Page 35 of A Kiss under the Stars
‘Good. I’ll nip in and get some. Back in a mo.’
When I reappear, he takes a bite of the cheesecake and saysit’s the best he’s ever tasted.
I laugh. ‘You’re only saying that.’
‘I’m not, actually,’ he says. ‘It’s so creamy and delicious,I might have to stop talking for a while.’ He takes another bite. Then he says,‘So did Dylan carry on living in the flat when you moved to London?’
‘He did. Although we visited each other fairly often atweekends. Dylan would probably have moved back to Sycamore House at that pointbut he knew I wasn’t keen on him doing that. I was wary of him slipping backinto his old ways, and also there was no way I’d be visiting him there. I’dsworn I never wanted to see Sycamore House ever again. So he stayed in ourrented flat. But then one Friday, I was supposed to be meeting him off thetrain, but he didn’t arrive. And he sounded really weird when I finally spoketo him, as if he’d just woken up. He came over the next day but he seemed quietand withdrawn. And that’s when I found out he’d gone back to his old ways andwas drinking again.’
‘Oh, hell. You must have been so worried about him.’
‘I was. I wasfranticwith worry but he swore he wasgoing to get sober again. I almost gave up my course, but I compromised insteadby giving up my room in London and going back home, so I could make sure Dylanwas going to his AA meetings. I managed to commute to my studies for theremaining six months. It was hard and I ended up exhausted, but it was worth itbecause Dylan was on the straight and narrow with his drinking and I got myqualifications – and a first interview for an amazing job as a junior pastrychef in a London hotel.’
‘Wow. So what happened?’
I passed the first test. But on the day of my secondinterview...’ I swallow hard. ‘Dylan took an overdose ofsleeping tablets.’
Liam groans in sympathy.
‘I found him slouched on the sofa in the flat and I thought hewas gone.’ I shake my head, feeling sick and shaky recalling that terrifyingday. ‘He’d left me a note saying he was a burden on me that I didn’t deserveand that it was better this way. I really thought I’d lost him.’
‘I can’t imagine how you must have felt,’ Liam murmurs,taking my hand again.
I nod, having to will myself to go on now. ‘He survived. Just.But when I phoned next day to explain to the hotel what had happened, they toldme I was too late. They’d already filled the post.’
‘I bet you were gutted.’
‘To be honest, I didn’t really care about the job. I justwanted Dylan to be okay. But when he came out of hospital, things were tricky. Iwent back to work at the call centre, which I hated, and Dylan and I werearguing a lot. He managed to stay sober, though, all through the summer andwinter after I graduated. But then one night the following year – April, it was– we had a massive row because I suspected he’d started drinking again.’
‘And had he?’
I nod. ‘I found the empties after he’d gone. He kept denyingit but I wouldn’t believe him and I kept getting angrier and angrier at him fornot having the courage to admit it. And then I totally lost it and yelled athim... accused him of ruining my life and my chances ofgetting a good job. I blamed him for that missed interview and goldenopportunity.’ I draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘Next day, when Igot up, he was gone. He’d left a scribbled note saying he’d decided to gotravelling and that he was giving me permission to sell Sycamore House ifthat’s what I decided to do. I knew he had a friend at work who’d gone to livein Spain so I assumed that’s where he was going – to visit Euan.’
‘Did you try to find him?’
‘Of course. I managed to track Euan down through another ofDylan’s mates at work, but when I called, Euan had no idea where he was...hadn’t heard from him in ages. No one knew where he’d gone. He’d just handed inhis notice at work and disappeared that same day. Now, of course, I suspect hedidn’t go abroad at all.’
‘Did you check if he’d come here?’ asks Liam. ‘To SycamoreHouse?’
‘I did. But there was no sign of him. No sign at all thathe’d been here... thatanyonehad been here for a verylong time.’
‘So did you stay in the flat after Dylan left?’
‘I did for a while. I was still working at the call centrewhile I looked for catering jobs. But by the summer, I realised I couldn’tafford to carry on paying the rent on my own. And that’s when my friend Shalinipersuaded me to move down to Bournemouth and help her run the café she’d set updown there. We’d become good friends on the pastry course and she said I couldshare the flat where she was living, above the café. So a year ago, I gave upthe rented flat in Sunnybrook and moved down to Bournemouth.’
‘Shalini sounds like a great friend.’
I nod, smiling. ‘She helped turn my life around and I’vebeen living down there for a whole year now. Goodness knows where I’d be now ifShalini hadn’t insisted on rescuing me.’
We gaze for a while over the moonlit garden and I look up atthe millions of stars twinkling overhead in the clear night sky. The owl hootssoftly in the tree above us. Then Liam turns. ‘And are you planning on goingback to Bournemouth as soon as the work’s done and the house is on the marketagain?’
I swallow, a strangely unsettled feeling inside as I lookinto Liam’s dark eyes. ‘Er, yes. That’s the idea. I’ve been...well, I start a new job down there in October. I’m going to be a junior pastrychef.’
‘Oh, wow. That’s great, Lottie.’ He nods as if to emphasisehow happy he is for me.
I smile at him, wondering why I’m feeling so flat. I shouldbe happy Liam’s pleased for me, but a little voice inside my head iswhispering,He’s obviously not bothered that you’ll be gone soon.
‘Thank you. Yes, sometimes I can hardly believe it,’ I tellhim. ‘There were times when I was studying, commuting back and forth to Londonall the time and worrying about Dylan, that I never thought I’d manage tograduate. So landing this job in a lovely boutique hotel down on the coast isbasically my dream come true.’
