, reaching into her sewing bag as I tried and failed to make my ornithological effort stand on his feet for the umpteenth time. ‘I’ll sew a loop at the back of his head and then you’ll be able to hang him on your tree.’
She’d hit upon the perfect solution and I wondered if she’d be able to sort out my love life with a flash of her needle and a length of thread. Perhaps she could sew my poor broken heart back together?
‘Your keys, Freya,’ said Luke, handing the bunch back, while I waited for Heather to work her magic.
‘Oh, thanks,’ I said, taking them from him. I’d completely forgotten he still had them. ‘Was Nell all right?’
‘Absolutely fine,’ he smiled. ‘She’s completely recovered, hasn’t she?’
‘Thankfully, yes,’ I said. ‘She’s back to her lovely self.’
I wished I could say the same for me.
I slipped out while everyone else was still pulling on their coats and wishing each other a merry Christmas. I was keen to get away because I would have to be up early the next morning to help prepare for the crowds. The weather was forecast to be crisp and bright which I knew would swell the numbers and Luke had been on the radio again and featured in the local newspaper too, so interest in the grand opening was high.
I walked back through the garden, just to make sure everything was in place. I was tempted to turn on a few of the lights, but couldn’t risk drawing Luke’s attention so made my way carefully along the paths with the torch on my phone just about lighting my way.
‘What the—’ I gasped as I came around a corner and found myself faced with one of Finn’s stunning sculptures.
It was of a much larger dragon than those hidden in the fern garden and we had originally planned to work out where to put it together. How had it got here? And more to the point, when? I rushed back along the path to the studio, thinking he must be back, but he wasn’t. The place was silent and in total darkness and I was still none the wiser as to where he had gone. Luke must have drafted in some help to move and site the sculpture while I was ineffectively felting during the day.
The smell of smoke lingered in the cold night air and I shivered as I crossed the road back to the square with an even heavier heart before stopping to look at my