‘Lean on me for a while. Let yourself relax.’
Grace did as he bid, and felt her eyes grow heavy. The next thing she knew she had woken up with James asleep next to her, his arm still around her. Quietly, she disentangled herself and got up. James stirred briefly as she kissed his forehead and whispered ‘Night’, before tiptoeing from the room. Out in the hallway, the grandfather clock greeted her with its steady tick. The thought of it stopping sent her hurrying upstairs without looking to see what the time was, falling gratefully into bed next to Annabel.
Grace was woken again what felt like five minutes later, to the sound of Millie crying. Grey light was beginning to poke through the curtains, but inside the cottage it was dim. She found Millie sitting up cuddling Mr Pink, and Grace only needed one look at her wide-eyed tear-streaked face to know that Millie wouldn’t be settled back to sleep. She lifted her little girl out of the cot, trying to stave off her own tiredness by blinking hard and rubbing her eyes. They began to play together on the floor by the cot, but after a while Millie grew restless. Grace picked her up and tiptoed downstairs to get breakfast, trying not to wake James.
‘What time is it?’ James asked from the depths of the sofa.
‘Too early,’ Grace muttered, then walked back out to check the grandfather clock, only registering the silence as she did so.
‘The clock’s stopped,’ she said in bewilderment. The hands were pointing to just past three.
‘It must be stuck, I’ll look at it later,’ James mumbled sleepily.
‘Thanks.’ Grace went over to her mobile phone on the tabletop. ‘It’s nearly eight o’clock,’ she said, surprised. Then she pulled back the curtain and looked out. ‘And I think you could say that we’re snowed in.’
She heard the sofa’s springs creak as James pushed himself up, then he was behind her, peering through the window. ‘Bloody hell!’
The garden had disappeared. It looked as though someone had laid a sparkling white blanket from the level of the low garden wall right up to the cottage. Only the tips of the taller hedges poked through, and the bare trellis arch midway along the path.
‘I’ll have to dig us out,’ James declared. ‘We have got a spade somewhere?’
‘I … I don’t know,’ Grace said. ‘I didn’t think about it –’
James made a noise of exasperation.
‘Do we actually need to go outside?’ Grace queried. ‘Unless you’re going to shovel your way right over the top of the moors, I think it’s safe to say we’re stuck.’
In reply, James threw himself onto a chair.
‘What’s the problem?’ Grace asked, amused. ‘You’re always talking about how much you love the snow.’
‘Yes, because in Switzerland I can ski on it,’ James grumbled. ‘It’s completely different.’
‘You could take Millie sledging instead …’
‘Well, we can’t do anything much until we can get down the path.’ James began to pull on his jeans and a jumper. ‘I’ll search around and see what I can find.’
‘Be my guest.’ Grace felt annoyed as she carried Millie across to the kitchen area and sat her in the high chair. James always had to make big issues out of little problems. Adam would have found it the perfect excuse to cuddle up in front of the television. She briefly wondered whether Ben would be shovelling snow right now.
Daylight had finally conquered the night by the time Annabel appeared downstairs. ‘What’s that noise?’ she asked, tuning in to a recurring scraping sound.
Grace went across to the window and pulled back the curtain. ‘James found a shovel, so he’s clearing the path. I’m not sure why, but he obviously thinks it’s important.’
‘Wow!’ Annabel stared out of the window. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much snow.’ She spun around, beaming. ‘Let’s get our coats on and make snowmen all day, Millie.’ She ruffled her niece’s hair, and was delighted when Millie looked up and grinned at her.
Grace laughed at them both. ‘Sounds great. But can you give me some help first?’
Annabel’s eyes narrowed.
‘Don’t look at me like that. Last night I remembered I hadn’t checked the boxes in the cellar for Adam’s passport, and so I took a look, and sure enough – I found it.’
‘Really? Why on earth did he put it down there?’
‘I don’t know. I wish he’d told me about the damn cellar in the first place. I have no idea why he didn’t.’
‘Maybe he thought you knew about it,’ Annabel suggested, shrugging.
As Grace considered that, her annoyance eased a little. ‘Perhaps. Anyway, I want it emptied while you two are here to help, it’s too creepy to do it on my own.’