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Once she had hung up, she downed the rest of the orange juice in one, before she went over to the cake tin. She might not be able to drink wine, but nothing was going to stop her from eating every one of the breakfast muffins she had made the day before with Hope.

Later that evening, Holly knew she was going to fall asleep on the sofa. Several times, while her eyes sagged, she considered moving upstairs and climbing into her bed, but she didn’t have the energy. The sofa was perfectly comfortable. She’d found it odd when she’d first moved in that the landlord would provide such an expensive sofa when he was renting the place out to a woman he knew had a baby. But now it made sense. Of course Giles would want Holly to have a comfy sofa. Though at least now she felt less guilty about the stains Hope had made on it.

Her thoughts were twisting and turning as she finally drifted off. And any fears she’d had that she wouldn’t be able to sleep were quickly alleviated, as the painkillers did their job.

The sleep was dreamless, and she could probably have stayed in her dormant state for several hours more, had she not been jolted awake by a loud bang.

Having fallen asleep where she was, Holly hadn’t even drawn the curtains, but outside was pitch black. Her first thought was of the time; during the summer months, it didn’t get dark until after ten, which meant it had to be after midnight. She looked down at her phone and saw that it was 1:30a.m., but what was more surprising than the time was the fact that Evan was calling her.

Confused, she picked up her phone. ‘Evan?’

‘I’m sorry. I’ve woken you up, haven’t I? I was knocking and you didn’t answer.’

Holly frowned. ‘Knocking?’

‘Yes, and it’s still quite cold out here. So do you fancy letting me in?’

Holly moved to push herself up, only to remember the pain in her arm. The painkillers had obviously worn off by now.

‘Are you okay?’ Evan’s voice echoed from outside. ‘Can you open the door? I really wasn’t joking about the cold.’

Realising that this wasn’t some bizarre type of prank, Holly dashed to open the door. There, outside, shivering and beautiful, was Evan.

‘What are you doing here?’ She tried to hug him, only to find herself one arm short. ‘I thought you were meant to be on a plane to America tomorrow?’

‘I was, but then I thought, how can I possibly get on a plane when I’ll spend my entire time worrying about you? So, I decided to bring my suitcase here instead.’

As he spoke, he wheeled his suitcase inside. It was substantially larger than the one he had brought when he came to stay before.

‘I thought maybe I could give you a hand with Hope. It would give me a chance to get to know her a bit better and spend some time with you, too. Although I’ll be honest, from what I’ve seen so far, I’m pretty sure you’re a horrendous patient.’

Once again, Holly’s eyes welled up with tears, although, for the first time all day, it wasn’t out of sadness, but out of gratitude.

‘Have I told you I love you recently?’

‘I’m fairly sure you told me the last time we spoke on the phone. But I don’t get tired of hearing it, so you can say it again.’

‘I love you.’

‘I love you too.’

44

As much as Holly wanted to stay up and chat with Evan all night, she knew she needed more sleep. Whilst sleeping on the sofa had been one thing, sleeping in the bed with her broken arm was agony. Perhaps it would have been easier if she’d had the entire bed to herself, but she doubted it. It was simply impossible to find a comfortable position. Until that day, she never realised how much she moved her arms in her sleep, how much weight she put on her hand, or how much she desperately wanted to scratch the skin on her forearm, although that could have just been because of the cast.

When Holly woke up for a second time, she somehow felt even less rested than when she had gone to sleep. She rolled over, finding the other side of the bed empty, and Evan’s suitcase open wide at the foot of the bed. The enticing aroma of bacon wafted up from downstairs.

Grabbing her dressing gown, Holly headed down to find the source.

‘Ben rang,’ Evan said, as she appeared in the kitchen. ‘He’s changed his morning appointments so he doesn’t have to go in until eleven thirty, so he’ll drop Hope off here at eleven.’

Holly opened her mouth, confused by the drowsiness of sleep and the facts that were bombarding her so soon. And Evan wasn’t done yet.

‘We also knew that you’d probably kick up a fuss, so Ben and I made a collective decision together that you don’t have a choice in the matter. He’s coming at eleven and no sooner. You can’t drive over there to get Hope, and I’m not going to either. Which means we’ve got the morning to try to sort things out, find some space in your closets and drawers for all my stuff, and get ready for Hope this afternoon.’

There was too much information to take in in one go. Rubbing her eyes, Holly tried to backtrack on what she just heard.

‘Sorry, did you say space in my closet? How long are you planning on staying for?’