Page 45 of The Last Casterglass
“I thought we could explore the city a bit more, see the Christmas markets. We haveThe Nutcrackerthis evening, and then tomorrow is Christmas Eve.”
“Christmas Eve.” She shook her head slowly. “Casterglass seems so far away right now.”
“It is far away,” Oliver returned with a smile. “Over a thousand miles.” He paused, his smile fading as he gazed at her seriously. “Does that feel like a good thing?”
“Right now, yes.” Seph had no idea what the future held—for her, for Oliver, for Casterglass—but she knew she was glad to have some distance, as well as some perspective. “I’m ready for new adventures,” she told him, and while Oliver smiled in return, she got a sense of hesitancy from his expression, even of disappointment. Anxious doubts swirled in her stomach. Was he regretting their kiss last night? No, surely not. He’d held her hand while she’d slept. The first thing he’d done was smile at her this morning. She was just feeling insecure because this was all so new.
“You can shower first,” Oliver told her gallantly. “And I’ll make coffee.” He nodded towards the tea and coffee caddy on the bureau.
“Thank you, that’s very gentlemanly.” She smiled and then scooted out of bed, grabbing her clothes before hurrying into the bathroom.
If she’d been worried that things would be awkward between them now that they’d kissed—and she had been—Seph was wonderfully relieved to discover that actually things weren’t awkward at all. They chatted easily over breakfast, and when they went outside to explore the Christmas markets, Oliver caught hold of her hand and they walked along, hands clasped and swinging, as natural as she could possibly please.
They spent the day wandering around the Christmas markets in Old Town and Wenceslas squares, picking up some trinkets and ornaments for those back home, trying Czech specialties such asvdolky, a sweet doughnut topped with cream, as well as schnitzel. Later they warmed up in a café with hot chocolates, before they returned to the hotel for dinner and then to change for the evening’s performance.
As Seph tidied her hair and decided to go wild with a slick of lip gloss, she felt a pang of sorrow, that it was already ending so quickly. Tomorrow was Christmas, and their last day in Prague. They’d decided to go to the midnight mass at St Vitus Cathedral in the city centre tonight, and then tomorrow they would tour Prague Castle before having a rather romantic dinner on a river cruise. And then back home to Casterglass and normality… Why did she feel such a wave of dread at the thought?
These few days had opened something up inside her that she hadn’t realised had even existed—a sense of hope, of possibility that her life could be so much more than she’d once thought it could. Maybe she could go back to school, get her A levels, even go to university. Why not? She was only twenty-three, after all. She pictured herself living in some city somewhere, a young woman about town, but something about it jarred and she wasn’t sure what. She couldn’t quite see it somehow, even with this new sense of hope, yet she knew she wanted her life to change, just as she had changed.
Oliver tapped on the bathroom door. “Ready?” he called, and she turned away from her reflection and then opened the door with a smile.
The Nutcrackerwas as magical as she could have hoped, and Seph was rapt through the whole three hours, enchanted by the dancing, the music, the sheer wonder of it all. The bells were tolling eleven o’clock when they emerged from the theatre and hurried to the cathedral for the midnight mass. The inside of the church was huge, soaring and majestic, flickering with candlelight, and they listened to the service while holding hands—they’d been doing a lot of that lately—as a solemn sense of the season crept over her.
When they walked back in the early hours of the morning, Seph found her steps becoming slower and slower as they reached the hotel. Oliver turned to her with a smile, his eyebrows raised.
“Tired?” he asked, and she couldn’t help but sigh.
“Yes, but it’s also…I don’t want this to end.”
His smile faded a bit although his tone remained philosophical. “You don’t want to return to Casterglass?”
“It’s just been so magical,” Seph explained. “I feel like I’ve been given a whole new world and I don’t want to hand it back.”
“So do I,” Oliver replied quietly, “and I don’t want to hand it back, either.” Then he tugged her by the hand and kissed her so gently and sweetly that Seph’s heart swelled with both happiness and hope. “This doesn’t have to end when we go back,” he ventured as he broke the kiss, gazing into her face with an endearing earnestness. “Does it?”
She gazed back at him, her lips still tingling. “You mean…us?”
“Yes, us.” His expression turned intent, almost fierce. “I know this trip has been like a moment out of time, but that doesn’t mean we have to be. That is…if you wanted to? Have this go on after we get back to Casterglass? Be together, I mean.”
A teasing smile curved her mouth. He looked both intent and nervous, and it endeared him to her all the more. Just like her, he had his doubts and insecurities. Together they were overcoming them.
“Seph?” he asked, and she realised she’d just been staring at him, her heart so full it was hard to speak. Even so, she couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease, just a little.
“Wait,” she asked, putting her hand on her hip and cocking her head. “Are you asking if I want to be yourgirlfriend?”
He let out a little laugh, colour touching his cheeks before he squared his shoulders. “Why yes, I guess I am.”
“Well, then, the answer is yes,” Seph told him with a smile that felt as if it could split her face. “One hundred per cent yes.”
The grin that broke over his face in a wave of relief made her laugh too, and then he was kissing her again, his arms tight around her, and Seph thought she could have stayed there forever. This was where she wanted to be, she realised, whether it was at Casterglass or in Prague or anywhere else. In Oliver’s arms.
*
Coming back toCasterglass felt both hard and good, Oliver reflected as he turned down the sweeping drive. They’d had an amazing time away, and he was sorry it was over. Yesterday, on Christmas Day, he and Seph had exchanged presents—she’d bought him a button-down shirt ‘in the one colour he didn’t have’ and he’d given her a carved wooden bracelet he’d found at one of the Christmas markets, because it reminded him of her own amazing workmanship. They’d both been shy about giving their gifts, hanging their heads a little, until Oliver had laughed and asked what were they like, both of them finding this so new and wonderful and yes, a little bit scary.
Seph had laughed, shaking her head. “Well, I’ve never given a Christmas present to anyone except my family before,” she told him. “I’ve never had a boyfriend before, you know.” She blushed a little, and Oliver held her hand. He wasn’t overly experienced in the romance department, it was true, but he appreciated just how new and strange this all was for someone like Seph, who had spent a lot of her life hiding in the shadows.
It was new for him too, because already he knew he’d never felt like this before, about anyone. Audrey, his girlfriend from Oxford, paled into insignificance compared to how he felt about Seph.