Home. What a joke! He’d just blown his chance of having one, because he was pretty sure Alice would never speak to him again after what he’d just blurted.
Jamie paced outside the café, not knowing which way to turn. How to handle the mess he’d just created for Alice. He clutched his head and gritted his teeth. ‘Argh!’
The door to the café flew open and Will ran out.
‘Jamie? What’s wrong?’
Jamie turned, revealing watery eyes and agitation.
Will tugged him inside and closed the door. ‘Tell me what’s happened. I can help. Just talk to me. Has something happened to Alice?’
Jamie slumped to a chair, burying his face in his hands. ‘It’s me. I messed up. I’m an idiot, Will.’ He looked up. ‘Why am I always the idiot?’
Will pulled up a chair and sat to his side. ‘You listen to me — you’re not an idiot.’
Jamie wasn’t listening. ‘You know, my dad used to tell me over and over how much of an idiot I was. Now I know why he would say that to me.’
‘No, he was wrong to call you that.’
Jamie caught his breath. His heart was racing, and his hands shaking. ‘One thing, Will. One thing, that’s all I had to do. I promised. I made a vow. Just one thing, and I couldn’t even do that.’
Will took Jamie’s flailing arms and lowered them. ‘Look at me. I need you to take a breath. Whatever has happened, I’m going to help you. But right now, I just need you to breathe.’ Will took a deep breath. ‘Come on, mate. Just breathe. Nice and easy.’
Jamie copied his friend, taking short breaths in and long ones out, closing his eyes for a moment, wanting to block out the world.
‘It’s all right, Jamie. Everything’s going to be just fine.’ Will’s voice was soft and calm with a hint of authority. ‘You’re doing really well.’
Jamie started to settle, but he was still infuriated with himself, and there wasn’t anything he could do to fix his mistake.
‘Talk to me, Jamie.’
‘I messed up.’
Will nodded. ‘How?’
‘I broke my promise to Alice.’
‘You in trouble with the law?’
Jamie shook his head, lowering his face once more. Just thinking about what he had done was hard enough, let alone talking about it — even with Will, who he trusted.
Will patted Jamie’s arm. ‘I told your gran I’d look out for you, so if you need somewhere to stay for a few days, you can come home with me.’
Jamie looked up. ‘Thanks. I’m not sure I’m welcome at the B&B right now.’
‘You want me to go and pick up a few of your things, or do you want to tell me what’s gone on and see if I can help fix it?’
‘The damage is done now.’
‘Start at the beginning.’
Jamie took another deep breath. What difference would it make telling Will? Soon everyone would know the truth. ‘It was ten years ago. I found a lump, got scared, thought I had cancer again. Don’t know if you know, but I had it as a child.’
‘I heard some whispers.’
‘I thought it was the end of the line. I didn’t want to tell anyone but I confided in Alice. We started talking. I told her about my bucket list — all the things I wanted to do.’ Jamie looked directly into Will’s curious eyes. ‘One of them was to get married. Pretend I had a normal life.’
Will’s head bobbed slightly.
