Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

“I’ve got a question for you,” Will said as he sat back down beside me.

“Okay.” I studied his handsome face, which looked kind of serious.

“Why do you think Ross cheated on you?”

“Huh. I don’t know. At first I was so angry with him, feeling he was the one in the wrong, but now I think maybe I had a part to play in all this, too. I mean, we’ve been growing apart for a long time. I think I took him for granted, and didn’t really appreciate him. I guess he looked for that affection elsewhere.”

“And, I know we said we wouldn’t dwell on it, but how are you feeling about him now? Will you forgive him?”

“A few times I’ve considered that I could forgive him, and that I still love him. But mostly, I think I’ll never be able to trust him and it’s definitely over.”

He leaned back against the rocks and, after hesitating for a moment, I leaned on him again.

“Do you miss Mandy?”

“Honestly?”

“Of course.”

“Not as much as I should. What does that tell you?”

I didn’t answer. I was biased when it came to talking about his wife and whether they should be together, so it seemed a little unfair to give my opinion. But, for the record, my opinion was that he should end his marriage and run away with me and live happily ever after.

If only.

We were silent for a few moments.

“You okay?” I asked. I looked up at him, he looked down at me and our noses were so close I could just reach up ever so slightly and kiss him. But I didn’t. I looked away again, back out to the shore where the dogs were playing.

“Yes. I’m fine. Just thinking. This is nice.” He squeezed my shoulder as he said the nice part.

“Yep.”

Silence again. I wish I knew what he was thinking.

“You’ve been a good friend to me these past few days, thank you,” he said.

Friends again. Stupid friendship wasn’t what I wanted.

“Ditto,” was all I could muster as a reply.

“What do you think will happen with Hayley and Guy?”

“I was just thinking about that. I’m not sure. I can’t see her moving up here.”

“I don’t see him moving down there.”

“She told me she loves him.”

“He says the same.”

“They hardly know each other anymore.”

“I don’t know about that. I mean, they’ve changed of course, but they are still the same people in essence. Same with you. I mean, you’re different, but you’re still the same girl I loved when I was seventeen.”

Huh. He loved me. He’d never told me. And I was still the same girl he loved? Surely that meant…

“Look at those two,” he said, shifting his position and changing the subject. “They’re so funny.”

Fern and Wentworth were playing in the water, splashing about, chasing each other.

“They’re having a holiday romance.”

Hayley and Guy didn’t check in, so we just continued to leave them to it. We picked up some wine and ready-made pizzas on our way back and had them at the cottage. I didn’t suggest that Will stayed in Hayley’s room again, but he must have assumed that’d be okay. Which it was, of course.

We had more fun, more laughter and giggles, and we fell asleep on the sofa together watching an old film on TV. I woke up after a few hours when Wentworth licked my hand. I was leaning on Will, and he had his arm around me. We were acting like a happy couple, just without the sexual side of things. I didn’t want to go home.

I took the dogs outside and thought about Hayley again. This was serious, and I was going to have to stage an intervention at this rate. She had to face up to her responsibilities and deal with Kieran. I called her a few times but she didn’t answer. Eventually, I went back to the sofa and cuddled up next to Will and slept a calm, happy sleep.