Home for Christmas by Heidi Swain

Author:Heidi Swain
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2024-10-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Nigel’s taxi had barely reached the outskirts of town before I realized that my running away from the party like Cinderella on a bad day (or in this case, night) hadn’t been the most mature or sensible response to the situation.

‘Jeanie,’ I breathed, when she answered my call.

‘Bella?’ she responded, her tone full of concern. ‘Where the hell are you? We were all set to send out a search party.’

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘I had a killer headache come on all of a sudden, and there was a taxi on the distillery drive that could bring me home, so I took it.’

‘But why didn’t you say? Jude would have taken you back.’

I was tempted to tell her that I hadn’t wanted to disturb him, and why, but I knew that if I said what I’d seen playing out in the gazebo, then she’d do the mental gymnastics and come to the right conclusion: that I’d left because I had been upset.

‘The pain got so bad, I wasn’t thinking straight,’ I said instead. ‘But you know where I am now, so no search party necessary. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, yeah?’

‘Well,’ she said hesitantly, ‘as long as you’re sure you’re okay?’

‘I am,’ I told her. ‘I’m just going to get in, wash down some painkillers with a pint of water and go to bed. Will you thank Jack and Tilly for me? Apart from the headache, I had a great time at the party.’

‘And I’ll tell Jude you’re okay, too.’

‘Of course.’

‘He was worried.’

I was surprised he’d noticed my absence given how occupied he’d been in the gazebo.

‘I didn’t mean to worry anyone,’ I apologized.

‘Well,’ she said, ‘I’m not worried now.’

‘Good.’

‘And you’re not the only person who’s disappeared,’ she started to say, then swore. ‘Shit, my stupid phone’s about to die. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Bella, and don’t forget—’

The call cut off, but I wasn’t worried. I’d told her what I needed to say and, with a headache genuinely starting to develop, I was relieved when Nigel dropped me off at home and, having made a fuss of Tink and let her out and back in again, I could go to bed.

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