Page 16 of Best Laid Plans
From the tone of her voice, there was undoubtedly a lot more she wanted to add to that statement. Like exactly where he could stick his cereal bar.
Clearly, he’d hurt her feelings last night, but, in his defence, he’d been doing her a favour letting her know right away that she was wasting her time if she was expecting anything more to develop between them this week.
Not that he was going to drag that up again right now.
Sighing with impatience, he dropped the energy bar onto the bench next to her, then stepped back, giving her a reproving look.
Okay, he’d done his duty now – he could walk away with integrity.
But, instead of picking up the bar, she stood up and shucked her rucksack onto her back, ignoring it completely.
‘Well, it’s time I got on with my walk and left you to enjoy the scenery on your own. Enjoy the rest of your vacation, Julien,’ she said pointedly, echoing his words to her last night.
He watched her walk away from him, his jaw aching with tension as he fought the urge to go after her and tell her to stop being such a stubborn fool and at least stay and rest for a bit longer, the pressure of the denial restarting the throb of pain in his head.
* * *
Stomping into Praiano an hour and a half later, with aching legs and a decidedly damp T-shirt sticking to his back, Julien still hadn’t shaken the feeling that he should have done more to convince Indigo to take the food he’d offered her.
His failure to persuade her to let him help had reminded him a little too keenly of the struggles he’d had with Celine at the end of their marriage.
Not that the two things could really be compared.
He’d not seen Indigo again on the route; he’d given her a twenty-minute head start after she’d stormed away, which he guessed must mean she’d made it to Praiano without collapsing. At least that was something.
It took him a couple of minutes to locate his hotel, which was in the centre of the small town, and he was about to stride into the glass-fronted lobby when his gaze caught on a familiar figure limping towards him along the pavement to his left.
Indigo didn’t appear to notice him standing there and she stopped a few paces away, wrestling her bag off her back and dumping it wearily onto the floor by her feet to pull out her water bottle.
As his gaze followed the movement, he noticed that the trainers she’d chosen to walk for miles and miles in each day were beginning to fall apart, the rubber cracked and peeling away from the material at the sides of the shoe. Surely they couldn’t be supporting her feet and ankles properly and the soles had to be getting thinner and thinner from the rough ground.
Did the woman have no sense? Not only was she putting herself in danger of collapse from not eating enough, she was going to end up damaging her feet, or risk skidding off a cliff, walking in such unsuitable footwear.
White-hot anger flashed through him at her stupidity and he stalked towards her, not sure what he was going to say but knowing he needed to say something this time.
‘Indigo, what are you doing, walking in those running shoes over that kind of terrain?’ he ground out, frowning hard and jabbing his finger down at her feet.
She took a small step backwards, the alarm on her face at his sudden appearance quickly changing to annoyance.
‘What’s it to you?’ she asked archly, shooting up an eyebrow. ‘For someone determined to spend his holiday alone you’ve got an awful lot to say about the way I spend mine.’
Julien found himself lost for words. She had a point – what was it to him? He wasn’t responsible for her and she’d made it perfectly clear she didn’t want or need his help.
But someone needed to point out her recklessness to her. Apparently, she had no idea how to look after herself.
‘Trekking so far in those flimsy shoes is going to damage your feet.’
She took a tiny step towards him. ‘I really don’t need you to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do, thanks very much.’
He matched her step with one of his own. ‘You know, I think you’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met. It seems to me you need someone to point out the obvious or you’re going to give yourself a serious injury.’
She let out a large huff of breath, her cheeks flaring with colour. ‘Not that it’s any of your business, but it wouldn’t normally be my choice to go trekking in trainers. If you must know, the airline lost my bag which had my walking boots in it!’
He stared at her, perplexed. ‘Why don’t you buy yourself some more boots? Surely your insurance will cover it?’
There was a dangerous flash in her eyes. ‘Just go and buy some more boots! With what? I know it’s probably hard for someone like you to understand, but some people don’t have extra money just lying around in their back pocket. I have nothing in my bank account at the moment and my emergency credit card and half my holiday money also happens to be in my lost bag!’
He could tell from the look in her eyes that she’d reached the end of her tether. Pain and hunger would do that to you.
