‘Sure I can.’
‘You’ll get a bad back,’ I insist.
‘I’ve slept on stable floors with sick horses,’ he tells me. ‘I’ll be fine on a fancy bedroom floor. Don’t worry so much.’
Oh, but worrying is all I do.
‘Unless you want me to sleep in the bed?’ he checks. I don’t blame him for checking. I’m definitely making it sound like I want him to.
My face goes red-hot in a split second.
‘No!’ I reply. ‘I mean… not like that. I mean… you shouldn’t have to sleep on the floor because of me.’
‘It’s all good,’ he says with a smile. ‘There’s plenty of pillows, extra blankets – no one will find out.’
I exhale. I guess he’s right. This is probably the best way to do… whatever this is.
‘You said you slept on a stable floor?’ I say, circling back to that.
‘One of the horses was sick, poor thing. She was miserable,’ he explained.
‘And you stayed with her? All night? On the floor?’
He shrugs, as if it’s nothing.
‘Someone had to.’
No they didn’t, and it makes a warm fuzzy feeling spread through my chest, because that tells me more about him than anything. He’s kind, caring, steady. The kind of man who stays with a sick animal in a stable because he can’t bear to leave it alone. Huh, is that why I low-key wanted him to sleep in the bed with me? For his calming presence? Maybe, among other reasons…
‘Okay, we should head back down, join the others,’ I suggest. ‘See what the plan is for the evening.’
‘Let’s do it,’ he says with a smile.
‘I think we should light the log burner,’ Cordelia announces as we arrive.
‘It’s not even cold, Tink,’ Andy tells her.
‘It’ll be colder later,’ she replies. ‘Plus, it’s like, a vibe.’
JJ is sprawled on the sofa. She laughs.
‘Well, if it’s a vibe,’ she teases.
‘I saw a place outside, for chopping wood,’ Cordelia says, pointing.
‘I can?—’
‘I’ll do it,’ Andy insists, cutting Jake off.
‘Let’s all go out,’ JJ suggests. ‘Seeing as though it’s such a nice sunny day.’
So we all head outside.
There’s a neat pile of logs waiting by the chopping block, ready for Andy to prove his masculinity judging by the look on his face.
An axe is embedded dramatically in the stump.
Andy rolls up his sleeves.