‘I’m glad for you.’ Lucy put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. ‘And for your dad.’
‘Oh, I don’t think he’s quite as happy as I am,’ said Freya, airily. ‘Look.’
Sam was standing alone, looking thoughtful.
‘I’ll go and say hello.’
‘I’m going to see if I can nick some mulled wine from the cafe without anyone noticing,’ said Freya, disappearing before Lucy had a chance to reply.
Taking a deep breath, she headed over to Sam. ‘Hi.’
‘Is it true? You’re staying?’ he said, in a low voice. Snow was dusting his shoulders and clinging to the black wool of his hat. His eyes met hers and she nodded.
‘It’s weird. I spent all those years focusing on the job, and I didn’t take the time to actually look around and work out what it was I wanted. And I love it here.’
He took a step towards her. Their breath was clouding in the freezing air. ‘It’s funny, isn’t it? You wanted that, and I wanted –’ He looked over at Freya, stopping mid-sentence.
‘You wanted Stella back?’
‘No!’ He shook his head emphatically. ‘I don’t think I realized that I was holding my breath, hoping maybe she’d come back and I could make everything okay.’
‘It doesn’t work like that,’ she said, gently.
‘I’m glad it doesn’t. Otherwise . . .’ He picked up her hand, taking it in his. ‘Your hands are freezing.’
‘All of me is freezing.’
There was a commotion behind her and they both peered over, seeing Freya gathering the first scrapings of snow into a snowball. She looked at them with a mischievous grin and pelted it directly at Sam, hitting him on the shoulder.
Bunty, who had been cornered by Helen, appeared, laughing, her arm tucked inside Mel’s. She took one look at them and linked her other arm in Freya’s.
‘Would you two hurry up and get on with it, please. I’m absolutely ice cold, and there’s going to be none of that mulled wine left.’
‘Yeah, get on with it, you two.’ Mel grinned.
‘What are you talking about?’ Sam looked at Lucy, laughing.
‘You love her,’ Freya said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. ‘Now will you bloody well kiss her and then we can go inside?’
Sam looked down at her. ‘I don’t think we’d better cross those three.’
‘I think you’re right.’ Lucy curled her freezing hands inside his thick coat, feeling the warmth of his body and the solid muscles of his back. His hand cupped her face, and she didn’t mind one bit the feeling of his cold fingers tangling in her hair. He brought his mouth down on hers, and Lucy knew that right here in this village she’d found home.
By the time they looked up, the village green was empty.
Acknowledgements
I would like to start by thanking both the Royal Literary Fund and the Society of Authors for their kind and generous support in the form of grants, which allowed me time to write, and for which I am enormously grateful.
This book is set in a fictional village. I have taken the liberty of moving Gawcott, the village in Buckinghamshire where I lived for many years with my children, and shifting it slightly south so that it sits just on the edge of the Cotswolds. But if you know the village, you might recognize the telephone box library, which stands on the green beside the old water pump, opposite a beautiful white thatched cottage. You might also have heard tales of the buildings at Signal Hill that were used during the war. What I didn’t expect when I started to do research into a book set around Bletchley Park was the true story of what went on in a sleepy little village near Buckingham.
I’d like to thank Judith Harper for being the inspiration for Janet – and Ellie, who was inspiration for Fiona. When I first moved to the village of Gawcott, Judith – who has fostered over one hundred children – welcomed me and the children to the village. She’s an absolute star, and I’m so happy that she was recently awarded a very well-deserved MBE for services to fostering.
A book is a huge team effort, which is why my thank-you list is always so long. My name might be on the cover (which was created by the brilliant Sarah McMenemy), but it takes a lot of work behind the scenes.
I’d like to thank my agent Amanda Preston, who has cheered me on and who always believes in me, even when I don’t – I am so grateful to you. You are bloody amazing.
To Alison and everyone else at LBA – thank you for everything you do, and for making me laugh with funny tweets.
To Louise, Caroline, Jayne and all the brilliant people at Pan Macmillan who work so hard chasing authors (sorry) and making everything come together behind the scenes – thank you so much. You are all absolutely amazing!
Thanks to everyone at Bletchley Park for the work you do in keeping these important stories alive for future generations. Thank you also to Gladstone’s Library – not just for a space to write, but also for incredibly valuable research material from the archives.
Thanks to the bloggers who work so hard to share their enthusiasm for books and reading with the world, and to everyone online who cheers me on and sends little messages to say hello when I’m writing – I really do appreciate it!
To The Prime Writers and the Book Camp gang – thank you for cheering me on, making me laugh and for being bloody brilliant friends, as well as the talented writers of books that I love.
Huge thanks to my writing twin Miranda – your love and support this year have meant so much. And to Alice, Keris and Hayley – thank you for holding me up. To Elise, Jax and Rhiannon – thank you for being there, always.
This year I have spent a lot of time gadding about doing bookish things and travelling as well as writing. It’s been amazing, but it wouldn’t be possible if there weren’t someone at home keeping things together – thank you to my lovely husband Ross for that bit and for lots of other bits as well, and to the children for being generally wonderful (but please don’t put your clean washing back in the laundry basket because you can’t be bothered to put it away, thank you very much, love Mummy xoxo, etc.).
Finally, thank you to you for reading this book – there are lots of them out there, and it means a lot to me that you chose this one.
Rachael Lucas writes novels for adults and teenagers, including the Carnegie-nominated The State of Grace, which was selected as an Outstanding Book for Children with Disabilities by IBBY. She lives by the seaside with her husband, their five teenagers and three dogs. Unsurprisingly, she is very grateful to the inventor of noise-cancelling headphones.
Rachael loves to hear from her readers. You can get in touch via her website at rachaellucas.com, or say hello on Instagram @rachaellucas or on Twitter @karamina.
Also by Rachael Lucas
Finding Hope at Hillside Farm
Wildflower Bay
Sealed with a Kiss
Coming Up Roses
The State of Grace
My Box-Shaped Heart
e-novella
Sealed with a Christmas Kiss
First published 2020 by Pan Books
This electronic edition first published 2020 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-8278-6
Copyright © Rachael Lucas 2020
Cover illustration by Sarah McMenemy
The right of Rachael Lucas to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damage.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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The Telephone Box Library Page 30