I guess… Apart from some minor damage to one arm.’ His voice was deep and attractive, an educated voice with a hint of an accent she couldn’t quite place.
‘Then I did hit you? I’m so sorry.’
‘Just brushed me. Unfortunately it was enough to make me lose my footing and slip on the cobbles. I landed on my elbow.’
‘I’m terribly sorry,’ she said again.
‘You’re not to blame. It was entirely my own fault. I didn’t realise you were so close. If I hadn’t stepped out in front of you it would never have happened.’
When he’d one-handedly gathered up the carrier and its contents and moved out of the deeper shadow, she was able to make out that he was tall, at least six foot, she judged, and broad across the shoulders.
Despite being marked from their contact with the ground, his well-cut trousers and car-coat were unmistakably expensive.
His left arm appeared to be hanging useless and, concerned, she asked, ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’
After making an effort to lift it, he admitted, ‘I seem to have no use in it at the moment.’
‘Perhaps you should go to the Accident and Emergency unit at—’
‘On Christmas Eve? Not on your life! No, I’m sure it isn’t serious. So long as I’m able to drive.’
‘I don’t see how you can drive in that state,’ she objected.
‘You may have a point. In which case I’d better try to find a taxi.’ Ruefully, he added, ‘I’ve been in town most of the afternoon and I haven’t seen any about, which rather suggests that they might be few and far between.’
He was right. At Your Service, the town’s main taxi firm, had recently closed down, and as yet no one had taken their place.
Still feeling she was partly to blame, despite his disclaimer, Anna offered, ‘If you like, I’ll drive you home.’
‘I couldn’t possibly put you to so much trouble.’
She shook her head. ‘It’s the very least I can do. Where do you live?’
‘On the Old Castle Road.’
Off hand she couldn’t recall any houses on that quiet, country road, apart from the Manor. But it was a while since she’d been that way, and new estates were springing up everywhere.
‘Then it really is no trouble,’ she said briskly. ‘That’s the way I’m going.’
It was true that Cleo and her family lived in that general direction, but not nearly so far out of town.
‘If that’s so, I’ll accept your kind offer… Perhaps you’ll be good enough to take this while I collect the rest of my provisions?’
As Anna relieved him of the carrier and put it in the back of her own car, he crossed to a dark-coloured Laguna parked close by.
Through the falling snow she watched him fish in his pocket for the keys, open the boot, and with one hand begin to manoeuvre a box of groceries.
It seemed he’d been shopping for his wife.
‘Let me.’ As soon as the box had joined the other things on the back seat, she invited, ‘Jump in.’
As she took her place behind the wheel, he slid in beside her and turned his head to look at her.
He saw a face of enchanting beauty. Long-lashed almond eyes set wide apart—eyes that were the colour of wood-smoke—high cheekbones, a straight nose, and a lovely mouth above a softly rounded chin. Her smooth dark hair, which was taken up in a knot, was spangled with snowflakes.
In the glare of the overhead light she saw him properly for the first time, and what she saw threw her completely.
For a long moment a sense of shock held her rigid. His sidelong glance, the shape of his head and that cleft chin, reminded her of David.
But he wasn’t really like David.
His eyes were green, flecked with gold.
David’s had been blue.
His hair, when dry, would have the bleached paleness of ripe corn, while in fascinating contrast his brows and lashes were dark.
David’s brows and lashes had been as fair as his hair.
His tanned, good-looking face was hard-boned and tough.
David’s had been boyishly handsome.
Added to that, this man must be in the region of thirty, where David had been just twenty-two at that time. A year younger than herself.
No, he wasn’t like David at all.
Yet his effect on her was just as immediate, just as intense, abruptly destroying her composure and robbing her of any self-assurance.
‘Something wrong?’ he asked.
‘No.’ Her voice shook betrayingly as she added, ‘Just for a second you reminded me of someone I used to know.’
Turning hastily away, she started the car, and, driving with care, made her way out of the car park.
The town centre was aglow with fairy lights and decorations, the shop windows bright with Christmas cheer. Around the tall tree set up in the Old Market Square, a group from the local church were singing carols and collecting for charity.
There were plenty of people still about, spilling from the shops and stores, laden down with last-minute purchases of gifts and goodies.
The falling snow, which at any other time would have been condemned as an inconvenience, added the final festive touch.
‘A picture-postcard scene.’
Her passenger’s comment echoed Anna’s own thoughts.
‘Yes,’ she agreed, and because he affected her so strongly found herself talking too much. ‘The weather has been very changeable lately. First it was unseasonably mild, then just a couple of days ago we had a severe storm with gale-force winds that did a lot of damage locally. Now this looks like being the first white Christmas we’ve had for a long time.’
‘I ordered it especially,’ he told her. ‘I love snow, and it’s been years since I saw any.’
‘Then you don’t live in England?’
‘I do now. The wanderer has finally returned.’
‘Have you been back long?’
‘A day or two.’
‘From where?’
‘The States. After I left college I spent some time travelling the world before settling on America’s Western Seaboard. Eventually, having got
