Page 70 of The Island of Hopes and Dreams

Rhys studied those last few words, turning them over and over in his head, wondering what tone she would have said them with if they’d been talking on the phone. She could simply mean she’d much rather be in the Dolomites than London, but she could also have meant that she wished she was sharing the view withhim. He replied simply with the truth.

I wish you were here too x

Pocketing his phone, he left the restaurant and went via his room to grab his swim things before heading to the outdoor pool to front-crawl away his worries while reminding himself that this time away was to focus on his dreams and future.

The air chilled his face as he bobbed up and down in the warm water, catching glimpses of ice-blue sky and mauve mountains as he swam. Dusk fell and Cortina erupted with hundreds of twinkling lights as windows lit up. For Rhys it was the perfect place to hope and plan and dream.

* * *

Rhys woke early again the next morning to drink his coffee on the balcony and watch the sun rise. Perhaps it was the comfort of a routine he liked after weeks of travelling with little structure to his days, something he had lots of in his real life. What he didn’t have back home was this sort of freedom or the joy of the outdoors within strolling distance. That gaping hole needed to be fixed somehow, a hole that had grown since saying goodbye to Lola in Sardinia. One that wasn’t filled even when he received a message from her over breakfast.

Got any plans for today?

No, a message from her didn’t fix the hole, but he felt less alone sitting in the spacious restaurant eating his continental breakfast and listening to the international chatter from the other guests. He smiled as he wrote a reply.

A repeat of yesterday. Off for a hike, although I might take lunch with me this time. Back to the hotel for a swim, then dinner.

Sounds perfect.

What are you up to?

Oh, nothing special. Busy day though and prob not contactable for most of it. Will catch up with you this evening x

Rhys put his phone face down on the table. While Lola was off to work, he would be striding beneath autumn-gold trees and soaking up the awe-inspiring sight of jagged mountain peaks. Turning his attention away from his ever-growing melancholy over missing Lola, he spread a map of the area out on the table and began to work out his hiking route for the day.

* * *

Rhys returned to the hotel just before dusk. His thighs burned and his cheeks were flushed from the cold. He’d pounded away his worries beneath the forest as he’d navigated the steep slopes. Winding his way back down had been the best bit, knowing he’d be able to ease his aching muscles with a swim in a warm pool before feasting on venison and falling into bed. His long-term dream of moving away from Bristol to somewhere he could wake up surrounded by trees had been brought sharply into focus here. He’d love to work for himself rather than have the rigidity of school hours and term time. He thought back to one of his first conversations with Lola and her suggestion of turning his woodworking hobby into an actual job. He’d always considered it to be a pipe dream, something he’d do when he was older, because what he was doing now was sensible and safe. Teaching was an important profession and one he liked; he had his own home that he’d worked hard for. Of course there were plenty of things missing – while he couldn’t magic up a loving relationship, he could make his long-term dream come true if he had the guts to.

Earlier in the day he’d taken a photo of his picnic spot with the lake framed between trees, the surface smooth and milky-turquoise, Punta Sorapis jutting towards the pale, sun-bleached sky. The sense of contentment he’d felt there had been absolute. Without the summer crowds, he’d only passed a handful of other hikers along the way. He sent the photo to Lola, the only person he’d wanted to share the moment with. He liked his own company, but he longed for Lola’s more.

43

Lola cupped her hands around her G&T and gazed out through the window. It had been a hellishly long day, but one filled with excitement and anticipation, as well as nerves and a dash of uncertainty. Now, sitting in the warmth of the bar, all of those feelings still jostled together, but her overriding thought was sometimes you had to be brave and step out of your comfort zone, shake off the fear and make a sweeping gesture to be able to move forward.

Flames spat and crackled in the bar’s fireplace, but even wearing her chunkiest winter jumper she was only just beginning to warm up. At least her travel sickness had eased now. The bar was mostly filled with couples having pre-dinner drinks, but Lola had managed to grab a free table by one of the huge picture windows and had settled herself so she could see across the bar to the entrance hall and archway to the restaurant. Candlelight flickered across the table. She turned back to the window, shivering at the coolness seeping through the glass.

Rhys had been spot on about the view. Tomorrow, she hoped she’d be able to see the mountain peaks he’d talked so enthusiastically about, but for now she’d make do with the lights twinkling from the picture-perfect village in the valley below.

She knew there was a chance that turning up unexpectedly could backfire, but after a month of messaging back and forth she was almost certain that Rhys would welcome her with open arms. Over the last few weeks, there’d been a constant tug at her heart. She’d felt like a lovestruck teenager, obsessing over a man she couldn’t have a relationship with, yet as the days, then weeks had marched on, she began to question this. Those jumbled thoughts and feelings had intensified until the night before last when they’d come to a head because she realised she was free and shouldn’t allow her heart to remain in the shadows. Of course there was a risk that they’d been so swept up in the romanticism of Sardinia and the freedom of a place far from real life that in reality they wouldn’t work. She was willing to give it a try, even if she was well aware that a hotel in the Dolomites was far from real life either. She wouldn’t judge anything on that, but on Rhys’s reaction and the way he made her feel when they finally got to hold each other again.

Rhys had messaged her earlier from the pool, so she’d been camped out in the bar in the hope that he’d follow his plan of heading to the restaurant for dinner after he’d had a swim. She was considering ordering another G&T to combat her churning nerves when she spotted him waiting behind a family at the doorway of the restaurant.

With her heart thudding so hard she had trouble focusing, she wrote a quick message.

Have you got time for that catch-up I promised earlier?

She was shaking as she clicked send. She watched him take his phone from his back pocket and click on the message. Was that a slight smile as he thumbed a reply?

Just about to have dinner. Can chat after if you’re free?

Lola felt light-headed as she sent another message.

I’m free right now. Mind if I join you?

At his obvious confusion, laughter escaped from Lola. She felt drunk on fluttery nerves as he stared at his phone. Even though she couldn’t make out his facial expression, she imagined his frown growing, followed by slow realisation.

He looked up and swung around, his eyes searching. And when they landed on her, his look of surprise edged with delight stirred something deep inside.

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