Page 56 of The Island of Hopes and Dreams

She only managed a nod before he was swept into a hug by someone else. Then Mirabel was in front of her, her hazel eyes damp and sparkling, her cheeks flushed as she pulled her close.

‘Thank you for everything,’ Mirabel whispered as she hugged her tight. The build-up to the wedding had been long and intense and it was coming to an end, a spectacularly wonderful day that was tinged with sadness. They’d see each other tomorrow for brunch before Mirabel headed off with Fabs on their month-long honeymoon, but that was it. Mirabel would return to Sardinia, not London, while Lola would be heading home to face a completely different challenge alone. No, she wasn’t alone, as Fabs had just told her. So when Mirabel pulled away, Lola smiled despite her internal battle and they laughed together, their cheeks streaked with tears.

Once Fabs and Mirabel had been waved off to their bridal suite, people began to drift away. While Sarah, Gareth, Freddie and Zoe were keen to prop up the bar for a little longer, Lola followed Polly, Deni and Mark’s lead and called it a night. With Rhys and Barnaby joining them, their calls of ‘goodnight’ and ‘see you all in the morning’ echoed into the star-speckled night.

Deni, Mark and Polly chatted non-stop as they strolled through Il Giardino’s honey-lit grounds. Lola was acutely aware of Rhys and Barnaby walking behind them in silence. She didn’t know how to ease the tension with Rhys. She wasn’t even sure if she should, not when they’d be going home in a couple of days and he’d be heading off on his travels. What would be the point?

They reached the entrance to the main hotel building and while her friends headed towards the lift, Rhys and Barnaby turned right. Lola slowed and glanced back. Rhys had stopped. Barnaby squeezed his shoulder and continued walking.

They met each other’s eyes. Rhys opened his mouth, then closed it. Lola waited, hoping he would say something, although perhaps it was for the best to end whatever tentative thing they had before emotions became even more tangled and confused.

The sound of the lift pinging open made the decision for her.

‘Night, Rhys,’ she said quietly.

Without waiting for a reply, she paced the short distance to the lift and joined her friends just as the doors closed, shutting out the sight of Rhys still standing in the hotel’s lobby.

No one said a word on the way up, but she noticed her friends’ concerned glances.

The lift doors opened onto the first floor and Lola led the way along the hallway. She felt a rush of overwhelming sadness as she paused outside her room. Time was slipping away, their night at Il Giardino the final flourish to a spectacular stay on Sardinia. With just a couple of days left before the flight home, tonight was the beginning of the end.

‘Are you sure you’re all right?’ Polly whispered as she gave her a squeeze.

Deni was already outside her room, her call of ‘goodnight’ echoing down the hall as she gave a cheeky wink and pushed her husband inside.

Lola huffed. ‘I’m fine, honestly. I just need to sleep. Tomorrow’s a whole new day, eh?’

Polly nodded, although she didn’t look convinced. ‘I’ll see you at brunch then.’

The second Lola closed the door to her room it was if all the emotions she’d been bottling up and fighting against for months swamped her. The sense of loss was acute as hot tears fell. This was the second wedding of the year that she’d cried at, although at the first one when she’d been sitting half submerged in a muddy lake she’d been laughing as hard as she’d been crying. There was nothing funny about how she was feeling right now.

She swiped the back of her hand over her eyes and stumbled across the room. The spacious sitting area was shrouded in darkness, and through an archway the four-poster bed enveloped by cream curtains looked too large and imposing for one person.

Lola threw open the door to the private terrace and took a breath of sweet mountain air. The wide-open sky was velvety black and dusted with stars. Goosebumps prickled her arms, and the feelings of freedom and possibility made Lola’s heart ache with sadness. London was vibrant and bustling and had its own sort of beauty, yet the idea of returning made her insides clench, not because she didn’t love her job, but because of how claustrophobic it would be trapped in a city without Mirabel and where Jarek would be. A heaviness settled that wouldn’t be blown away by the herb-scented breeze. Just the thought of having to deal with all of that terrified her.

But not tonight.

Shivering in her short-sleeved dress, Lola returned inside and shut the door on the breeze. She wandered into the bedroom and switched on the lamp.

And then her heart bottomed out. A cream envelope was propped against the pillow on the side of the bed she slept on, her name written in Jarek’s punchy handwriting.

She wanted to run; she wanted to hide, to scream, to sob, to drag the suffocating knot of fear and worry from deep inside and stomp all over it. She wanted to be far from his influence, to be utterly rid of him, yet she was still riding the emotional wave of his making. Running away wasn’t the answer, neither was burying her feelings or wishing she could forget all about him, which as he’d proved many times was futile. Facing him head on with the intention of removing him from her life rather than wishing things were different was the path she needed to take.

So, despite wanting to flee, Lola reached out and plucked the envelope off the bed.

33

Lola trembled as she pulled out the handwritten note and read it.

Dear Lola,

What a pleasure it was to stumble across you the other day in Porto Cervo, although your enthusiasm was somewhat lacking, I’ll forgive you because I’m nice like that.

But I just wanted to remind you that I’ll decide when we’re done, not you. Did you learn nothing when we were together?

I do hope you’ll be thinking of me tonight, just as I’ve been thinking about you every night since we met.

Yours forever,

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