Page 71 of The Island of Hopes and Dreams

Lola’s heart battered her chest as she made her way across the bar towards him. He stepped away from the small queue that was forming at the restaurant door.

‘What on earth are you…’ His words petered out as he shook his head, although his smile gave away his feelings.

‘I thought I’d surprise you.’ She gave a little shrug that belied the emotions whirling through her. ‘Figured you might fancy company at dinner for once.’

He reached for her, his eyes not leaving her face as if he’d blink and she’d be gone again. ‘Forget about a table here,’ he said quietly. ‘Let’s order room service.’

‘I actually booked a room for tonight, I didn’t want to assume?—’

He cut her off with a kiss and, with his arms encircling her waist, tugged her close. They were standing in the hotel’s entrance hall in full view of the bar and a handful of the diners in the restaurant, but Rhys didn’t seem to care one bit. The shy teacher had morphed into a confident, passionate man who seemed to finally know what he wanted. He pulled away from their kiss with a look of joy. Taking her hand and flashing a grin at the bemused hostess, he led Lola away from the restaurant towards the lifts.

‘You haven’t come all this way to spend the night alone in your room.’

Her heart spun out at his words, and his tone. Heat pooled into the pit of Lola’s stomach at the unspoken promise of what the night would entail. She was certain her decision to make a romantic gesture by taking urgent leave from work and getting a last-minute flight from Heathrow to Venice, then a coach into the heart of the Dolomites had been the right one. Everything about Rhys and the way he made her feel was so incredibly right and she was going to prove just how much he meant to her the second they reached his room.

* * *

Snow dusted the grey mountain peaks, which were jagged against the pale-blue sky. The sun shone on the larch trees that decorated the edge of the lake, turning them a vibrant yellow. Rhys had always intended to walk to Lake Federa today, but to do so with Lola was more than he’d dreamed of.

He still couldn’t quite believe she was here. The message she’d sent the evening before asking if she could join him for dinner had taken his breath away and then when he’d realised what it meant. He’d never felt anything like it before, yet the word to describe how he felt in his head and heart, he knew exactly what that was.

They’d fallen into bed the moment they’d got to his room. They were still getting to know each other, yet he already felt as if he knew her intimately, and the way they were instantly so comfortable and at ease with each other was everything. Eventually, they’d ordered room service and sat wrapped in sheets on the bed together eating pizza and just talking and talking until desire snuck back. The plates were discarded and they’d had sex again before falling asleep, happily exhausted in each other’s arms.

It was dark when they’d woken in the early hours. Rhys had suggested they go for a hike to watch the sunrise, and Lola had immediately agreed, jumping out of bed to shower, dress and pull on hiking boots. He didn’t think he’d ever loved anyone more…

Love. That was the right word to describe what he was feeling as they sat together by the lake in the pink-tinged dawn watching the landscape come alive. They weren’t alone; there were a couple of photographers capturing the rising sun in all its glory, as the trees glowed golden and the dark surface of the lake transformed into a reflective watercolour of trees, mountain and sky.

Lola’s face was flushed. Whether it was from the bracing walk in the semi-darkness of a cold morning, or from the beauty that was materialising in front of them, he wasn’t sure. But with his arms around her as they watched the sun rising, nothing else mattered. It was only when she turned to him with tears tracking down her pink cheeks that he realised she was crying.

‘I always thought something was missing in my life, and then I met you,’ Lola said quietly, as if she didn’t want to break the stillness of the morning. ‘You make me whole.’

She wiped away her tears with her fingers and turned back to look at the lake. He remained quiet, allowing time for her words to sink in, giving her the opportunity to say more.

‘Believe it or not, I am incredibly happy right now.’ She gestured to her still-damp cheeks and laughed. ‘I’m fed up of bottling up my emotions and being scared to admit how I feel in here.’ She pressed her fingers over her heart. ‘Which is why I wanted you to know that. Know how much I’ve missed you and thought about you. I don’t expect anything in return, I just need to be honest and open with you. I’ve pretty much felt that way since we first met on the jetty. Do you know I was about to creep away when I saw you because I thought you wanted to be on your own. Then you invited me to join you.’

Rhys folded his hands over hers. ‘I’m just glad you stayed.’

And made a love pact that had come full circle to them watching the sunrise in the Dolomites; a love pact where there was no longer any pretence, just a heady feeling of love.

‘I learnt quite a lot about myself in Sardinia thanks to you.’ Rhys took a deep breath of the cold, pine-tinged air. ‘I’d been afraid to really live, because to do so, to fall in love and have those magical life experiences, could invite heartache and disappointment.’

‘It also invites possibility and hope. True happiness.’

‘Oh, I know that now, because I felt all of those emotions the minute we met, but I didn’t dare believe those feelings were real.’

‘When did you realise?’

Rhys smiled and a chuckle escaped. ‘I realised our love pact was no longer pretend the moment you thumped your feet against the headboard in our hotel room in Bosa.’ Lola stifled a laugh as her cheeks flushed. ‘But the moment I realised I was in love with you was when I saw you walking towards me yesterday.’

‘Because you understood I love you too.’

They gazed at each other with an openness that had always been there but meant so much more now their feelings were out in the open. A quiet happiness thrummed through Lola and she seemed at peace.

She snuggled closer. ‘I don’t quite know how we’re going to make us work, but I’d like to give it a try if you do too?’

Rhys cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. He knew without a doubt that the smile he gave when he pulled away reached his eyes.

‘More than anything,’ he said as they gazed together at the sky, mountain and golden larches mirrored in the glass-like surface of the lake.

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