‘Right.’ He took another bite of his sandwich.
‘I did have one a couple of years back. Thought I’d give it a try, but it didn’t work out, so I went back to focusing on myself and family.’ She looked his way. ‘Not something I wanted to write to you about.’
‘I understand.’
‘I made a mistake,’ she said quietly, cupping her glass of orange juice.
‘No, you didn’t, Angel. You just tried to have a normal life.’
‘I just regret it, that’s all.’
It was the way she said it that had him meet her eyes, searching for clues as to how bad the relationship was.
‘You okay now?’ he asked gently.
Alice smiled widely. ‘I’m so happy.’
That was good enough for him, because the thought of some bloke making her unhappy was enough to land him back in prison if he caught up with the man.
Jamie went back to his food, wiping away the image of Alice in bed with someone. He had always believed she might one day move on with her life. Fretted she might stop writing to him. Pretend he didn’t exist. It wasn’t in her nature, but insecurities hit hard when locked up in prison. He would stare at her photo stuck to his wall, the selfie she’d sent of her smiling with the sea and lighthouse behind, and he would wish so hard he could rewind time and start over.
Chapter 3
Alice
Decorating the artificial Christmas tree in the foyer with Jamie wasn’t something Alice had expected to do. It was a little strange, but Jamie looked relaxed, while she wasn’t quite sure how to feel. She hoped she’d made the right decision about letting him stay at the B&B. It was a lot easier when they would just talk about his release, but here he was, out. She needed to remind her heart to be still around him. And that helping him out was one thing — being too involved with him again was another. She would simply show some support and be the good friend she was.
‘Customers will be in for lunch soon.’ Alice glanced at the door. ‘We could go for a walk afterwards. I’ll show you what’s what around here now. Although, I do need to speak to my mum first.’
Jamie raised his brow. ‘Tell her I’m here, you mean?’
‘Yep.’
‘How much of a problem is this going to be for you?’
Alice shrugged. ‘It’s their problem. I’m getting on with my life, and so are you. We’ve got no problems.’ She hoped.
He took the red bauble she handed him. ‘Hmm.’
‘I’ll take you to see the Happy to Help Hub. Finally get to show you our setup there.’
‘I’m looking forward to that. I liked hearing about your success there.’
Alice smiled. ‘We all pitched in, so it’s more a success story for the community. It may be small, but it sure helps a lot of the locals, especially the food bank part.’
‘I’m surprised you have time to volunteer.’
‘I don’t have that much time since owning the B&B, but Demi has been brilliant around here which means I still get to put in a shift or two each week. Even Benny staffs the reception at times.’
‘I take it he’s in school.’
Alice nodded. ‘Yeah, and I want you to know that even though I didn’t mention you to Mum, I did talk to Benny about you staying here. I just thought it would be in the new year. Anyway, he was okay about things, so he won’t be any trouble.’
‘But your mum will?’
The thought alone made Alice grimace. ‘She won’t be best pleased, but she’ll come around. Listen, Jamie, not everyone is going to expect you to be the same person you were eight years ago. We all change.’
Jamie gestured at the dining room as they placed the last of the tree decorations onto branches. ‘Do you want my help in there?’
