Page 60 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

‘Thanks for the talk,’ he said, and then paused, clapping his brother on the back. ‘You did a wonderful thing’

‘I did the right thing and it worked out wonderfully.’

‘Thank you for taking care of her, I dread to think what would have happened to her and Star if you hadn’t.’

‘It was my pleasure, genuinely. They saved me too.’

Bear walked out, his brain a mess of thoughts and emotions he couldn’t even name. Today had been a lot to take in and he felt suddenly exhausted from it all, but sleep would be a very long way off tonight.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-EIGHT

Meadow woke the next day, her head banging. The room was too bright and it took a few moments of opening squinted eyes to get used to it. She rolled onto her back and watched the sun dance across the ceiling through the leaves surrounding the window.

She thought back to the previous night and groaned. Why had she drunk so much wine? The tiny shots were so deceiving, she presumed she was only drinking a small amount but she had knocked back quite a few of them.

She thought back to the men she’d met. All of them weird. She had been so relieved to find Oliver was normal and nice to talk to that she had accosted him and spent the rest of the night chatting to him, rather than having to talk to any other strange men. She let out a little gasp. And then Bear had arrived and taken her home. Had he been there all the time, talking to lots of women? No, she would have seen him. Had Oliver perhaps called him to come and get her because she was getting more and more drunk? God that was embarrassing. She tried to remember what they’d discussed after Bear had arrived. He’d been really lovely so obviously he’d forgiven her for their silly argument the previous day.

She hated that she had let him down so badly all those years before, taking the decision to leave out of his hands, hurting him in the process, and it had all been for nothing. She had so wanted to tell him the truth about what happened the night Star was conceived. It wouldn’t make any difference to the fact she had pushed him away so he would take the apprenticeship, but she wanted him to know that she hadn’t slept with his brother to get back at him for sleeping with Milly Atherton. She hadn’t even slept with Henry for that reason, she had been drunk and so sad and Henry had taken advantage of that.

She frowned as she suddenly remembered telling that sorry story the night before. Her heart leapt. Had she told Bear? Or Oliver. She wracked her brain, willing it to clear. No, she had written it in a text.

She gasped. Had she told AstralSurfer?

She quickly grabbed her phone and brought up the Connected Hearts app. She clicked into her conversation with him, her heart racing, hoping that she hadn’t. She stared at the screen, the last message she had sent him had been about the iguana. She frowned in confusion; she remembered writing out the big, long story in her message, keen to get it off her chest to someone even if she couldn’t tell Bear. She distinctly remembered that he had commented on it, said he was sorry that her first time had been like that. But there was nothing there. Had she dreamt the whole thing? Had she told someone else?

She clicked through all of her messages on the app to other people but, apart from a few offers to meet some men, and some dick pics from other men, there was nothing.

She opened up her text messages to Bear to see if she had inadvertently told him but that was clear too.

She didn’t understand any of this. After she had started talking to Oliver, it had all got a bit blurry after that. She vaguely remembered Bear taking her home, but the conversation she’d had about what had happened eight years before was getting clearer and clearer.

She clicked back into the conversation with AstralSurfer and sent him a message.

Morning. I got a bit drunk last night at one of these dating events. I remember having a conversation with you, telling you some really personal stuff. Did I completely imagine that? Or did I make a twat of myself and you’ve somehow deleted those messages to spare me the blushes?

She waited for his response.

She hated the thought that she had blurted that secret out to a complete stranger. She had never told anyone. Only she and Heath knew the truth and she wanted it to stay that way.

His reply popped through.

Hi Twilight. We didn’t speak at all last night. And if I did want to delete our conversation, I could only delete my part, not yours. Your blushes are spared. Maybe you dreamt it. Did you have a good night?

She sighed with relief. Maybe she had dreamt it. She always had very vivid strange dreams when she’d been drinking. She typed out her reply.

It was pretty rubbish. I’m not sure face to face meetings with strangers is my strong point. I didn’t really have anything in common with them. At least with online dating we are already matched for our likes and dislikes.She paused before she typed.You’re the only one I’ve felt a connection with so far.

She watched the screen to see his reply but the little three dots to show he was typing didn’t appear. Oh god, she hoped she hadn’t scared him off. Why was it all so complicated? The three dots appeared and then vanished again. He was clearly trying to think how to respond to that.

Finally his reply popped through.I really like you too.

She stared at the reply. Was that it? That’s what he had spent so long writing? Maybe he wasn’t good with words, not the emotional kind anyway.

She decided to try and skip past the part where she had awkwardly told him she felt a connection.I have another dating event tonight. We’ll be sniffing people to find our soul mate, I’m not really sure how that will go down.

He replied.I’m not sure that would be my kind of thing either.

She smiled.You sound like my friend. He’s not keen either.

---