Chapter 30

30

Bess parked around the back, adjacent to the helipad with the shredder set up on the other side for them, and climbed out.

She felt Gio come closer to her as she dropped the tailgate and they got ready to haul the trees across to meet their maker. She'd dropped his hand as she pulled into the airbase but she hadn't wanted to. She'd wanted to continue their conversation, to tell him that she believed him, to admit she wanted to give this a go as much as he did.

But right now, they had work to do.

The blue team were on duty today so the red team were free to do this part of the fundraising drive, but she couldn't help but be curious when she heard the phones ring – there was an outside ring to allow for calls to be heard wherever you were at the base – and Vik came out to start up the helicopter.

‘You're itching to know what the job is.' Gio had got it in one. He'd probably seen her looking over at Hilda.

‘Be quiet and take the other end of the tree when I drag it out.' She liked the way they could go from weighty conversation to inconsequential banter so smoothly.

‘You get nervous that I know things about you.'

And now they were back to a more personal focus, but she let his teasing go. He was behind her as they walked the tree over to the guy in charge of the shredder and handed over the first tree before going back to get the next.

Once all the trees had been transferred, Bess picked up on Gio's discomfort – his pace had slowed and every now and then she noticed him wince. ‘Your knee is giving you jip. Don't even think about denying it.'

‘It's not so bad.'

She pulled out the keys to the pick-up. She wasn't going to let Gio try to prove himself because that's what she suspected he was about to do.

‘What's going on?' Hudson was bringing out coffee for the guys at the shredding machine.

‘Hero here is suffering,' she said, much to Gio's frustration.

Hudson didn't give Gio a chance to argue; he simply thrust the two cups of coffee forward and Gio took them on reflex. ‘I'll help Bess. You take those to the workers, then get yourself inside. Sit down in there, take the weight off that leg of yours and eat something. Let's go, Bess.'

She grinned at Gio. ‘Can't argue with that.'

‘I suppose not.'

‘Save me a scone?'

‘After you dump me for another guy?' he called out after her.

Bess laughed and she and Hudson jumped back into the pick-up for Bess's final round before Noah and Maya would take over.

She wouldn't be telling Gio, but Hudson was twice as quick and they were back in no time, all the trees over at the chipper at record speed.

‘Thanks, Hudson. Appreciate the help. '

‘I appreciate the escape.'

‘The kids hard work at the moment?' She'd heard murmurings of it between Hudson and Nadia. Nadia was the mother hen of the team and always ready to listen to problems, work-related or personal.

‘Something like that.'

She looked for Gio in the hangar, expecting him to have waited for her, but there was no sign of him.

She went through the hangar and into the main building and spotted him beyond the doors of reception out front.

She went outside and walked up behind him. ‘It's freezing; why are you standing out here?'

The snow had started to fall in earnest even in the short time it had taken her to come from the back of the building to the front and when she saw the look on his face, she knew this was why he was braving the cold.

Bess, still wearing her big jacket, was warm enough. ‘Did you save me a scone?'

He laughed. ‘Nadia made enough for the whole town; you don't need to worry.'

She was about to say she'd go and get one, a cup of tea too to warm herself up. But she didn't want to leave his side.

‘I thought of something else I can do,' he said, facing her. ‘In case I never get back to full duties.'

‘Really?'

‘I could study to become a fire investigator. I've looked into courses and I think it's something that wouldn't bore me to tears. A job like that would involve working out the origins of a fire – whether it was arson, how it could've been prevented perhaps. It would keep me closer to the action than anything else.'

‘That sounds great.' And it was good to hear him so positive. She wanted to reach for his hand again but felt suddenly nervous. Their friendship had lasted for years, she valued it too much to risk it, but the things he'd told her on the tree drive that morning had her realise he was as worried about being able to make this work as she was.

He looked up into the skies as the snow fell over them, its white flakes scattered in his hair the same way they were likely in hers. ‘I could stand out here forever in this.'

‘I couldn't; it's way too cold.'

‘What about if I refuse to come in until you say yes to going out with me for dinner?' It was a Gio-like remark full of intent but at the same time, she knew his feelings ran as deep as hers.

‘Then I'd say that's very childish.' She grinned. ‘Are you sure you want this? I meant it when I said I'm not looking for a fling. If things don't work then that's one thing, but I want to go into this with eyes open and I want you to as well. If you're not up for trying to make this work, if we'll go on a few dates and you'll get bored, then please tell me now.'

‘Bess, I?—'

‘I mean it, Gio. Don't string me along.' She blinked away a snowflake that landed on her lashes. ‘I'm not up for that. If I'm honest, I've liked you for a lot longer than I realised. In the shared house, I thought it was a crush, but when we danced at the wedding and I suggested you come here, it wasn't only because of our friendship.' She gulped. ‘Did you feel anything for me when we danced together?'

‘I—'

‘Do you think you're capable of giving us a shot?'

She didn't get another word out because with his hands either side of her face, he didn't waste any time pressing his lips against hers, tentatively at first, and then giving it his all.

When he pulled back, her face still in his hands, he said, ‘If you let me get a word in, I'd tell you that I'm all in with this; I don't want it to be a fling. I've wanted you since the day you moved into the shared house when I helped you pick up the contents of the cardboard box which gave way because you'd packed too much in it.'

‘I'm not the best at packing.' She loved feeling his hands against her cheeks, the closeness of his face to hers, the feeling that this might just be the start of something wonderful.

‘No, you're not. You're terrible.'

She laughed and then shivered despite her layers.

He opened up his jacket and pulled her against his body, wrapping it around her too.

‘So, dinner,' he said, a statement this time, not a question. ‘Tonight, somewhere with a view.'

‘Okay.'

He hugged her tightly and whispered into her hair. ‘I knew you'd see sense eventually.'

‘Oh you did, did you?'

‘We were predestined to happen. Friends first – good friends – but the universe always had something else in mind for us. I think you and I were written in the stars.'

She looked up at him. ‘That sounds a bit deep for you. And a bit cheesy.'

He laughed softly. ‘I told you before, not working has given me a lot of time to think.' His hands tangled in her hair and he looked into her eyes. ‘I've wanted to ask you out for ages. Never mind everything else I've wanted to do.'

‘I've wanted it for a long time too.'

He kissed her again and they only pulled apart when they heard the beep of the pick-up truck as it passed them with another load, this time Hudson leaning out of the window with a cheeky comment.

‘About time!' Hudson called over with a wave .

‘I'd say he's spot on,' said Gio.

Bess no longer felt the cold, only the moment and the magic as the snow continued to fall. She couldn't speak when he reached out and put a hand against her curls as if he was trying to tangle himself up in her.

‘I'm a lot more together than I ever was, Bess. And so are you. I'm ready for this. For us.'

‘I'm ready too.' She felt his hand in her hair before it edged down to the nape of her neck and made her shiver. The feeling was so powerful, she couldn't say anything else.

And she didn't need to because he was kissing her again and she knew now that she never wanted him to stop.