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Holly turned and looked at the old woman, not sure whether she should feel guilty or annoyed at the comment.

‘Well, he is.’

Kathy still wasn’t having any of it. Her head shook, lips pursed together in a pout.

‘Well, I’ve not seen him around.’

‘I’m not what you’d call local,’ Evan said, offering his deepest American drawl. This wasn’t the first time Holly had heard him turn on his accent just to make a point, but she couldn’t help but smile.

‘Is that everything, officer?’ Holly said. ‘Because if it’s okay with you, I’d really like to get my daughter home. It’s bath and bedtime now.’

As if understanding what was required of her, Hope scrunched up her nose and opened her mouth, giving the widest yawn possible.

Looking almost as tired, the officer let out a sigh.

‘Yes, of course. It’s fine. You get going.’

48

Evan had tied Holly’s shoelaces for her, so she had one less thing to worry about as she carried Hope back to the cottage.

‘So I’m guessing that’s enough to put you off moving here?’ she asked, as she paused outside the front door to get her keys out. Thankfully, they had seen the funny side of the situation – unlike Kathy, who had huffed off. Holly suspected it was more out of embarrassment than actual anger, but either way, she was going to give the bird park a wide berth for a while.

‘You think one overly curious, nosy old woman would be enough to scare me off?’ Evan laughed. ‘Believe me, we get those where I’m from too. I think you get them everywhere. Besides, you know Kathy will love me soon enough. Everyone loves me when they get to know me.’

‘Is that right?’ Holly stepped forward, and Evan wrapped his arms around her waist.

‘It is, though it happens there’s only one person in this village whose opinion I actually care about.’

He shifted closer, but Holly crinkled her nose. ‘You know that’s not actually true. I mean, there’s Fin and Jamie, not to mention Hope.’

‘Stop trying to ruin the moment, will you?’ he said, as a smile twisted on his mouth. Happy to oblige, Holly closed her eyes and leaned forward.

They fell into a kiss. Sleepy, and full of weariness, but utterly perfect. Or at least it would have been, had Hope not started crying the moment their lips touched.

‘Hold that thought,’ Holly said.

When they got inside the cottage, she disappeared upstairs to put Hope to bed. Given how sleepy Hope now was – and how much Holly didn’t want to ask Evan for help so quickly again – she decided they were going to miss bath night. A wash with a flannel around all the important places more than sufficed, and was quickly followed by a book, though Hope barely made it through the first repeat ofBear Hunt.

When Holly came back downstairs, half an hour later, Evan was working away on his laptop on the dining room table. She stood beside him and draped her right arm around his shoulder, before kissing him lightly on the ear.

‘She asleep?’

‘For now.’

Breaking away, Holly pulled out one of the dining chairs and sat down next to him. Despite having slept in later than she’d done for years, she was exhausted. As much as she and Evan had laughed at Kathy’s busybody-ness, it meant that now she was going to have to deal with the village gossip about her new boyfriend, along with everything else. And the fact that her parents were arriving home tomorrow meant she wouldn’t be able to delay the inevitable that much longer.

‘Do you want to watch a movie?’ Evan said, breaking her thoughts.

‘A film?’

‘Yes. Do you want to watch one? I have about half an hour’s work to do if that’s okay? We can put the movie on after that.’

‘You need to do work now? This evening? Sorry, yes, of course you do. Ignore me. My mind is all over the place.’

Although coming to Bourton and waiting on her hand and foot clearly meant that Evan had neglected his business for the day, he pushed his laptop lid halfway down and turned on his seat so that he was facing Holly. Pressing his lips together, he placed a hand on her knee.

‘Holly, can I say something? Something about your mum and the cottage… because it’s clearly eating you up.’