I smile.
“He’s called me every day. Checked in. He’s always been my friend first and will remain that way. He made me face a lot of things.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kris is my friend, and as a friend, I love him dearly. On paper, he’s perfect. We both wanted the same things, someone who understood us, a family. We were lonely and for a while, we filled that gap for one another. But when he pointed out that was not the right answer—” I sigh. “I realised he was right. We were both settling.”
I stop and bend forward, trying to catch my breath. I stand and look up at the sky. Kat stops next to me.
“I can’t explain it. Now some time has passed, it’s almost a relief. Coming back here was like a weight lifting off my shoulders. I didn’t realise how much I would miss home until I moved over there.” I let out a laugh. “Who would have thought Penelope Dawson was a home bod?”
Kat inclines her head, and I chuckle.
“Okay, maybe you would. But it was when Gabriel called me. I would have jumped at any excuse to get on a plane and come home.” I run a hand down my face. “I think Kris saw that too.”
Kat looks at me. She knows about my past.
“What next?”
“I get on with my life,” I say truthfully. “I spent the weekend planning out a new game. It’s more intricate than anything I’ve created before. The team are going to want topartkill me,partkiss me, when I go through it with them.”
Kat laughs. “No keeping a good woman down.”
I grin. “You should know. What about you?”
She sets off down the road, looking over her shoulder.
“The hotel in the Maldives has hit a few snags. Nothing I can’t resolve, but I’m going to need to head out there if the onsite team can’t sort it out.”
“Worse places to go,” I tell her as we turn the corner and head back to the house.
After we’ve showered, I throw us some lunch together. My staff are still off, although all have jumped at the chance to come back when I invited them. I’m not supposed to be here, so I gave them an extended paid holiday. They all return next week. In the meantime. I’m in charge of my own destiny.
“Does Elijah know you’re back?” Kat asks, resting her hip against the kitchen island, a bottle of isotonic water in her hand.
“No. Neither does Gabriel nor Caleb and I’d like to keep it that way. At least for now.”
Kat turns her head to the side.
“Can I ask why? Did something happen between you and my brother?”
“No,” I tell her truthfully.
“But—”
“No buts. We’re friends.” I pause. “Hopefully, we can be friends again. The past fifteen years have been messy, but we didquite a lot of talking while I was helping him. Cleared the air. He’s mending. I don’t want him to think my engagement ending is his fault.”
“But it is—indirectly.”
I shake my head, and Kat sighs.
“Friends? Is that really all you want?”
I raise an eyebrow. She knows better than to go there.
“All I’m saying is—you’re both single. The chemistry has been sizzling between you for years. Don’t you think you should at least explore its possibilities?”
Not Kat as well.
