Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
“ I can sleep on the floor,” Warren said, looking around the guest bedroom with a wrinkled brow.
Anna wandered to the large bay window. “For half the night, maybe.”
“I can also just ask Mum if there’s another room,” he replied, not reacting to her joke. “I’ve never actually told them you’re my girlfriend, and there’s no reason they need to think that.”
“It’s fine.” Anna glanced at the bed. “The bed is enormous, and I don’t want to put your mum to any trouble.
” Her eyes darted to Warren. “Unless it’s an issue for you,” she said, her stomach tightening at the thought that he’d rather they have separate rooms. “If you’re not comfortable sharing, then ask your mum if there’s another option. ”
He hesitated for long enough that Anna felt a pang of disappointment.
“I’m not sure what your brother would think about us sharing a bed,” he finally said.
Her eyebrows twitched together. “Why does it matter what my brother would think? ”
“Normally it wouldn’t matter, but your brother is my best friend, so his opinion about it matters.”
“Call Lewis then and ask.” Shaking her head, she turned away from him.
“Is that a joke?” he asked.
“I just think it’s stupid that you think it matters what Lewis thinks.”
“I’ll sleep in a different room,” he said firmly.
Disappointment hit her in a wave, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it as Warren continued speaking.
“I don’t even know how you talked me into this,” he grumbled. “I didn’t want to come. I think that was quite clear. Why the heck did you want to come?”
Her heart was going crazy. Any hint of confrontation put her on edge. For the life of her she couldn’t remember why she’d agreed to come. And especially not why she’d wanted to come.
“I don’t know,” she replied so quietly she wasn’t sure her words were even audible.
Part of her expected him to apologise for snapping at her, but when she turned, he was perched on the end of the bed, hunched over, with his elbows resting on his knees. Suddenly, she suspected his bad mood wasn’t anything to do with her and the sleeping arrangements.
When they’d arrived, it hadn’t struck her as particularly odd that his parents hadn’t appeared to say hello, but now it seemed rude.
She tried to imagine how she’d feel if it were her parents, but couldn’t quite manage it.
Even after a few days of not seeing them, her parents greeted her as though it had been years.
“So this used to be a playroom?” she asked, breaking the silence after a few minutes.
He massaged the back of his neck, looking for a moment as though he might ignore her. “It’s completely different now.”
She nodded slowly, wishing her heart would calm down since she was starting to feel queasy. “I guess a lack of toys changes the vibe a little.”
A shadow of a smile played on his lips. “It was bigger,” he said, then pointed across the room. “They added a bathroom.”
Gathering her courage, she moved to sit beside him on the bed. “What’s your favourite memory from this house?”
“I don’t know.”
“You must have some good memories. I bet this was an amazing place to play hide and seek.”
“It’s not as good as you’d think,” he said. “We could only play on one floor at a time. If we could hide anywhere in the house, it was too difficult.”
“I didn’t think of that,” she mused.
He stayed silent for a moment. “The garden was my favourite.”
“Yeah?”
“Not even the garden.” He stood and went to the window.
“The fields beyond the garden. I used to love jumping over the wall and taking off into the fields. There are woods down in the valley with a stream running through. I’d go off with a net and a bucket and I could spend all day out there seeing what creatures I could find in the stream. ”
“That sounds very wholesome.”
He stared out of the window. “It was my favourite thing about my childhood. I had my favourite trees to climb too.”
“Show me,” she said, staring at his profile.
“What?”
“Let’s go for a walk. You can show me all your favourite places.”
He pulled his sleeve back to check his watch. “We have time to drive into Bath and do some shopping if you want.”
“I’d rather go for a walk.”
“It’s freezing.”
“What do you want to do, then?” she asked impatiently. She was trying to make things easier for him, and he seemed determined to hinder her attempts.
He smiled properly then.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s just surprising when you get annoyed.”
“I get annoyed a lot.”
“You don’t show it a lot.”
She shook her head. “What do you want to do this afternoon?”
“We can go for a walk,” he said in a way that sounded as though he was doing her a favour. “Just don’t complain that you’re freezing and have inappropriate footwear.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” she said mockingly.
It took about ten minutes of walking for Warren’s anger to dissipate. Annoyingly, it wasn’t just his family who’d got under his skin. His irritation had spilled over to Anna too, since it was her who’d encouraged him to come.
Because of her, he’d even looked forward to it.
Now, crunching over the frosty grass, he cast a discreet glance at Anna with her rosy cheeks and her dark hair poking out from beneath her grey bobble hat.
His family would never change, and there was really no point in being frustrated that they’d put work first yet again. What he should do was make sure Anna had a good time.
“Sorry for being grumpy before,” he said, as they tramped steadily down into the valley.
“You’re forgiven,” she said without missing a beat.
Amusement took the last of his bad mood. “That’s big of you.”
“I don’t tend to hold grudges. ”
“I was expecting you to question what I was talking about, or say you hadn’t noticed me being grumpy.”
Her eyes sparkled as she cast him a sidelong glance. “It would have been pretty difficult not to notice.”
“I wasn’t that bad.”
“You were pretty bad, but you apologised, so let’s forget it.” She pulled a strand of hair that had flicked into her mouth. “Show me which trees we’re climbing.”
A laugh escaped him. “We’re climbing trees?”
“Yes.” She beamed. “We’re reliving your childhood. Unless you think you’re not up to it?”
His eyes trailed over her, taking in her skin-tight jeans and sturdy knee-high boots. “I think I’ll manage,” he said, pushing a branch out of the way at the edge of the woods.
The scent of pine hit him as they followed the familiar path through the trees. A few minutes later, they reached the dried-up stream.
“It’s more fun in summer,” he said, hopping over the gulley where the water babbled in the warmer months.
Anna kept up easily as he picked his way through the rocks and shrubs until he reached a small clearing with a large tree in the middle.
“This is the best climbing tree,” he said, putting a hand against the rough bark of the old oak tree.
“It looks like a good one.” Anna walked around to the other side and disappeared from view. A moment later, she peeked around the trunk, looming a foot above him. “Race you to the top,” she said, mischief flashing in her eyes.
“Who are you?” he muttered as he pulled himself up onto a low branch.
Near the base of the tree, the abundant branches were so close together that it was more like climbing an uneven ladder and required little effort. As soon as the branches thinned out, Anna stopped and sat on a solid branch, with an arm on the tree trunk to steady herself .
“You took your time,” she said when he stood on the branch below hers, so he was at eye level with her.
He opened his mouth to reply, but all that came out was laughter.
“I prefer it when you’re not being grumpy,” she said, smiling softly.
“Me too.” Instinct had him reaching to push the stray lock of hair from her face, but he withdrew his hand, remembering what he’d said to Lewis about only seeing her as a friend.
“Did your sister used to come here with you?” Anna asked.
He nodded and shifted his weight to lean against the trunk of the tree. “We were close when we were young. Probably until we were teenagers, and then we couldn’t stand the sight of each other. Were you the same with Lewis and Carla?”
She shook her head. “We’ve always been close. They annoy me from time to time, but I never really had the feeling that I didn’t want to be around them. They’ve always been the easiest people for me to hang out with.”
“You’re lucky.” He thought of all the family dinners and get-togethers he’d been to with her family and couldn’t help but compare them to his own family. Feeling his mood shift, he pushed the thought away. “What was your favourite thing to do when you were a kid?”
“Ice skating,” she said immediately. “I wanted to be a figure skater.”
It wasn’t difficult to imagine – she had the grace and poise of a figure skater. “What happened?”
“I wasn’t very good.”
“Really?”
“I’m not being modest. I was good at skating, just not good enough. ” She paused. “I used to make Lewis skate with me. I’d make up elaborate routines.”
“I’ll bet he loved that. ”
“I think he secretly did. He was really good. It was annoying.”
“We should go skating in Bath tomorrow,” he said, liking the idea of gliding round the rink with her.
“Can you skate?”
“Yeah. I played hockey as a kid – so I have speed, but not a lot of finesse.”
Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “That’s probably not something to brag about!”
“I’ll be honest,” he said, chuckling. “When you dragged me out here, I didn’t imagine sexual innuendo in a tree.”
Her smile was glorious. “No, you expected me to complain that I was cold and my feet hurt.”
“Exactly.”
She bunched her shoulders up. “I’m freezing.”
“Let’s head back,” he said cheerfully. “I have an idea of how to warm up.”
If he really thought about it, he’d probably conclude that he should avoid spending time in the hot tub with his best friend’s sister.
So he decided not to think about it.