Page 99 of Coming Home to Wishington Bay
Carrie had taken a few bits of jewellery, as had I, and the rest I’d had valued and sold to a reputable second-hand dealer that Dotty had taken me to see. She and Reg had become quite good friends since I’d started helping out on the design side, and I’d been over to dinner a few times now. Dotty had made a comment about how sorry she was things hadn’t worked out between me and Gabe, which I’d acknowledged with a nod and vague smile but thankfully the topic hadn’t reared its head any more since then, which I was more than grateful for. I knew that, just as our dating, whether real or pretend, had become a topic for village gossip, so would our very real break-up.
But that, I was sure, like all gossip, would pass once the next interesting tidbit came along. And, of course, once Gabe left, there would be less of a visual prompt anyway. I just had to stick it out until then. And I would be sticking it out. I had to. I’d decided now, and having crunched numbers and done some due diligence, I realised it could actually work – I was going to stay in Wishington Bay.
With the help of Reg, not to mention Carrie and Ned, I already had several weeks’ worth of clients lined up for my fledgling interior design business. Sally was also doing an amazing job of spreading the word for me as well as taking pieces of upcycled furniture from me on a regular basis, which in turn had taken some pressure off them trying to source and create pieces as well as running the shop. I’d discovered they’d recently become grandparents to twins, so were loving the opportunity to see more of their family.
As another string to the bow, we’d also started offering a service whereby people brought in pieces of their own that they wanted new life breathed into. I’d just finished the first one of these and the owner had been thrilled, and there were already several more items lined up in the stockroom awaiting what Sally called Holly’s Magic Touch.
I’d checked the numbers over and over before I’d made my decision and it made good financial sense. I could do this. But most of all, it made sense in my heart. The moment I realised I could, and would, do it, it was as though an invisible band around my chest was released. Gabe had been right about one thing – my health had already improved immeasurably since I’d been here. The panic attacks were far fewer and I was learning to cope better with those I still got. My skin no longer had that pallid colour that no amount of make-up could help with and I had more energy than I could remember having in years.
Finally, I could breathe properly again, even when I thought about London. Now when I thought about the city I’d spent so many years in, I could enjoy it for the beautiful, vibrant and fascinating place that it was. I’d spent so long focusing on my job so that I didn’t have to think about how lonely my life sometimes felt. And all I’d done was make it even lonelier. I hadn’t appreciated the parks, the museums, the quirky shops and hidden reminders of history tucked away in corners, and often right in front of me. It was these things I would bring to mind when I thought of London now, and these things I would take advantage of when I visited in an attempt to make up for all those years lost when, because I was focused elsewhere and becoming more and more exhausted, I saw it merely as a background, and not as something to be appreciated in its own right.
The doorbell rang again and I called out that I was coming as I fought to get the second rubber glove off. Pulling off the glove and opening the door at the same time, my smile froze when I saw who it was.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’
* * *
‘I must admit I’d hoped for a slightly warmer welcome than that,’ Paul bristled at my greeting.
‘Then you’re more deluded than I was when I was going out with you.’
‘Come on, Holly. We managed to be civil at work. I thought things might have—’
‘I was civil at work because I had to be, Paul! What I really wanted to do was grab your nuts and rip them out through your throat, but I was reliably informed that HR would most likely frown on something like that. More’s the pity.’
Paul swallowed and shifted his hips. After a moment he cleared his throat. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you for weeks, but you never answered any of my emails or messages, and whenever I tried your phone it just went to voicemail.’
‘Did that not give you a hint that I might not want to talk to you? Besides. I’m on sabbatical. My phone is off and I’m not checking emails.’
‘I didn’t want to talk about work. I just … miss you.’
Something twisted inside of me, but I wasn’t going to fall for it again. For anyone again. Ever. In an attempt to cover my emotional fragility, I let out an irritated sigh. ‘I don’t have time for this, Paul,’ I said, glancing at my wrist before remembering that I no longer wore a watch.
‘Celia and I are finished.’
My expression level remained at DEFCON Bored.
‘It was never right anyway. We’d just been together for a long time but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I know what I did was wrong and that I hurt you but, I promise, it’d be different this time, Holly. I know what’s important now—’
‘What’s that? Remembering to only have one woman on the go at a time?’ I said, kneading my upper chest gently with my knuckles.
‘I was a dick. I’m sorry. I promise,’ he said, taking my other hand, ‘I would spend the rest of my life making up for it.’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?’ I said, trying not to be distracted by the sound of Gabe’s bike burbling down the hill, slowing as it pulled in to the shared drive.
‘No, not really. Not if you mean it.’
I wasn’t really listening to his answer as I watched the woman unwrap her arms from around Gabe’s waist and swing an impossibly long, lithe leg over the bike in a dismount. Taking the crash helmet off, perfectly tousled blonde waves tumbled down her back like a scene from a movie. It was twenty-eight degrees. Why couldn’t she be sweaty and sticky like normal people? Gabe removed his own helmet, his smile wide, laughing at something she’d said before he turned and glanced my way, giving me the slightest nod of acknowledgement. If it had been any more subtle, I’d have thought I’d imagined it.
And then they were both gone, their laughter drifting back to me on the gentlest of summer breezes.
‘Holly? Is that a yes?’
‘Hmm?’ I snapped my attention back, realising I had been making vague noises of agreement as Paul wittered on, my own thoughts ricocheting around in my mind. Gabe and I had only been broken up a few weeks but he was already bringing women home. How I wished it didn’t hurt anywhere near as much as it did! The sooner he left and put thousands of miles between us, the better.
‘So, say, seven-thirty tonight?’
‘Sorry?’
