by Hannah Doyle
‘I am well aware of that,’ I grin. ‘But you know how I love a romcom and this the perfect opportunity for a romantic moment …’
She covers her face with her hands. ‘Okay fine.’
I scoop her into my arms, kicking the passenger door shut with my foot and carrying her towards the house as she gets the giggles.
‘People can see,’ she snorts.
Turns out it’s not so easy carrying the woman of your dreams into your new home when your house is locked and you can’t find your keys. I have to set her down, jog back to Gerty to find the house keys and then run back to her.
This time she leaps up and we’re both roaring with laughter as I carry her inside.
‘Welcome home,’ I say before I notice the flowers. They are everywhere.
‘I picked some of my favourites,’ Alice beams, watching my reaction. ‘I gave Eve my house key and she snuck in while we finished up packing. I thought it would be nice to make everywhere look super cosy before our date tonight.’
‘That’s really thoughtful of you,’ I say, kissing her. ‘I’ve a little gift for you too.’
I lead her through to the living room and hand her a leather-bound sketchbook. She takes it out of my hands and opens it up. On every page is a pencil sketch I’ve done after each of our alphabet dates. Alice traces her fingers across the trailing ivy on page one, laughing at the memory of how we first met, when I’d wondered why a guest at my first art exhibition spent most of the night taking pictures of the plants by the toilets. The pastries we ate on our second date. A sketch of her face lighting up with laughter at the comedy gig we went to.
‘Zach, did you draw these after every single one of our dates?’ she asks quietly.
‘I figured pretty early on that I wanted a memento from every day I spent with you. It became a bit like writing a diary for me, sitting down and sketching out my favourite memory after each date. It kept the spirit of our dates going for even longer for me. Like keeping a little piece of you with me the whole time.’
‘I’m speechless.’
She moves slowly through each one. The sunrise on our dog walk, the glitterball from our eighties disco, the picnic at the film festival and Alice sat in the deckchair at her allotment on our gardening date. She pauses at happy hour, where I’d meant to draw a cocktail but gone kind of abstract in my fury that I’d ballsed things up. She lingers over a drawing of the supermoon, with us stood in front of it at the top of the park.
‘One of my favourite dates,’ I say.
‘You’ve captured the whole date perfectly,’ she smiles.
Then she laughs as she comes to a drawing of her tucked up in bed after our oyster date. ‘I’m very grateful you didn’t capture any other scenes from that night.’ There’s the rock we climbed, the panda and the hummingbird we decided were our spirit animals in Avignon …
Alice’s voice catches in her throat. ‘These are so beautiful. Each and every one. Though you haven’t done one for Z yet.’
‘That’s because our Z date hasn’t happened! Date night is tonight,’ I point out, touched that she likes the sketches.
‘Well,’ she says, closing the book and laying it carefully down on the coffee table. ‘You’re absolutely right. Though I do wonder what we’re going to be doing that’s Z related, unless you’re copping out and calling it a Zach date.’
‘I had no intentions of doing that. Why don’t you leave me to it for a bit, make yourself feel at home? Date starts at seven.’
I’ve watched Nonna cook this recipe so many times over the years. When Raff and I were kids we’d fight over whose turn it was to grate the parmesan and measure out the vermouth. Then we’d sit out on the terrace, still warm from another Italian summer’s day, and if we were lucky Nonna would pour us each a little glass of wine to go with our meal. I smile as I slice up the courgettes now, a mountain of freshly grated parmesan in the bowl next to me. I cannot wait to share this with Alice.
Bang on seven o’clock, she appears in the kitchen wearing that shining blue silk dress she wore for her birthday in Avignon. She looks beautiful, like a midnight sky.
‘That’s a lot of courgettes for two people,’ she points out.
‘Or as we Italians like to say, zucchini …’
‘Aha, our Z date! Zach’s famous zucchini pasta? The one Ellie and Raf served at their wedding?’
I nod, chuffed that she’s remembered.
‘Well then, I’m honoured. And quite hungry. When are we eating?’
‘In about half an hour,’ I say, incredibly content to be cooking my girlfriend this special dish in our home together.
‘Perfect. That gives me time to get my Halloween display on. Remember those pumpkin seeds you sowed at my allotment? They actually grew.’
‘There’s no need to sound so surprised!’
Alice straightens her face up. ‘I harvested them earlier this week. Look.’ She holds up a bag filled with pumpkins of different shapes and sizes. ‘I’m going to paint some and dot them around the fireplace.’ She tips the pumpkins onto the kitchen table and gets to work, while I chop, slice and steam my way through dinner prep. Every now and then I take a forkful over to Alice to try, which she eats appreciatively while asking my opinion on the pumpkin colour scheme.
Together we lay the dining table, covering it in a navy blue table cloth which Alice decides works perfectly with her newly painted pumpkins.
‘Dinner’s up,’ I call, bringing out a massive bowl of zucchini pasta and serving some onto our plates. Alice sprinkles on parmesan and makes appreciative ‘yum’ noises.
‘A toast,’ I say, standing up and popping the cork on a bottle of champagne. ‘Alice, you danced into my life at the start of the summer and set my heart on fire. It’s been blazing ever since. Never have I met a woman so stubborn, so competitive and so completely and utterly wonderful. You’ve challenged me every step of the way, even down to my taste in pastries.’
Alice laughs.
‘You are so full of life, so fun to spend time with and I am grateful every day that you took a chance on me. You didn’t have to navigate my insecurities, but you did and now look where we are. My house would never have been filled with such love if it weren’t for you. Thank you for the last twenty-six dates. Here’s to many more.’
Alice gets up, looking almost bashful at this outpouring of love.
‘I know there will still be hurdles to cross for us together,’ she says. ‘But I also know that we will make the decisions together, as a couple. I’m happier now than I have ever been. It felt like a huge risk, taking a chance on love, and I don’t think the fear that my heart may yet get broken will ever go away. But I feel so much stronger now and I wanted to thank you, Zach. I thought love was the last thing I needed. I was wrong. You’re the start to my finish. I’m the A to your Z. We’re like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us. To an alphabet’s worth of love!’
‘A to Z,’ I say, clinking her glass and curling my arm around her waist. We share a lingering kiss before sitting back down and digging into the zucchini pasta.
‘This is so good,’ Alice says. ‘You know, I’ve been waiting a long time for this dish.’
‘Was it worth the wait?’
‘Let’s just say that this is by far our best date yet. But Zach, now that the alphabet is up, what will we do?’
I look deep into her sea green eyes.
‘Exactly this,’ I say simply. ‘The letters may have run out but my love for you never will.’
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Acknowledgements
Firstly I’d like to thank Katie Seaman at HQ for offering me such fantastic encouragement, not to mention unparalleled editorial judgement, when it came to writing this. You have been a joy to work with and together we have crafted a book that I a
m super proud of.
Thank you to all at Harper Collins for welcoming me on board and to my superb agent Amanda Preston, plus all the team at LBA, for your continued support.
To my husband, who whisked our twins off on multiple adventures while I was on a deadline, to my parents, who have been pillars of strength, and to my best friends, who are such rays of sunshine. Thank you.
Thank you to the book bloggers who spread so much bookish love and the authors who have continued to write fabulous tomes through these challenging times. What a great big bunch of champs you are.
And finally, thank YOU for reading this book all the way through to the thanks-fest that is the acknowledgments section … That’s commitment! I really hope this book has made you smile. I do love a chat so please come and say hello, you can find me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @byhannahdoyle.
H x
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