Chapter 1 Becky #3
“If you need to make a work call from my car, you can make a call, Becks.” He was the only person, other than her brother, who called her Becks.
“It’s confidential.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not exactly known as a gossip.”
And given what he’d witnessed that was lucky for her, although right now she didn’t feel lucky.
She felt as if the universe hated her.
From behind her she heard a woman mutter if she doesn’t want to get into his car then I will , and for a fleeting moment she saw Will as a stranger might.
He was tall and he radiated calm confidence.
He was a doctor, a cardiologist, and she was sure that any patient who saw him approach the bedside would instantly feel reassured.
A smart wool coat emphasized the width of his shoulders and a pair of glasses with a bold tortoiseshell frame accentuated the lean lines of his face.
He looked as if he’d stepped directly from a photoshoot for “sexy academic man.”
She was conscious of her faded jeans and her comfortable hoodie that she all but lived in. What did he see when he looked at her?
His best friend’s little sister.
The thought was annoying. She shouldn’t care. She didn’t care! She’d known him all her life and he was one of the few people she always felt comfortable with, but that had all changed the day of the wedding.
The memory of that had her reaching behind her for her hood. She tugged it over her head in the hope that it might act as a shield.
He frowned. “Are you cold? Because you can have my coat.” He was already starting to shrug it from his shoulders but she stopped him.
“I’m not cold. My coat is in my luggage because I always overheat in airports. It’s just my head. My head gets cold. You lose most of your heat through your head. You’re a doctor. You should know that.”
“Um—” He pulled a face and pushed his glasses up his nose. “That’s a myth.”
“It is? That isn’t a thing?”
“Not exactly, although of course it’s important to bear in mind the effects that cooling the face and head can have on systemic cardiovascular reflex responses, particularly in elderly people.”
She loved it when he delivered random facts. “Elderly? I’m twenty-eight.”
“I know how old you are, Becks.”
Of course he did. He knew everything about her.
She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, wishing she was more comfortable in awkward social situations. This was one of those occasions where, given the choice, she would have shut herself away with just her laptop for company.
“I’m keeping my hood up anyway. In case my head is the exception. I might be suffering from premature aging. Or maybe my head gets colder because my hair is short.”
“It’s cute. You look good with short hair.”
He was trying to make her feel better. Trying to ease the embarrassment he knew she was feeling.
Since the wedding she’d avoided him as much as she could. The last thing she’d expected was to come face to face with him in a busy airport but given her current run of bad luck she probably should have anticipated it.
It was time to implement her extraction protocol.
She was great at melting away without anyone noticing, mostly because she wasn’t the sort of person people noticed in the first place, but in this case melting anywhere wasn’t easy because Will was looking at her in a slightly strange way and it was unsettling because he always seemed to see so much more than most people.
“Honestly, I’m fine. I’ll need a car when I’m up there anyway. I was going to hire one at the airport so that I can be independent because my mother’s car has a habit of breaking down at inconvenient moments.”
“Is this about what happened at the wedding?” He reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from her face, and if it had been anyone else but Will, she would have slapped his hand away but he’d been hauling her out of ditches and shunting her up trees in the forest near where they lived since she was five years old.
She didn’t mind him touching her hair, but she did mind about the question.
She didn’t want to think about the wedding. She’d tried to block the whole thing from her mind. But now he’d reminded her and every painful detail came flooding back, including all the emotions she’d been trying to ignore.
“The wedding? No, of course not. It feels like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?
I can barely remember a thing about it, apart from the scratchy dress Rosie made me wear.
No, this is about what’s practical. Anyway, good to see you, Will.
I hope you have a good journey home and a great Christmas.
Maybe we’ll bump into each other at some point.
” She was tempted to step away but then she would have lost her place in the queue, so she waited for him to do it. Leave. Please, just leave.
He didn’t leave.
“We’re going to be bumping into each other tomorrow. You do know I’m going to the party at your house?”
No, she hadn’t known that. If she’d known she would have looked harder for an excuse to stay in London.
This was promising to be the most excruciating Christmas on record.
“Jamie invited you?” Of course he had. Will was Jamie’s closest friend.
They’d known each other since kindergarten.
They’d gone to the same medical school, although once qualified they’d chosen different specialities and their paths had diverged.
But if Jamie was having a celebration, Will was going to be there.
“Yes. He said he had something big to announce. I assume it’s an engagement?”
“I’m assuming the same.”
“I’m happy for him. I know things were rough there for a while.” He adjusted his glasses. “So you’re going to be a bridesmaid again.”
Her gaze met his briefly and she knew they were both thinking about the last time she was a bridesmaid.
Not her finest moment.
“Looks that way. Woohoo. Lucky me. I just hope he doesn’t expect me to dress as a fairy like Rosie did. I’m not fairy material.”
“You looked stunning in that dress, Becks.”
He was just being kind, because he’d sensed she was in a low mood.
“Yeah, right. It gave me a rash, but—thanks.” Another thing she wasn’t good at. Accepting compliments. “Anyway, you should get going. I’m guessing the snow is going to make the driving difficult.”
Will glanced from her to the long line of people ahead of her, as if trying to understand her decision. “If you’re sure...”
“I’m sure.”
But just at that moment there was a commotion at the front of the queue.
“What do you mean there are no more cars?” A man spoke in a loud voice. “There has to be something.”
A ripple of consternation passed through the line of people.
“No cars?”
“Did he say no cars?”
“What’s supposed to happen now?”
It was obvious what had to happen now, at least for Becky.
She closed her eyes and tried a few seconds of mindfulness.
When she opened them Will was still standing there, waiting. She had to admire his staying power.
With a sigh, she swallowed her pride. “If your offer of sharing your car still stands—”
“It still stands, and I promise not to listen when you make your important phone call.”
She wished she’d never mentioned a phone call. Not only would she now need to find someone to call, but she was going to have to make it sound important.
“Thanks.”
He nodded and stretched out his hand. “Do you want help with that suitcase?”
“Do I look weak and feeble? Thanks, but I’m fine.” She grabbed it firmly and tugged it closer to her, wondering how she was going to survive this. As well as dreading the impending family gathering, she was now also dreading the journey.
“I thought your muscles might have atrophied given the time you spend glued to computer screens.”
He was teasing her the way he’d always teased her. It should have felt natural, but nothing felt natural anymore.
“I could still beat you in an arm-wrestling match.”
His eyebrow lifted. “If you’re referring to that incident on your fifteenth birthday, I let you win.”
“No you didn’t, but we’ll pretend you did if that protects your ego.”
“I let you win because you were trying to impress that boy who played in the school orchestra with you. The one with red hair and freckles. Tom.”
“Tim.” How on earth had he remembered that? “Tim Tucker. I haven’t thought about him in years.”
“I seem to remember the strategy backfired. He was too scared to go near you after that.”
“So you’re the reason that relationship didn’t work out.”
He nodded slowly. “Probably, although in my defence I couldn’t see you being happy with a man who was scared to arm-wrestle you. But relationships are complicated. So are feelings.”
And didn’t she know it. She wasn’t good at showing her feelings, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have them.
And she wished she didn’t. Feelings were so annoying.
There were plenty of days when she thought life would be a lot easier if the human body had been designed to include an on/off switch for feelings.
At least then when it all got too much she could have rebooted the system.
She noticed the sign to the car park. “We should probably get moving.”
“Yes. If we’re lucky we’ll be there by late afternoon.”
Only if his luck was better than hers.
He was checking the weather and the route on his phone. “Mm. If this forecast is correct, the journey might not be easy. It’s saying nine hours.”
“Nine hours? Did you say nine hours? ”
“It’s snowing. Broken-down vehicles. Lane closures. Don’t worry. We’ll stock up with snacks and you can choose the music.”
The way she felt at the moment her first choice would be a funeral march.
She should have trusted her instincts and refused his offer.
Because it wasn’t true that no one knew the real reason she didn’t want to go home for Christmas. That no one knew her secret.
Will Patterson knew. And now she was going to be trapped in a car with him for nine hours.
Merry Christmas, Becky.