Sixteen
Snow was piled against the sliding doors, to a height of at least three feet, maybe more in places. I had never seen so much snow and I still couldn’t quite believe it after the sunshine and warmth of yesterday.
‘It’s a good thing I brought plenty of food,’ I said.
‘It’s a good thing I stayed,’ said Sam. ‘I don’t think anyone is going anywhere today, not even the gritters.’
‘And I don’t think Melody will be out building snow people. The snow level is as high as she is tall.’
Sam grinned and walked along the hall, gingerly opening the front door and quickly closing it before the wall of snow resting against it, toppled inside.
‘I think I was five when we last had this much snow,’ he said. And then he let out a long and dramatic sigh. ‘Oh well, I don’t see any point in us staying up, do you? Especially when there’s such a warm and inviting bed upstairs.’
‘Sam! Shouldn’t we at least make a pretence of behaving like normal people, rather than wild rabbits.’
He raised his brows. ‘Why? It’s not as if anyone can see us. And wild rabbits have a bad rep when really they’re cute and fluffy bundles of joy.’
‘Perhaps. But I need more coffee first. And you’ve got to show me how that machine works.’
‘Come on then,’ he said, taking my hand in his and leading me into the kitchen.
It took far longer than it should have, partly because we were laughing so much, and partly because we constantly stopped for kisses, but I finally got to grips with the coffee machine.
‘You’ll be repairing bikes next,’ he said, pulling me into his arms as we waited for the coffee.
‘Oh will I? Does that mean you’ll be designing wedding dresses sometime soon?’
He gave me a questioning look as I ran my fingers down his chest.
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ I added. ‘I thought you meant we’d be tackling one another’s jobs before long.’
He shook his head, but he was laughing. ‘No you didn’t. You just wanted to take another little dig at my commitment phobia.’
‘Is it a phobia?’
‘No. Phobias are fears. I’m not afraid of commitment. I simply don’t believe in it. I'm just not cut out for marriage. Or long-term relationships,’ Sam said with more than a hint of sadness and regret in his voice this time. ‘I told you about my parents. Mum's been married four times since Dad. Dad’s been married three, and is about to propose to his fourth wife-to-be. We don’t do long-term relationships well in my family. Along with more than fifty percent of the population. Have you seen the divorce statistics? And your parents are divorced, so it’s not just mine, and half the world, who couldn’t make marriage work.’
‘But Mum has remarried again. And Chris, her new husband, is the love of her life. Don’t you believe there’s someone out there for each of us?’
He shook his head again and eased me away from him, walking towards the fridge as he spoke.
‘Nope. That’s the stuff of fairytales, in my opinion. Life isn’t a fairytale, Lucy.’
‘I know that,’ I said, taking the milk from him as he reached out for the cups. ‘But we have to believe in something or what’s the point? I do believe in love and marriage. I believe there’s someone out there I could happily spend the rest of my life with. Raise a family with. Share my good times and bad times with. Don’t you want that? Wouldn’t you like to have someone special in your life?’
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at me, a deep crease forming between his brows.
‘I do have someone special in my life,’ he finally said. ‘And she’s standing right beside me.’
‘Oh Sam!’ My heart soared in my chest, but it soon came crashing to the ground.
‘But that doesn’t mean I’m about to have a relationship. People come and go in our lives. It’s important to enjoy times like this, and then move on to the next experience.’
‘Oh, Sam,’ I sighed. ‘For a moment there I thought there was hope.’
He tensed visibly and I realised this was dangerous ground.
‘What did you do with the biscuits?’ I quickly added.
‘Biscuits? Oh. From last night. They’re in that cupboard.’
He nodded towards the end cupboard of the row and then he went and got them. I didn’t want a biscuit, but it was the first thing that had popped into my head, so I took one, and my coffee, and I went and sat on the sofa.
Sam came and sat beside me, bringing his own coffee with him, together with the packet of biscuits which he placed on the coffee table as I stared out at the wall of white.
‘Are we okay?’ he asked.
‘Yes. We’re … great. Aren’t we?’
He nodded. ‘Yep. We’re great.’
It was only then that I realised there were flames dancing behind the glass door of the wood burner.
‘When did you light that?’ I asked, pointing towards it.
‘When I made breakfast,’ he said.
‘Wow. You’re handy to have around.’ I smiled at him.
‘All part of the service.’ He smiled back.
‘Do you need me to give you a review or something? Because you’ll get five stars from me if so.’
‘Only five? I was hoping I had excelled.’
‘Oh you have. Five out of five is only for those who excel. Okay, but six is as high as I’ll go. And no one ever gets a six from me. Or a five, for that matter, so you should be as pleased as punch.’
He turned to look me directly in the eye. ‘No one? Ever?’
‘Nope.’
‘Not even Ted?’
I’d completely forgotten about Ted, as awful as that seems.
‘Not even Ted. Although he did come close.’
‘But … he wasn’t the one. That special someone you believe is out there for you. The one you could happily spend the rest of your life with. Raise a family with. Share your good times and bad times with.’
‘No. He wasn’t.’
‘But … you genuinely believe that? That’s really what you want?’
‘Absolutely. I want to love and be loved. I told you that. I want someone who makes my heart soar and my entire body tingle. Someone who wants me and needs me so badly that they can’t stop thinking about me. Someone who looks at me as if I’m the most beautiful woman in the world.’
‘You are, Lucy. I mean, I think you’re beautiful. And … part of that other stuff applies to me. I think I made that clear last night. It’s just … the love thing I can’t do. And the lifetime commitment I can’t give you.’
‘Ah, so close and yet so far. Was that the doorbell?’
Sam was looking at me so intensely but the chime of the bell made him turn his head towards the front door.
‘Shall I?’ he asked.
‘Please do,’ I replied. ‘You need to keep that five-star rating.’
‘Six,’ he said, leaning over to give me a quick kiss before he stood up. ‘You gave me six, remember? And, as it happens, you’re a six too.’
‘Obviously!’ My heart did a little leap yet again, as Sam strolled towards the front door.
‘Good morning.’ Marcus sounded pleased to see Sam, but not entirely surprised.
‘Good morning to you,’ said Sam, and then he called out to me, ‘Lucy. Marcus has freed us from our golden prison. He’s removed the wall of snow. And, it seems, he’s carved a path to this front door and along the lane to his.’
I got up and went to greet him.
‘Crikey, Marcus! How on earth did you do that? Good morning, by the way.’
Marcus laughed. ‘I’ve got skills,’ he joked. ‘And tools.’
‘And helpers,’ said Alec, appearing beside him. ‘Good morning, Lucy.’ He grinned at Sam knowingly, and Sam smiled back. ‘And Sam. Noelle wants to know if you need anything.’
‘As does Adele,’ said Marcus, also grinning as if they were all in on some joke.
I hoped I wasn’t the joke.
‘Thank you both,’ I said. ‘And please thank Adele and Noelle, but I’m fine. I’ve got everything I need.’ And then I couldn’t help myself. I slipped my arm through Sam’s and gave them all my sexiest smile. ‘And everything I could possibly want. Sam’s making sure of that.’
All three of them looked at me and then Alec and Marcus looked at Sam.
‘What a good thing you arrived when you did,’ Marcus said.
‘Perfect timing,’ said Alec.
‘I thought so,’ said Sam. ‘Although I’m not sure when I’ll see my bike again. I may need to borrow some tools, Marcus, and possibly some man-power to dig it out. But not today. Obviously.’
‘Obviously not,’ said Marcus. ‘Right. We’ll leave you to it. Just give me a shout when you want to search for your bike.’
‘I don’t think I’ll be going to work on Monday,’ said Alec. ‘Unless there’s another drastic change in the weather. So I can give you a hand as well. Keep warm,’ he added, with an even bigger grin.
‘Count on it,’ I said. ‘I hope Melody gets a chance to build her snow people.’
‘She’s checking the snow depth every half hour. Do you want us to give you a call when the fun’s about to start? Or do you have other plans?’
Sam and I exchanged glances and smiles.
‘Making snow people sounds like fun, so yes please,’ I said.
‘And getting warm in front of a roaring fire afterwards, sounds even better,’ Sam said. ‘So I’m in.’
‘We’ll just have to find a way to occupy ourselves until then,’ I teased.
‘We’ve got Monopoly,’ said Alec, and then laughed. ‘I’m leaving. Good bye for now. Have fun.’
‘I’m up for Monopoly,’ said Marcus. ‘And I’m sure Adele will be too. Although she did say she might bake some of her delicious chocolate brownies.’
‘Melody would love to help with that,’ said Alec.
‘Good bye to you both,’ said Sam, laughing as he closed the front door.
I could hear Marcus and Alec laughing as they walked away and I was just about to turn and walk back to the sofa when Sam pulled me into his arms.
‘What game could we play, I wonder?’ he said, his eyes darkening with desire.
‘Hmm. Let me think.’ I tapped my fingers against my lips and then trailed them down the front of my dress. ‘Nope. Nothing comes to me right away.’
‘Oh doesn’t it?’ That gorgeous smile of his lit up his face and his eyes. ‘Well, I have a few ideas.’
He swept me up in his arms once again and carried me back to the bedroom.