Page 21 of Hooked On The One That Got Away
‘The end is in sight,’ Charlie murmured, watching them go. ‘Even though it still seems a million miles away.’
With a quick intake of breath, he turned to Willow, squeezed her hand. ‘Shall we go find a quiet place to sit? If we can?’
As he spoke, two swans floated by close to the riverbank, looking serene and not at all homicidal. One turned its long neck and, Willow could have sworn, stared right at her with its bright black eyes.
‘They mate for life, you know,’ said Charlie, following her gaze.
‘Idoknow,’ said Willow. ‘They also, quite frankly, scare the shit out of me.’ She tugged on his hand. ‘Come on. I think I know where we can go.’
Willow led Charlie to the park bench she’d sat on to eat ice cream and cry. Given it was a summer Saturday morning, every bench should have been taken, but Willow had never doubted that this one would be free.
‘Why is no one sitting here?’ Charlie peered at the bench surface, suspicious. ‘Fresh paint? Bird shit? Whoopie cushion?’
‘Luck.’ Willow sat and patted the bench beside her. ‘It’s our lucky day.’
Charlie’s face lit up. It was the first time Willow had seen him smile properly, and his new leanness, she was delighted to see, hadn’t got rid of the dimple. He sat and put an arm around her shoulders, dropped a kiss on her hair, and leaned against her with a sigh.
‘It’s weird, you know,’ he said. ‘I had no plans to visit the market. I was headed to the Tesco Metro to buy milk but on the way this woman on one of those cargo bikes screeched to a halt and shoved a leaflet for the market at me. She basically insinuated that I’d be run out of town if I didn’t support my local producers. So, while she glared at me, off I went.’
‘What colour eyes did she have?’ Willow asked.
‘Eyes?’ Charlie thought about it. ‘I don’t know. She was wearing sunglasses. Why?’
‘No reason,’ Willow replied.Not a rational one, anyway.
Charlie pulled her to him and buried his face in her hair. ‘God, I’ve missed you,’ he breathed. ‘Every minute without you has been utter hell.’
‘Then why did youleave, Charlie?’ was Willow’s heartfelt, urgent question. ‘Why?’
Slowly, Charlie released her and sat up. He leaned forward, rested his forearms on his thighs and pressed his palms together, as if asking a higher power for strength.
‘I’ll tell you what I can,’ he said.
Chapter Sixteen
‘Before I start,’ said Charlie, ‘I have to make it clear that a lot of people are depending on me. They’re especially depending on me to protect them. So, I can’t give youanyconcrete details – I can’t evenhint.Are you okay with that?’
‘How can Iknow?’ Willow’s pent-up frustration found voice. ‘You’ve kept me in the dark for ayear, Charlie! I can’t evenimaginewhat you have to say to me now, after all that time, so howcanI know how I’ll react?’
Her frustration boiled over into anger. ‘You should atleastdo me the decency of finally trusting me. You left without a word because youdidn’ttrust me. That’s right, isn’t it?’
Charlie’s face was taut with unhappiness, and a hint of defensiveness. ‘It’s not as simple as that,’ he began.
‘Isn’tit?’ Willow wanted to goad him.
‘No!’
A flock of starlings feasting on the grass nearby took off in startled flutter.
‘Ididtrust you,’ Charlie insisted in a low, urgent voice. ‘I trusted that you’d understand, once you knew the truth. I trusted that you loved me and that you’d keep on loving me.But Ineverexpected it to take this long –that’swhat’s fucked everything up. It’s all takenwaytoo long.’
He blew out a shaky breath. ‘Willow, I couldn’t tell you then for the same reason I can’t give you details now, not yet. Iknowthat sounds ridiculously over-dramatic but it’s the truth. What I’m involved in – it’s complicated–’
‘Dangerous?’ Willow’s anger gave way to anxiety.
‘Risky,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot at stake. But no one’s going to die. It’s nothing like that.’
It felt to Willow as if her mind was full of pieces of a puzzle, all floating around, refusing to settle into some kind of cohesive picture. What could be so important to Charlie, and to whoever else he was involved with, that he’d upend his entire life, not knowing if he could ever get it back? Apart from Charlie, there wasn’t anything inherlife she felt strongly about. Was that a good or a bad thing …?
