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‘Can you help me?’
‘Sorry!’ Tasha turned back to Olivia. ‘Is there a spoon or something we can use for the glitter? I thought I saw one before…’
‘Here it is.’ Olivia rummaged under a pile of coloured card and produced a plastic teaspoon. ‘Can I do it?’
‘Of course, let me hold the pot, though, so it doesn’t spill.’
With one eye on Olivia as she carefully spooned glitter onto the glue, Tasha tuned back into the conversation behind her in time to hear Rhys saying, ‘…pleased with how many people have turned up today. We’re hoping for the same over the rest of the weekend.’
‘I’d love to see what else is happening today. Why don’t you take me on a tour?’
Who was this woman? Tasha shook the card to release the excess glitter then handed it to Olivia. ‘Why don’t you show Rhys?’
As she’d hoped, Olivia immediately held the card up. ‘Look, look, Rhys! The bunny has sparkly ears!’
‘That’s fantastic!’ Rhys took the card and made a show of holding it at different angles to catch the light. ‘Isn’t it great?’ he asked Lydia, whose smile had thinned considerably at the interruption.
‘Lovely, I’m sure. Now, about that tour?’
Rhys shook his head. ‘Sorry, as you can see, we’ve got our hands full here. Have you met Tasha, by the way?’
Tasha took her cue and rose, extending a hand. ‘Hello.’
Lydia barely touched her hand, never mind shook it. ‘I don’t think we’ve met before.’ Her tone implied she doubted she’d remember even if they had. She turned back to Rhys. ‘Well, if you’re too busy now, perhaps we could meet up later? I saw something about an illuminated walk through the woods, which might be fun.’
Deciding she’d had about as much of this woman’s rudeness as she could stand, Tasha slipped her hand into Rhys’s and smiled. ‘We’re meeting up with Hope and some other friends to do the walk later. You’d be welcome to join us, of course.’
Lydia’s mouth disappeared into a straight line as she stared pointedly at their joined hands. ‘I’ll see how the rest of the afternoon pans out. I’m not sure there’s enough here to hold my attention.’
‘Suit yourself.’ Mission accomplished, Tasha turned back to Olivia. ‘Now then, what else shall we add to this card? How about some of these stickers?’
‘Thanks,’ Rhys murmured to her a few moments later as he bent down next to them. ‘Hey, this looks great! I love those stickers – can I have one?’
Olivia peeled a yellow chick off the sheet and stuck it to the front of Rhys’s T-shirt, then turned to Tasha. ‘Do you want one too?’
Tasha nodded. ‘Yes, please, but can you stick it on here?’ She pulled out her work mobile phone and held it out so Olivia could place a pink Easter-egg sticker on the back of it. ‘Thank you. Now, if your card is all finished, shall we see what your mummy thinks?’
A few minutes later they were waving to a very happy Olivia as she skipped away with her mother and sister towards the maze to hunt for eggs. ‘What’s with the sticker?’ Rhys asked as he put a casual arm around her waist.
‘I keep mixing up the work phone with my own as they look the same.’ She raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Never mind that, what’s with Lydia?’
He frowned. ‘There’s nothing with her, she’s just a neighbour.’
‘A neighbour who wants you to take her for a walk around the illuminated trail later?’
Rhys reached up to scrub a hand over his beard. ‘Look, she got some weird idea into her head that she and I would make a good match because her family owns an estate like ours over in the next county. Our families have known each other for years, decades.’ He shrugged and gave a little laugh. ‘Probably centuries if you think about it. Anyway, she’s nice enough but she’s not my type.’
‘Rich, pretty, aristocratic brunettes aren’t your type?’ Tasha cast him a sceptical look.
Rhys closed his other arm around her waist and pulled her close, clearly uncaring of who might be watching them. His hands slid lower to cup her bottom and she gasped. ‘That’s no way for a civilised man to behave in public.’
A wicked grin tugged at his lips. ‘Now, when did I ever claim to be a civilised man? And just so we’re clear about this, I’ve only got one type and that’s spiky, independent redheads who are kind to my dogs and know what my favourite chocolate is.’
With a grin, Tasha reached up and looped her arms around his neck. ‘Well, if I ever meet someone like that, I’ll be sure to let her know.’
He gave her bottom another squeeze that made her giggle and squirm against him. ‘You do that.’
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