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Holly didn’t know why she was being so short with him, but then, it wasn’t like Evan was being his normal self, either. She was feeling like she’d made a mistake. After all, how well did she really know him? Maybe he was far grumpier than he came across on the phone.

‘Sorry,’ Evan said when she went to unlock the door. He slipped an arm around her waist. ‘I guess I’m just still suffering from jetlag.’

Holly turned around and looked at him.

‘In that case, do we need to get you upstairs to bed?’ There was no denying she had been looking forward to the physical side of the relationship. And she thought he had been too, at least in the conversations they’d had on the phone. But instead, several creases formed on his brow.

‘Do you mind if we just have a drink first? A cup of tea, maybe.’

‘Of course not.’

Holly opened the door, letting Evan into her and Hope’s home.

Given how Holly knew that Evan was visiting that day, she’d attempted to keep the place tidy, but she couldn’t help but compare this place to Evan’s house in France. His second house.

‘Are those the flowers I sent you?’ he asked, gesturing to the half bunch that had been decanted into a plastic jug that morning before Jamie took the rest.

‘One of the bunches, yes.’

‘They look smaller than I thought. I won’t use that delivery company again.’

Holly pressed her lips together, momentarily tempted to confess to what she had done, but before she could speak, Evan’s phone rang again. Rather than looking disappointed by the interruption of their alone time, he looked elated.

‘I just need to go outside to take this,’ he said. ‘I’ll be a couple of minutes. Don’t worry about the tea. I’ve changed my mind.’

The rumble of a truck filtered through from outside. Another spark of annoyance burned in Holly. This time, not at Evan. One of the neighbours had been doing work on their house for several weeks now, and it had been mostly okay, except during Hope’s nap times when the hammering seemed to get louder. She’d never known them to have a builder come in this late, though. If it happened again, she might need to have a friendly word. After all, she doubted she was the only neighbour it would annoy.

Deciding it wasn’t something she wanted to get into now, she flopped down on the sofa, trying to beat down the nerves that were churning through her stomach. Nerves that she was sure Evan must be feeling, too. After all, why else would he be acting this way? It wasn’t like they were strangers, not with all the timethey’d spent talking on the phone. Even so, this wasn’t what she’d expected. And he was leaving tomorrow. The last thing she wanted was to spend the entire night feeling awkward.

Deciding that even if Evan didn’t want a cup of tea, she did, Holly headed back to the kettle and switched it on, only for the front door to swing open.

‘Okay, you can come outside now.’

Evan was standing in the doorway, but it wasn’t the Evan of the car journey with the nervous foot-tapping and constant phone checking. This was the Evan from France, the one with the beaming smiles. Who had constantly made her laugh. This was the one who had greeted her outside at her parents’ house and kissed her so much that she’d never wanted to let go. This was the Evan she had been waiting for, but she wasn’t sure what had made him return.

‘Come on. This should explain why I’ve been acting weird,’ he said, as if he’d been reading her mind. ‘Now, make sure you’ve got your shoes on, too. I’ll pick up your jacket for you.’

‘My jacket? I thought we were staying in.’

‘Just hurry up, will you?’

Doing as instructed, Holly slipped on her trainers and headed out of the front door, but she was barely one step out when she stopped. Babbling was her go-to nervous reaction, but being stunned to silence wasn’t something she could remember having happened to her before. Yet at that moment, her mind was a complete blank. The sight in front of her made no sense. No sense at all. After blinking several times, and discovering the image didn’t change, she finally found her voice, although with it came the words her father had said to her only a couple of hours before.

‘You have to be joking?’

16

Holly couldn’t move. She could see Evan in her peripheral vision, his eyes looking at her, expecting some form of response, but at that moment, she couldn’t even think, let alone speak. Her heart was hammering against her ribs. Her throat was dry. So dry, she could barely swallow. Yet she tentatively took a step forward.

‘So it turned out the driveway was big enough after all,’ Evan said, finally breaking the silence. It was a joke. She knew he was making a joke, but she couldn’t work out how to respond. When she still didn’t say anything, he spoke again. ‘So, are you going to tell me what you think?’

What did she think? This silence was getting ridiculous. It was even worse than at her parents’ house, when they’d waited to see what her father thought of his birthday present. Only it wasn’t her birthday. And even if it was, she would never have imagined something like this in a million years.

Holly needed to say something. She knew she did, but how? All she could do was stare at the vehicle in front of her. Its perfect, sky-blue paintwork glimmered. It might have been past sunset, but she could still see it perfectly, and there wasn’t asingle chip or scratch on it. The chrome wing mirrors gleamed while the black leather seat looked as comfortable as her couch.

‘Is this for me?’ she said eventually.

‘If you want it?’ Evan stepped towards her. ‘I mean, it’s in your name, insured in your name and MOT’d. But if there’s a problem, I can always take it back.’