Page 41 of The Last Casterglass

“There you are.”

Seph whirled around to find Oliver smiling at her crookedly. He cleaned up nicely in a blue blazer and crimson tie, his usual rumpled cords replaced with a pressed pair of chinos.

“I hope you haven’t been avoiding me,” he said, and Seph opened her mouth to say, somewhat scornfully, ‘of course not’, when something else came out instead.

“Actually, I have.”

Oliver raised his eyebrows. “Because of what I said about Christmas?”

It was, strangely and surprisingly, a relief that he was going to state it as plainly as that. “More what you didn’t say, I suppose,” Seph replied. Her tone was matter-of-fact, but she could feel herself blushing.

“All right. Yes. What I didn’t say.” Oliver nodded, and Seph saw he was starting to blush, as well. “But what I should have said, is that I’d love to spend Christmas with you, and in fact, unless you’ve made other plans, I’m hoping to.”

There was something so endearingly nervous about his tone, his expression, and yet something wasn’t quite computing. “You mean…you’re staying at Casterglass?” she asked.

“No. That is…I could, but I thought…maybe…” Oliver let out a little, strangled laugh. “I might have taken something of a liberty,” he told her. “Because—well, because I wanted to, I guess.”

“A liberty?” Seph had no idea what he was talking about.

“I booked a flight,” he said in a rush. “And a hotel. And dinner on Christmas Day, and a performance ofThe Nutcracker. But that’s it, I promise.”

Seph could only stare. “What?” she finally asked blankly, when he seemed to be expecting a response. “What are you talking about?”

“You said you wanted to travel, to go to Paris or Prague,” he explained nervously. “Well, I think Paris is a bit overrated, and I’ve always wanted to go to Prague. So I booked us a trip, over Christmas. Three days in Prague. We leave on the twenty-third.”

“What…” The word escaped Seph in an incredulous breath. “You did?” she finally said, because even though he’d just said it all, she still couldn’t believe it. “You booked a whole trip?”

“Yes. Non-refundable, too, because I booked it so late, so I’m really hoping you meant what you said, and you actually do want to go to Prague.”

“I…I do,” Seph said. “So…we’d go together?”

For a second something flickered across Oliver’s face, and it took Seph a second to realise it was hurt. It was the same expression she suspected had been on her face when he’d answered her invitation withI could, in such a dubious way.

“Well, yes, that was the idea,” he answered after a pause. “But, ah, if you’d rather go alone—”

“I wouldn’t.” She wanted to be clear, wonderfully clear. “I wouldn’t at all. I…I want to go with you, Oliver. A lot.”

The grin that spread across his face was wonderful to see. Seph let out a sudden, awed laugh, as realisation rushed through her. She was going to Prague!Theywere!

“Well, that’s really good,” Oliver said, “because I want to go with you. You do have a passport, right? I didn’t even think to check.”

“Yes, although I’ve never actually used it.” There had been talk of a family trip to France a few years ago that had never come to anything.

“Good, phew. Then we really can go. We’re staying at a hotel right off the Charles Bridge—probably really touristy and naff, but I don’t know any better.”

“It sounds perfect.”

“And, ah…” He tugged at his collar, his face reddening again. “We have to share a bedroom, because of the expense, but of course there are separate beds. I mean, obviously. I hope that’s okay. The shared room, I mean, not the—not the bed thing.”

“Yeah, sure, of course.” Seph nodded, not looking at him, her own face turning scarlet. What did he mean, obviously? I mean, yes, she agreed, they weren’t even dating so sharing beds would be weird, but still. Whyobviously?

“Okay.” Oliver blew out a breath. “Good. Great.”

“Yes. Great.”

They were still staring at each other as Olivia swooped down on them. “Hey, you two! As neither of you are doing anything, would you mind holding a couple of babies so Rose and Sam can dance?” Without further ado, she plopped Bea into Seph’s arms, and Michaela into Oliver’s. At least, she thought she was holding Bea. She still couldn’t tell them apart.

She cuddled the baby close as Rose and Sam took the floor.