Page 10

‘Seven?’

Holly took one of the bunnies out of Hope’s arms, and though she tried to protest, it was pretty difficult, given how many she was still holding. Holly had seen this type of teddy before. They sold them at the florist in the village, and the garden centre in Burford too, and while she didn’t know the exact price of them, she knew they weren’t cheap. Her stomach somersaulted with the fact that Hope was probably holding a hundred pounds of soft cuddly bunnies in her arms.

‘Evan. This is way too generous. Way, way too generous.’

‘It’s fine. It’s bunnies. It’s not like she’s going to grow out of them. Besides, first impressions matter.’

‘I don’t think that’s true with a nine-month-old.’

‘It’s especially true with a nine-month-old.’

Holly wanted to be cross. She really did, but the way Evan’s eyes were glinting at her made it impossible.

‘Face it – I win, right?’ he said, his smirk growing wider. ‘In terms of first impressions, this is much better than being vomited on.’

Holly’s lips twitched, finally breaking into a smile.

‘Yes, fine. You win. She didn’t vomit on you.’

‘Speaking of Hope’s vomit…’ Caroline infiltrated herself back into the conversation. ‘Ben’s here, so I guess that must be…’ Caroline’s words drifted into the ether, and Holly knew exactly why. Feeling like she wished she’d taken her mother’s advice and put something slightly nicer on, Holly tried to fight back the sinking feeling in her gut.

‘Yup, that’s Georgia.’

10

‘Wow. She is gorgeous,’ Caroline said, as she crouched to pick up one of the bunnies Hope had dropped while continuing to stare unsubtly at Georgia.

‘I know.’ Holly sighed.

‘I thought you were exaggerating,’ Caroline continued.

‘Nope. No exaggeration there. And she’s really smart. And nice.’

Like Caroline, Holly found her attention fixed solely on Georgia, until Evan unexpectedly dropped his head onto her shoulder.

‘Too dressy for me,’ he said. ‘My kind of gorgeous is standing right here.’

Even with Holly holding Hope in her arms, Evan somehow squeezed around the baby and planted a soft, lingering kiss on Holly’s lips.

‘Oh, if this is what I’m going to have to put up with, I’m going to need more drink,’ Caroline said, before reaching out to take Hope. ‘She doesn’t need to witness that yet, either. Besides, we need to think of some names for these bunnies, don’t we?’

Offering Holly a quick grin, Caroline took Hope off towards the back of the garden, already suggesting names for the new cuddly toys.

It would have been lovely if Caroline’s disappearance had genuinely left Holly and Evan on their own, but there were still two dozen people mingling around, and Holly knew her mother well enough to know she wouldn’t be forgiven if she spent the entire party huddled close to Evan, no matter how much she wanted to. Besides, she still had to sort out the cake and candles, not to mention say hello to Georgia, though Holly was confident Ben knew his way around her family well enough to make his girlfriend feel comfortable.

‘I need to do a quick loop and see if Mum needs any help,’ she said, still holding on to Evan’s hands. ‘You should probably stay out here and mingle. It’ll make you look good.’

Evan flickered his eyes at her. ‘I can mingle. No problem.’

‘Oh, I know you can.’ Holly pushed herself up onto tiptoes, ready to kiss him again, only to drop back onto her heels. If they carried on like this, her father would never get a cake. Not trusting herself, she took a step back.

‘Good, okay. Safe people to talk to are my dad, my mum, June, and Lenny next door. Avoid Aunt May.’ She pointed to a woman with bright-red hair, in a floral summer dress, who was throwing her head back in laughter.

‘Why do I need to avoid her? She looks nice.’

‘Oh, she is nice. Only she’s on her second gin and tonic right there, which means she’ll start getting silly and pinching your bum the minute she’s within arm’s reach.’

‘I shall avoid her at all costs. Anyone else I need to worry about?’