Jamie stepped closer. ‘That’s because it angers you. Perhaps it’s for the best if you let it out. Shout at me or something.’
‘I don’t want to fight with you, Jamie.’ She gestured at the dishevelled tree. ‘Don’t you think we’ve had a bad enough morning as it is? Let’s just tidy up and get on with our day.’
‘Sometimes I want you to yell at me.’
‘Will it make you feel better?’
Jamie shrugged. ‘I put you through a lot.’
‘No, you put yourself through a lot. I just tried to be there for you. How you choose to live your life is none of my business, and how I choose to live mine is on me. Yes, it would have been nice to have had your help when Lisa died and I had to take care of Benny, but it wasn’t to be, so what’s the point of bringing it up? I don’t want to remember things that make me angry. I have a nice life. I’m happy.’ She shoved an ornament into the tree. ‘And yeah, you should have been there, but it’s done. I need you to let it go.’
Jamie inhaled deeply, feeling all of her pain. ‘I’m sorry, Angel.’
‘So am I, so forget it now. I’ll not be dragged back to that time.’
‘I understand.’
‘No, I don’t think you do. It was the worst year of my life. My family was broken, you were in prison, and I could barely breathe most days. All I wanted was to run away to your room and bury my head beneath your quilt with you holding me.’
For so long Jamie had wanted her to release that pent-up anger, as he always knew it was there. It wasn’t his place to force it from her, but at the same time, he needed her to be free of thehold it had on them both. It was the unspoken issue that bugged the life out of him. He could only guess what it did to her.
‘Happy now,’ she said, her shoulders drooping. ‘I raised my voice, and I only did that because my guests are out, and you seem to think I need to get things off my chest by blaming you.’
‘I don’t want anything bad between us, and Shannon just made me—’
‘Feel bad about yourself again. Yes, I know what she does to you. But I’m not having her ruin what you’re building here. So now can we move forward. Please?’
Jamie nodded slightly. ‘I’m scared things might come back to bite us if we don’t deal with them now.’
Alice sighed and stepped closer. ‘Nothing bad is going to happen. You’re all right, Jamie.’
‘It just feels too good to be true sometimes.’
‘It’s good because you’re making it so. Look at me, Jamie.’ She tilted his chin so they were face to face, and he smiled into her warm gaze. ‘The past is gone. You’re here now and on the right track and your future looks bright. It’s time for you to enjoy life.’
With her by his side, he was starting to believe happiness and peace was possible.
Chapter 15
Alice
Alice caught a snowflake on her tongue before heading into her mum’s shop, feeling the need to do something to make herself laugh. After the morning she’d had with Shannon’s nastiness, then Jamie living in the past, she thought it the best time to talk to her mum about things. There was no way she wanted any more of her days to be tarnished. She may as well deal with all the crap on the same day. It was Christmas soon, and Sophie’s wedding. Alice wanted to be enjoying the time, not having arguments.
Jed was behind the counter reading a newspaper while Luna was serving someone. They both smiled as Alice approached.
‘Still snowing, I see?’ Jed gestured at Alice’s hair.
Alice looked up, wiping her locks, feeling some dampness. ‘It’s only light.’
‘With a bit of luck, we’ll have a white Christmas.’ Luna placed some money in the till, then said goodbye to the young man she’d just sold a fizzy drink to.
‘Is Mum upstairs?’
‘Yep, but she’s not in the best of moods.’
Alice went to the stairs out the back. ‘Oh?’
‘She had a date, but he cancelled.’
