Page 59 of All Wrapped Up

Not far was the answer, because she was engaged in a mild argument with Jason who was then keenly telling everyone who would listen that he had already seen mine and Ash’s getting together coming and so it wasn’t a surprise at all.

‘Well, it was to me,’ Joanne pouted and then realised we were standing behind her.

‘Absolutely no matchmaking required,’ I told her. ‘And Jason is telling the truth. He’d worked out that Ash had feelings for me, ages ago.’

‘Thank you,’ Jason nodded. ‘See,’ he then added smugly, for Joanne’s benefit.

‘Close your mouth,’ Jemma then told her. ‘You’re putting customers off their cakes. Congratulations, you two. I’m so happy for you.’

‘As am I,’ said Jason, as he toasted us with his coffee cup.

‘Me too,’ said Joanne. ‘Though I could have got you together a whole lot quicker than this.’

It obviously hadn’t occurred to her that Ash and I had got together when we were meant to or that her former interference could have put a spanner in the works and prevented it ever happening at all.

‘Were my eyes deceiving me?’ Lizzie then burst in, sending the café bell madly clanging as she looked between us. ‘Or did I really just see you two kissing in the square?’

‘You did,’ I was delighted to be able to tell her as Ash held up our joined hands.

I had always been quite shy about public shows of affection, but our kiss had got the job done and been thoroughly wonderful to boot.

‘Oh, that’s amazing!’ Lizzie grinned and clapped. ‘I’m so happy for you both.’

‘As are we,’ said Ash, as he gave me another quick kiss.

‘Yay!’ Lizzie cheered again. ‘Now I have to go, otherwise I’ll have no customers left.’

‘And we should go, too,’ said Ash, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. ‘There’s still lots for us to do.’

There wasn’t, but I appreciated him pulling us out of the limelight. We could hear the level of chatter rising even before we’d closed the café door.

‘Mission accomplished!’ he declared, kissing the back of my hand. ‘Now, how about some lunch?’

‘You can’t be hungry already!’ I laughed.

‘In case you’ve forgotten, I had a full list of chores to complete before we came out.’

‘That’s true,’ I relented, thinking of the long list of tasks I’d jokingly set him but he’d completed nonetheless. ‘Pub then? My treat.’

The novelty of Ash and I being together soon wore off and we were able to enjoy the Halloween procession in town and award more prizes, this time for the best costumes, without too much scrutiny.

The turnout was even better than I could have hoped for and, as a result of helping Lizzie in the gallery, I recognised a few of the lanterns bobbing along the pavements and around the square and even some of the faces behind the scary masks and gaudy make-up.

The central display was full of lit pumpkins and there were strings of lights, too, all with warm orange bulbs.

The atmosphere was one of harmony as I handed out sweets to the trick or treaters and felt blessed to live amongst such a wonderful community, especially now Jason had turned out to be a friend, rather than a fiend.

‘Are you ready to go?’ Ash asked, as lots of people headed back to the town hall for the second film and a few others made for the pub in a fascinating variety of creepy costumes. ‘I don’t think anyone will notice if we slip away now, do you?’

Even though Jeanie’s fancy-dress party in The Mermaid had a thrilling reputation, Ash and I had decided not to attend. Pixie had been alone at the cottage a good long while already and as my beau had plans for a predawn start the next day, he had suggested a very early night.

‘I’ll pick you up at four,’ he told me on the drive home.

‘I’ll be ready,’ I promised.

‘And wrap up warm.’ I had a good idea of what he had in mind, but didn’t want to ruin the surprise. ‘And no, we can’t take Pixie, but don’t worry, because we’ll be back before she wakes up and misses us.’

‘Are you going to come in?’ I asked as he drew up at the gate.

‘Not tonight,’ he said, leaning across the seat to kiss me goodnight, ‘otherwise it won’t be worth me going back to the barn.’

‘All right,’ I said, as I undid my seatbelt. ‘I’ll see you in the morning, then.’

I still wasn’t quite ready to suggest that he didn’t have to go home and I wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t asked.

I didn’t feel in any way pressured to move our relationship along and I loved him all the more for that.

I was still getting used to having him in my heart, so giving him access to my bed wasn’t something I was going to rush.

That said, if his kisses continued to fill me with such desire it probably wouldn’t take as long as I had originally thought…

‘Oh, my god!’ I shouted. ‘This is amazing!’

Knowing how much I loved the birds that visited my garden and how keenly I had tracked the migrating geese that traversed the Fenland sky above, Ash had sacrificed my Sunday morning lie-in for an extremely early morning drive out to the north Norfolk coast and a stretch of marshland that seemed rather off the beaten track.

‘How many do you think there are?’

‘According to the most recent counts,’ Ash told me as the air was filled with another intense wave of wing beats and honks, ‘well over fifty thousand pink-footed geese, alone.’

‘That’s incredible!’ I gasped.

‘And there are other breeds mixed in with them, too.’

‘Amazing!’

‘I originally planned to come at dusk, when they return to the roost, but the guy who manages this stretch of the marsh is a mate of Will’s and he said we could sneak up here, but only at dawn, because this spot isn’t open to the public.’

‘Well, I really appreciate it,’ I told him, reaching for his hand. ‘And I don’t mind the early start at all. It’s a spectacular sight.’

‘I’m so pleased you’re enjoying it,’ he said, pulling me into his side. ‘Not every woman would want to get up in the dark and cold and drive all this way to see and hear this.’

‘Well,’ I said, thinking that what with the gift of my fairy and the bird table and feeders, he already knew me so well, ‘fortunately, I’m not every woman.’

‘That you’re not,’ he said huskily as he looked down at me. ‘You’re utterly unique.’

We were already completely keyed into one another and, as we kissed under the flying flocks who were heading off to their feeding grounds, I found I suddenly didn’t want to wait any longer to complete our relationship. It was time.

‘Are you ready to go home?’ Ash asked me, as the clamour of hungry geese started to die down and the sky grew lighter.

‘Yes,’ I said, my words filled with far more meaning than he could yet comprehend, ‘I’m ready.’