Page 89 of Lost in Love

Anna smiled and took her hand. “What do we do now?”

Katherine pulled her closer. “Anything you like.”

“I want to visit Dad. Will you come?”

“Of course, though I’ll need your help getting something in the car first.”

They held hands as they walked along the high street back to Abbey House. It felt good to have the doctor on her arm, and any shocked faces were met with big smiles from both her and Katherine. Nunswick was going to have to get used to two ladies walking around holding hands in public and occasionally kissing outside the tearoom.

“So, how did it go with Margaret? Are you now my boss?” Anna asked.

“I am indeed, and before you ask, the card wasn’t what you thought. She was very embarrassed that I might have taken it that way, which, come to think of it, I probably wouldn’t have if you hadn’t suggested it.”

“Did you disclose our relationship before or after you brought it up?”

“I mentioned it when I accepted the job; she said it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“So she knew we were together before you confronted her about the card.”

Katherine laughed. “Yes, what of it?”

“Only that she would hardly admit it meant something else when you’d just told her you were seeing me.”

Katherine’s tone changed. “She appeared genuinely mortified, so that’s enough for me. Let’s drop it.”

Anna didn’t feel she could push the point any further. She hoped rather than believed that Margaret had at least got the message and that would be an end to it.

“That reminds me: she asked me to give you something.” Katherine rummaged in her bag and extracted a rectangular packet. “Congratulations.”

Anna extracted a guidebook from the packed and flicked through the pages. “It’s better than I imagined.” A wide smile spread across her face, and she stuffed her nose into the book, inhaling deeply.

Katherine laughed at her. “I’m glad I’m not the only one that sniffs books.” She opened the boot of her car remotely as they approached the driveway and pulled a catch inside, which dropped the back seats.

“I’m intrigued,” Anna said as Katherine extracted the boot cover.

The corners of Katherine’s mouth curled. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Anna followed Katherine into the house.

“Are you serious?” Anna stared at the large leather chair in Katherine’s sitting room. “That won’t fit in your car.”

“We can at least try. I’d been thinking about buying two new chairs; you could help me choose.”

“I won’t say no, although I did enjoy cuddling up on your long sofas.” Anna nudged herself into Katherine.

“Perhaps we should just move the television instead then?”

“Let’s see if we can get this in the car first, shall we? Or even out the front door.”

With a lot of heavy breathing and pulled muscles, they squeezed the chair into the boot of the car. They held their breath as the boot came down and, with a slight movement on the chair’s part, shut.

“Here, you can drive.” Katherine threw a bunch of keys at Anna. “I’m quite done being the chauffeur.”

“But I’m not insured.”

“You are as of this morning. I took a photo of your driver’s licence… when we were… before. I was going to do it then.”

Anna narrowed her eyes. “You’re sneaky. I’m going to have to watch you.”