Page 69 of One Moment in Time
‘She’ll be back,’ she told him. ‘I think she’s one of the good ones. She’s a keeper.’
Aiden gave a final wave to Zara, who’d turned around to blow him a kiss right before disappearing through security. ‘I know she will. It’s weird because I don’t even feel sad, just excited about what will come next. She’s special.’
‘She is,’ Trevon agreed, but before he could say anything else, Aiden cut him off.
‘But so are you two,’ he said, so calmly that at first Eileen thought she’d misheard him.
Trevon clearly hadn’t. ‘What are you saying, Aid?’ he asked tentatively.
Aiden shrugged. ‘I’m saying I’m going to go grab another coffee. I’m saying that I’m going to leave you guys here and maybe you want to talk some stuff out. I’m also saying Zara and I saw you outside the chapel yesterday…’
So that was how Brenda knew. Zara must have relayed that little nugget of information to her mum.
‘…and if there’s any part of you,’ Aiden went on, ‘that’s backing off starting something because of me, then I’m saying please don’t, because all I want for you both is everything good. And I’m biased, but I think you two would be pretty damn good together.’
He walked away, smiling, leaving her and Trevon staring at each other, astonished.
Even with Aiden’s blessing, there were still way too many problems with this. The seventeen-year age gap terrified her and she was scared of the judgement. Physically, he was perhaps the most beautiful man she’d ever seen so she was consumed with anxiety because she was a fifty-five-year-old who’d given birth, lived a life, who was now dealing with the vagaries of the menopause, and who couldn’t compete with the bodies of women half her age, although she bloody well tried. More than that, he was someone who was important to her, and she didn’t want to risk a romantic relationship in case it went wrong and she lost him.
But Brenda, wise, smart, enlightened Brenda, was still in her head.
‘There’s a time when you just have to live your lives exactly the way you want to and for us that’s now. I hope you both have the heart and the courage to do that too.’
Sod the problems.
Eileen stepped forward, put her hands on Trevon’s chest, leaned up and kissed him for the second time, feeling the heat of his skin and the tender, heart-bursting touch of his lips.
‘I’ll go there if you will,’ she told him.
He pulled back, stared at her, smiled. ‘Baby, I’m already there.’
EPILOGUE
SEVEN MONTHS LATER
The snow had come early, right on time for a white Christmas that thrilled the American visitors.
Brenda threw a couple of logs on the fire and asked Colin to fetch some more from the garden. Bernadette’s garden. Her fabulous friend had moved to Dublin to live with the man she’d marry next year, and Brenda had rented this sweet, riverside cottage from her. It now had the most beautiful garden in the street too, thanks to the man who was once her husband, but who was now… What did Millie call them? She flushed as she remembered. ‘Friends with benefits.’ There was something to be said for it as far as Brenda was concerned. Freedom to live their own lives, to make their own choices, to go where they pleased, and to see other people. Colin had met a lovely lady down at the garden centre and had taken her out a few times, and Brenda was having a flirtation with one of the consultants on the elderly ward. She had no idea if either of the relationships would go anywhere, but the important thing was that they could. And both she and Colin were happy to throw the dice and see where they fell.
He was so much more interested in the world now that he’d retired from the council and spent his days working with Zara. He did all the run-of-the-mill stuff, while she concentrated on the flowers for special events and it was working out perfectly. For now.
Her daughter certainly seemed to be loving her new life. Brenda took a tray of mulled wine over to the dining table, where Zara and Aiden and Millie were playing cards, Millie howling in outrage because she hated to get beat. Some things never changed.
Actually, everything had changed. Millie had stayed for three weeks in Vegas, until her fling with Chad had run its course, then spent a month travelling across the country, ending up in South Carolina, where she’d lived with Eileen for a few weeks. It was there that she’d heard about the job on the cruise ship out of Florida – a resident florist on an exclusive, very expensive ship that sailed the Caribbean. It was wild, it was exotic, every day was different and Millie loved it. For now. Brenda had no doubt that her irrepressible lover of life would need more adventures in her future.
Eileen had developed a bit of a thirst for adventure too. At work, she had sold some big house and pocketed a healthy commission, so she’d used that to visit Scotland just a few weeks after the Vegas trip. Brenda had taken her on a tour of their old haunts: the club they’d worked in – now turned into flats. The house they’d all shared – now knocked down and a petrol station in its place. They’d laughed, they’d sang, they’d danced, and they’d hung on to each other as they’d sobbed at Eileen’s mum’s grave and then at Ada’s too. And they’d vowed they would see each other again soon.
They’d made good on that promise. Brenda had gone over to Charleston for a fortnight in October, and now Eileen had come to Scotland for Christmas with Aiden and her boyfriend, the gorgeous Trevon. He’d asked her to move in with him and she was thinking about it. She was hopelessly, gloriously head over heels in love with him and the best bit was that he felt the same. Eileen had gleefully revealed that she was over her reservations now, having the best time of her life, and they didn’t give a toss what anyone thought about them. Especially her ex-husband, Gary the Gob, who was at home in South Carolina, recovering from a facelift and liposuction.
He'd had the cheek to call Brenda when he heard that she’d separated from Colin. He’d told her he’d always loved her, that he wanted her back, then he’d asked her to go to America and let him sweep her off her feet. Instead, she’d told him about losing his child back in the nineties, and her motivations for marrying Colin. She’d then informed him that much as she was embarking on a new, adventurous stage of life, she’d rather go without sex until the end of time than go anywhere near him because she saw now that he’d been a pretentious dickhead back then, and he was still one now. Then she’d hung up, popped open a bottle of wine and invited Colin over for a naked fumble. And yes, her mules had trembled.
Brenda went over and joined them on the sofa. ‘So what are we thinking – will it be tonight?’ she asked in a low whisper.
Trevon nodded. ‘Definitely. He’s not going to be able to hold off much longer.’
Eileen seemed to agree. ‘I think so. Look, his leg is shaking. He’s done that since he was a kid when he’s nervous. He didn’t even do that when he got ditched at the altar by that horror.’ Eileen had made no secret of her dislike for Leah. Or Lila. Or… Layla, yep, that was it. A few days after they’d all returned from Vegas back in May, Eileen had called to report that she’d spent a whole day immersed in retail therapy to take her mind off Aiden’s meeting with Layla to discuss their future. It had cost her a spontaneous purchase of a Valentino bag that she returned the next day when, to the relief of them all, Aiden had called Zara to let her know that he’d told Layla they didn’t have a future. His heart had found a new home. With her.
As far as Eileen and Trevon were concerned, Aiden had dodged a bullet there, and judging by the way that handsome big fella was looking at Brenda’s daughter now, he obviously felt the same.
