Chapter 56
56
‘Oh wow, now this is amazing! Come on, Giles. Why are you so slow?’ Holly practically sprinted out onto the grounds. It was beautiful. Such a stunning setting, with rough rock faces sloping down to the rolling waves of the sea. The lush lawns were covered in such soft, green grass, Holly could only imagine the fun Hope would have performing cartwheel after cartwheel. But it wasn’t the grass or the sea that held her attention the most.
‘Is that a giant rabbit?’ she said, still racing towards a sculpture. ‘Oh my God, this is amazing. This is my favourite. Jamie and I are getting one of these for the garden. I don’t care what it costs. I need it.’
‘You’d want a giant rabbit?’ Giles’s lips were tight, his expression almost scathing. For a second, Holly feared he was about to say something cutting and mean, like he’d done in the car, but then a wide slanted grin spread across his face. ‘Would you really choose a giant rabbit when you could have a giant polar bear instead?’
‘What?’ Holly said, still grinning. Giles pointed behind her.
The creature was immense – at least twelve feet high and covered in more white flowers than Holly had ever known existed.
‘There’s an otter over there too.’
‘No, it’s the polar bear. We need a polar bear. Come on, I want us to get a selfie underneath it.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘There’s no way anyone will believe I saw a twelve-foot polar bear made out of flowers unless we have a photo under it. Now hurry up!’
She turned to move towards the polar bear, only for a loud horn to stop her in her tracks. It only took her a moment to realise where the sound had come from.
One of the golf buggies was cutting its way through the exhibition. From the way they were zigzagging, it didn’t look like something they were supposed to be doing.
‘Get out of the way, suckers!’
Holly recognised the voice before she saw the face driving. It was the same man from the restaurant – the one who had caused a complete scene. They were currently performing loops around various sculptures, scattering people, who ran screaming. Behind them, another golf buggy was in pursuit.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ a man was calling from the back of the second buggy. ‘We are sorry about the disturbance. The police have been called. Please go inside until the situation is under control.’
The first golf buggy was veering away from them now, towards the edge of the manor. Holly couldn’t move as she watched it. What the hell was wrong with people? They could kill someone in that thing. Somebody’s life could be entirely ruined because of some idiot deciding to do something reckless. It wasn’t only their own life they were playing with. It was innocent people’s lives too. And these weren’t children messing around. These were adults.
‘Holly? Holly, we need to go inside,’ Giles said. ‘Actually, maybe we should use this as a sign to get going. We don’t want to get caught up in the police turning up and everything. At that rate, we’ll never get home.’
Holly nodded; that made sense. There were plenty of witnesses around. She was sure she and Giles wouldn’t be able to add anything more to the situation and this was not something he could talk down. The police were needed.
‘Okay,’ she said, only to hesitate. ‘Can we just get a selfie with that polar bear first?’
Giles looked in the direction the buggy had gone. There didn’t seem to be any sign of it coming back.
‘Sure, come on.’
Together, they quickly darted over towards the giant polar bear, and Holly grabbed her phone out of her pocket.
‘My arms are longer – give it to me,’ Giles said. ‘Besides, you know I take better pictures.’
‘You don’t,’ Holly said, ‘but you do have longer arms, so I’ll give you that.’
He stretched his arm out, then pointed the camera towards them and angled it so that the polar bear – or as much of it as they could fit – was in the shot too.
‘Okay, we’re going to need to get closer to get the whole thing in.’
In what seemed like the most normal, natural motion, Giles placed his arm around Holly’s waist and pulled her into his side. But her body’s reaction was anything but normal. It felt like every fibre of her being had been set alight with static shocks. Tingles spread out from where he touched her, all the way to her chest, causing her pulse to rocket. And when she lifted her head up, she found she wasn’t facing the camera any more. In fact, Giles was no longer holding the camera up; it was down by his side. Both their bodies had somehow twisted around, so their chests were pressing together and her eyes were looking up into his. She didn’t know how it had happened. It was like her body simply needed to be in this position. And maybe his did too.
‘Holly,’ Giles whispered. ‘I don’t know…’
He couldn’t finish his sentence, but he didn’t need to. Holly understood everything he was trying to say. Everything he felt – or at least she thought she did. This was it. This was the moment she had been waiting for. The moment she had to put it all on the line.
‘Giles, what I wrote… We need to?—’
A sudden crashing sound stole the words from her mouth and sent every nearby bird into the air.
‘What the hell was that?’ she said instead.