Chapter Twenty-Six

 

The next morning I opened my eyes and wondered where I was for a moment. Ah, the bed in the cottage. I was still in Skye and … oh, and there was someone else in the bed with me.

I turned slowly and saw Fern there, sleeping peacefully, looking adorable. I felt something move and looked down to see Wentworth also on the bed with us, lying across my feet. Fern lifted her head, wagged her tail, and moved up closer to me. I wrapped my arms around her and she licked my hand.

Then I remembered. Will was in Hayley’s room.

I looked up at the ceiling and felt myself light up, remembering the fun we’d had together last night.

Frick on a stick, I wanted him. In only a few days, we had somehow connected. That harmless infatuation I’d had as a teenager had faded and come back to smack me in the face. Except now it wasn’t so harmless but in fact pretty dangerous. I wanted to tell him how I felt but didn’t know how on earth to go about it, and would that really be fair to everyone involved? And what if he didn’t feel the same way? Yet, the way he looked at me … The kind words he’d said about our time together before … Surely he did.

I got up and took the dogs out for their morning comfort break in my pyjamas, then took a shower. When I came out, with a towel wrapped around me, Will was coming out of the other bedroom. Oh wow, he was even more gorgeous than I’d remembered from the night before. He had a t-shirt and boxers on, his hair was a mess … and all I wanted to do was drag him back into his bedroom.

“Hey,” he said, looking as embarrassed as I felt. I held the towel a little tighter.

“Good morning.”

“Dehydrated?”

“A bit.”

“I’ll get us a drink.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you fancy going for a drive today, seeing as the weather isn’t going to be so good? I’ll take you on a tour of the island, show you some nice spots to take photos?”

“I’d love to. I’m not sure what Hayley’s plans are.”

“More time with Guy I expect.”

“Yes,” I said, trying to hide my disapproval. We got ready, downed some orange juice, then drove over to Guy’s place to check in. They were up and making breakfast, no signs of them being anything more than friends.

“So are you guys off out again today?” Guy asked as we cleaned up. Hayley had gone off to change into some fresh clothes I’d bought along for her.

“I thought I’d take Jenny on a bit of a tour.”

“Hayley said she’ll help me here again. She did well yesterday, once she got over her fear of getting her fingernails dirty.”

I laughed. “I’ll just go and tell her goodbye.”

I went upstairs and found her coming out of the bathroom. She pulled me into Guy’s room.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t sleep with him because I won’t believe you,” I said, looking at her blush with shame.

“I know it’s awful and I hate being a cheater, but I love him Jenny. It’s like losing a limb and getting it back again.”

“What? You don’t even know him anymore.”

It seemed pretty hypocritical of me to accuse her like that; I felt I knew Will pretty well after the last few days.

“I do, Jenny. He’s just the same as before.”

“So what are you going to do about Kieran and going home?”

“I’m going to talk to Guy, tell him I love him, tell him everything, and say if he wants me here, I’ll stay.”

“Seriously Hayley? On the farm?”

“I love it here. I know that sounds hard to believe, but I do.”

“And what about Kieran?”

“Kieran’s a great man, but he’s not the one for me. I hate to hurt him, but I can’t help how I feel.”

“Oh Hayley. He doesn’t deserve this.”

“He’s a big boy, he’ll move on.”

I sighed. “And what about your job, you can’t just quit?”

“I haven’t figured all that stuff out yet.”

We debated for a while longer before Guy called up and asked if we were ever coming down.

“I need to get back to work ladies.”

“Just a second!” Hayley called. She asked for details and I told her the truth about me and Will; that we were just friends. I neglected to mention that I’d like to be much more. Her behaviour didn’t warm me to her right now, and although I was quite happy to be with Will, she was still abandoning me on what was supposed to be our holiday together to spend time with her lover and cheat on her fiancé.

She could tell I wasn’t impressed but continued getting ready. I went down to find Will waiting for me in his Audi with the dogs already in the back.