Chapter Twenty-Two
“Are you sure?” Faith was standing in the kitchen of her flat. “I don’t need to bring any food or anything?”
Zane took the carton of soup out of her hands and put it back in the cupboard.
“I’m positive. You just need to bring yourself and a rucksack of your essentials.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Now, are you ready? We should get going if we want to climb up to this place and set up camp before it starts getting dark.”
“OK, fine. Just my rucksack and me it is then. You’re the expert, you know what you’re doing.” Faith reached for her bag and waterproof coat.
“According to the MWIS you shouldn’t need your waterproofs. But it’s probably best to take them anyway, just to be on the safe side.”
Faith frowned. “MWIS? Oh right, of course, the Mountain Weather Information Service. So the forecast is good for the next twenty-four hours then?”
“Yep. Clear, calm, dry and sunny today. Coolish tonight but not frosty, and then clear again tomorrow. Perfect.”
Faith threw her rucksack into the boot of Zane’s Freelander and climbed into the passenger seat. Zane pushed the button on the stereo. The music was a rock CD that Faith had taken a shine to. He kept meaning to buy her her own copy.
As Zane waited for a gap in the traffic he glanced across at her and put a hand on her thigh. “Ready for your first ever camping trip?”
She nodded. “As much as I’ll ever be. Sleeping on the floor under a flimsy bit of tent canvas in November. You do realise I wouldn’t do this for anybody else don’t you? Only you, Zane Ferguson, could entice me to try camping at this time of year.”
He thought how he’d made sure their trip would be the exact opposite of what Faith was expecting. “You’ll love it.”
Faith paused for breath and reached for the bottle in the outside pocket of her rucksack.
“You OK?” Zane asked, reaching for his own water bottle. “We’re nearly up near the tarn now.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Faith answered, a dribble of water running down her chin.
Zane leaned forward and kissed the water away. “It’s quite warm in the sun when you’re climbing like this.”
“Come on then. Let’s get going so we can sort a camp out well before dusk.”
Faith cast a curious eye at Zane’s rucksack. “I know I’m a camping novice, but the equipment must be really compact and lightweight nowadays if you’ve got our tent and all the gear in that backpack.”
Zane reached for her hand. “Trust me. I’ve got everything we need.”
Checking his watch Zane figured they were about half an hour from the place he’d chosen as their campsite for the night. Faith was quite right. There was no way on this earth he could have got tent, groundsheets, sleeping bags and all the other camping necessities into his one medium-sized rucksack. But he hadn’t needed to, because all of that was already taken care of.
Just over twenty minutes later Zane stopped near the tarn on the edge of the forest and turned to Faith. “This is it.”
Faith looked around her. “It’s a beautiful spot. So, let’s get the tent sorted.”
“Close your eyes.”
“What?” Faith eyed him suspiciously. “Why?”
“Because we don’t need to set up a tent. I’ve arranged a little surprise for you instead.”
A smile spread slowly across Faith’s face. “What have you done?”
“Close your eyes and you’ll find out.”
“If I close my eyes I can’t see where I’m going!”
Zane took her hand. “For a few moments you won’t need to. I’ll guide you.”
“OK.”
Faith closed her eyes and allowed Zane to lead her a few paces forward.
“Open your eyes.”
Faith stared straight ahead, not saying a word.
“Don’t you like it?” Zane sounded worried.
Still holding her hand he led her forward a few more paces so she could see right inside the den he’d created for her on the edge of the woodland overlooking the tarn. He’d enlisted Dave’s help to get all the gear up to this spot yesterday. They’d used his car and a trailer and navigated their way via the forestry tracks, then he’d come back up on his own first thing this morning to add the finishing touches. The den was mostly hidden on the outside by branches, making it look as though it was constructed from the woodland itself, but inside it was a large, full-height tent made of brown canvas. The tent was the type used for upmarket glamping holidays – camping, yes, but in style and a lot more comfort.
“I love it!” Faith exclaimed as he led her up the wooden veranda step and into the edge of the tent. “It’s amazing! How did you do all this?”
“I have my ways and means.”
Zane led the way into the little hideaway where they would be spending the night. Inside was a proper raised platform that acted as both sofa and a bed, covered with sleeping bags, throw and pillows. Off to one side stood a camping table and two chairs, and in the other corner was a small camping kitchen. On the opposite wall was the pièce de résistance: a proper log-burning frontier stove. The stove was, Zane thought, a brilliant piece of camping kit. Light enough to be carried by hand, it provided loads of warmth and could be safely used indoors with the proper ventilation.
Faith walked around the tent, taking it all in, before flopping onto the edge of the bed and beckoning for Zane to join her. She kissed him lightly on the lips.
“I’m extremely impressed. Is that what creating this was all about? Trying to impress me? Or do you only ever camp with this kind of luxury? And here I was thinking you were used to rough camping with nothing more than a sleeping bag under the stars!”
Zane laughed, then returned her kiss. “I have done that too, and my camping trips are usually pretty basic. But on this occasion I thought we deserved a bit more luxury.”
“Thank you. It’s perfect.”
“I’m glad you like it. Now, sit back, relax. I’ll get a camp fire going and make us some lunch.”
“Fancy a swim?”
Lunch was done and dusted and they’d been lying on the picnic rug taking a nap in the surprisingly warm sun for an hour or so.
Faith rolled onto her stomach and pushed her hair out of her eyes. “In there?” she pointed at the nearby tarn. “In November?”
“Yep to both. You’d be surprised. At this time of year the water holds the heat of the sun better than the land, so it actually won’t be as cold as you’re thinking.”
“Mmm.” Faith looked unconvinced.
“Anyway, the weather today is more like late summer than early autumn. So with the sun on the tarn all day it should be just right.”
He got to his feet and offered her a hand. “Come on.”
“You’re sure about this?”
Faith was standing on the shore of the tarn wearing shorts and a vest top. Zane was already in the water.
“Yes. Just walk right in. Get it over with. It’ll be cold at first but fine after that.”
She hovered on the edge of the tarn, staring at him, before cautiously dipping a toe into the water.
“It’s freezing!” she shouted, about to turn and make for the tent again. Moving to stand in front of her, Zane took both of her hands in his and started to walk backwards slowly, leading her in. She hesitated and looked at him.
“Do you want to wimp out?” he teased.
She shook her head, a determined look on her face now. “No. Let’s do this. What’s the best way from this point? Do I just launch myself into the water or what?”
“This is the best way.”
He scooped her off her feet into his arms, then let himself fall backwards into the water, taking Faith with him.
She squealed and then laughed, splashing water at him. “You pig!”
He flicked water back at her.
“In my defence, I did make sure you wanted to do this before I threw us both in.”
She stopped splashing him, tilted her head on one side. “True enough.”
“Come on, let’s swim, it’ll warm you up a bit.”
On the far side of the tarn Zane checked his waterproof watch. They’d been in the water almost ten minutes. It was probably enough for Faith, as she wasn’t used to the temperatures of wild swimming, even on a warm day like today.
“Let’s head back to camp.”
She nodded and launched herself across the water towards the far shore. He reached the tent before she did and headed inside to fetch them some towels. Faith walked towards him and he handed her a towel before pulling off his shorts and starting to dry himself.
“You know I’m impressed don’t you?” Faith asked as she watched him cooking swordfish marinated in lime and coriander on skewers over the camp fire. “Businessman, extreme sports instructor, all-round nice guy, cook. Is there anything you can’t do?”
He turned the fish round to grill on the other side.
Yeah, he thought, relationships. I can’t do relationships. Not usually. It’s different with you though. When I’m with you I feel as though it will all be OK. I think that I can do this.
“There’s plenty I can’t do,” he said aloud. “I can’t make cakes. I can’t speak Russian. I can’t keep my hands off you.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder.
“You are such a sweetheart and this day has been totally perfect.”
“Yeah, it has.” He kissed the top of her head.
The problem with perfect, he thought, taking the fish off the fire and putting it on a plate, is that once you get to perfect, things can’t get any better. They can only get worse.
“Can you play music?” she asked as he handed her the plate.
He nodded.
“What can you play?”
“The guitar. In fact I have it with me, it was already in the tent in case we wanted to sit under the stars later and have a campfire singsong.”
“You sing as well?” She raised an eyebrow.
“No,” he said tucking into his dinner. “But you can sing if you want.”
“How much have you had to drink today?”
Zane shook his head, knowing what she was getting at. “If you want me to sing, not nearly enough!”
How much later it was Zane had no idea as he tried to work out what kind of owls were hooting somewhere in the distance. Faith was asleep next to him, breathing heavily.
He hadn’t intended for this to happen. When he’d arrived at Carrdale the last thing he expected was to end up falling in love.
He still hadn’t told her everything. How would she feel when he did? When they’d started dating he’d thought about telling her then, but he’d been worried about the consequences. Now he knew he’d left it too late.
The past twenty-four hours with Faith had been the best of his life. The connection between them was so deep and powerful it was as though they could never get enough of each other.
Then it hit him. Two words popped into his head from nowhere, instantly filling him with a crippling fear.
Why? Why did this have to happen now? The panic started to seep through him. He’d been doing OK. He was the happiest he had ever been. He’d honestly thought he could handle things this time.
He watched Faith sleep, her eyelashes flickering, drinking in the sight of her.
Oh Faith, he thought, if you only knew. I wish I could tell you everything. If I had a guarantee things would still be OK for us once you knew, then I would tell you. But there are no such guarantees...
His mind was going over and over the thoughts whirling in his head. Everything he’d managed to hold together with Faith for these past few months was now slowly unravelling. And there was nothing he could do about it.
Self-preservation kicked in. The voice in his head told him to get sensible and get out of the relationship, while he had some chance, however small, of keeping his sanity.
No, he knew, it was too late for that.
He didn’t want to let her go, but he had to.