Page 102 of Winter at Wishington Bay
The smile I loved appeared then. ‘God, how I’d love to tell her that.’
I giggled and he continued. ‘Anyway, she’s banging on about this and she starts pulling up all these photos of you. The thing is, all she did by that was strengthen my resolve to see you, apologise and try and do everything I could to fix this.’
‘Why? I mean, why did the photos help?’
His hand stroked gently back over my hair, his eyes momentarily following its track before they focused back on me.
‘Because one of the first things I fell in love with, apart from your spark, was your smile. And in not one of those photos she showed me were you really smiling. I mean, not properly. You looked absolutely perfect and your gorgeous mouth was in the right shape. But there was nothing here.’ Gently he laid both his hands on my temples, the thumbs settling beside my eyes. ‘There was no sparkle.’
‘That’s because I don’t think I found it until I came here.’
‘I know the feeling.’ He let out a sigh, shaking his head gently. ‘Can you forgive me?’
The answer to that one was easy. ‘I already said I did.’
He grinned. ‘I was just double checking.’
I met his eyes. ‘But I live here. I love it here.’ I knew now I wanted to stay, whatever happened with the press. I’d deal with them and move on and, in time, they’d forget about me as they moved on to the next person to hound. I’d built a life here. One I loved and one I wanted to continue to build on. I also knew that I wanted Nate in it. But there was the small matter of thousands of miles between our respective homes…
‘I know. I love it here too. And I’ve done some research, and because of my heritage, and some work opportunities, staying here won’t be a problem. But only if you want me to.’
‘Oh, Nate… of course I want you to!’ Emotion cracked my voice as he pulled me towards him, his embrace so tight I had to make an effort to breathe, but I didn’t want him to let go. Not now. Not ever.
‘I don’t know how all this will work out. All I know is that I want it to.’ His voice softened as he pulled back and looked at me. ‘God, Soph. I want this to work out more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life.’
I smiled through the haze of tears, my expression telling him I felt the same.
His kiss was soft, tender and as he wrapped me back in his arms, and I leant against his chest, I could feel the steady beat of his heart. It was soothing and I knew I was exactly where I needed to be. And with the man I was supposed to be there with.
‘So, what can I do about those hounds out there?’ he asked as I eventually sat back.
‘Nothing,’ I said, feeling a surge of love for him because he wanted to. ‘But don’t worry about that. I’ve had an idea.’
30
‘This is fabulous!’ Flora said, beaming as she flapped the glossy magazine at me as I stepped into the cosiness of her shop, shutting out the bitter January wind behind me.
‘Oh, you got a copy?’
‘Of course I did!’ she laughed, coming over to give me a hug. ‘And my granddaughter’s been telling all her friends about it too. I think they’re all a bit jealous of her having a grandmother who’s so “in” with all the celebrities.’
I laughed and she winked.
‘Do you think it sounds all right then?’
‘It’s perfect. Your contact at that magazine did a great job, and, I have to say, I think this was a very classy way of dealing with it. Not that I’d ever have expected anything less from you.’
I reached out and squeezed her hand, thankful as ever for her friendship and her stalwart support through what had been a bumpy time.
‘Thanks, Flora.’
‘So, where’s your hunk today?’
‘He’s upstairs on a video conference thing about something or other. I didn’t want to be seen flitting back and forth on it so thought I’d come and say hi to you and get some bits in the village.’
Flora grinned. ‘Going OK then?’
I grinned back. ‘It seems to be. It’s a little snug up there, I have to admit. I’d got used to my own space and Nate isn’t the smallest guy around so the flat definitely feels a bit different with him there.’
