Christmas at Lock Keeper's Cottage by Lucy Coleman

Author:Lucy Coleman [Coleman, Lucy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838890551
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2020-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

We’re in bed by eight-thirty, so it’s no surprise that at just after three in the morning we are both wide awake.

‘I feel like I’ve had a full night’s sleep,’ Gray whispers in the darkness. ‘I wonder if the power is back on.’

When we jump out of bed to stare out of the window, it’s clear that we left the lights on. ‘The garden lights are back on. So, it’s all good. The heating hasn’t kicked in, though, and it’s freezing. Do you fancy a cup of tea?’

Gray eases his legs over the side of the bed.

‘I’ll go and reset the boiler, while you pop the kettle on.’

Grabbing one of my thick jumpers from the chest of drawers, I tug it over my head, reappearing to see Gray staring at me.

‘What?’

‘Very fetching,’ he replies.

Even in the gloom, Rudolph’s bright red nose seems to glow as if it’s lit up.

‘He’s cuddly. I’ve had him for years.’

Grabbing the tray from our evening feast, I make my way down to the kitchen and brave putting on one of the side lights.

I’m so used to living here alone that it’s still strange, whenever Gray sleeps over, to hear someone banging around upstairs. But it is comforting and being one of a couple means that a lot of things are about to change – it’s time to start getting used to that.

‘Heating’s on. It won’t take long to warm it up. Do you have any biscuits?’

I look across at Gray as he approaches and burst out laughing. He brings his usual T-shirt and shorts to sleep in, but it is icy cold in here and he’s grabbed my winter dressing gown. He looks like a hobbit with the hood up and his hairy – admittedly, very muscular – legs exposed, as it barely reaches his knees.

‘Fetching,’ I remark, not even trying to hide my reaction. ‘It’s a no to the biscuits, sorry.’

Instead, he swings open the fridge door, reaching his hand inside.

‘Would you think it awful if I had another slice of cheesecake?’

‘Not if we share it,’ I retort.

‘Ah, a woman after my own heart. Shall I pop up and get a blanket so I can take off this teeny dressing gown and we can snuggle up on the sofa?’

‘Please do and I’ll try my best to wipe the image from my mind.’

I wave him off while I sort everything out. There’s something so decadent about being awake when the rest of Aysbury is fast asleep. A feeling of exhilaration courses through me. It’s not simply the fact that Christmas is looming, we’re engaged, and Gray and I will soon be living together, but the feeling that my life is finally falling into place.

Carrying the tray into the sitting room, I find Gray is now assembling an array of candles on the coffee table. The moment our eyes meet my heart begins to thud in my chest. He is my soul mate, there’s no mistaking that. And I’m his.

‘You spoil me,’ he says.

I hold out a plate and he grabs one of the two forks in my hand.

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