Was this actually a dream? Would she wake up and find that it had all been in her imagination and that he would disappear into her memories once more?
Without registering what she was doing, she placed a hand over her heart as the old ache spread through her, as raw and powerful as it had once been. How could it still be there after so long? How was it possible that a man she hadn’t seen in the flesh for years could still have this impact on her?
She took hold of her glass of champagne and raised it automatically as Titus made a toast, smiling as he thanked them all for being there. But when Wyatt raised his glass and smiledaround the table, she gripped the stem of the glass tighter and felt her jaw tense. He probably did this all the time and acted like he hadn’t once broken her heart, ripped it from her chest and stomped on it as he —
‘Edith? Are you OK?’ Thora placed a hand on her arm, and Edith turned to her. ‘You’ve gone very pale.’
‘Oh… yes. Fine.’ Edith cleared her throat. ‘Just… quite emotional.’
‘Me too.’ Thora blinked; her eyes were glistening.
Edith drew a breath. Thora was right; whatever Edith felt about Wyatt wasn’t important. It had no place here. Today was about Finn and Titus and their happy ever after. She was a professional, and she would act like one.
Half an hour later, they’d ordered wine and food, and their starters had arrived. Edith had a salad topped with watermelon, walnuts, and feta. She picked at it at first, unsure if she’d be able to force the food down, but it was delicious and she’d soon cleared her plate.
Focusing on the happy couple, helped her to stay grounded. She already knew what their vision was for the wedding but wanted to get a feel for the special extras she could provide. It was her job to ensure that their wedding was as perfect as possible. She knew them both already but hadn’t known Titus as well as she knew Finn, so spending this time with him too would help her understand them both better.
Finn and Titus reminisced about how they met and then about the Christmas proposal that Finn had arranged with Thora’s help. They’d roped in Pearl Draper at her garden café in Porthpenny, and it sounded like it had been a magical evening.
Thora’s partner had been present at the proposal, and her voice consistently betrayed her feelings for him whenever she spoke his name. Apparently, she’d been reunited with Lucas when he’d come back to the village. It made Edith reflect on her relationship with Wyatt and whether there were any similarities. If Thora and Lucas could put the past behind them and reunite, then was it possible for…
No! Of course not.
Edith and Wyatt’s situation was very different, and there was no way she could ever see herself reuniting with him. After all, the man had almost destroyed her when he’d left her before, and there was no way she could ever let that happen again.
So… as always… Edith felt her single status was as obvious as the colour of her hair. Most of the time she didn’t mind it or care. She was a busy professional, and she had many things to fill her time with. But today, some of the old discomfort around it had returned because she was sitting opposite her past. And her past looked so good. So handsome. So… successful. So… smug? Was he smug? He certainly appeared to be doing well in his expensively tailored suit and with his fresh haircut and cleanly shaven face. That handsome, bloody face with the square jaw and dimples when he smiled that still gave him a mischievous boyish air. She watched him across the table, trying to be discreet and hating herself for wanting to look at him. Wyatt had always been lovely to gaze upon, and that, it seemed, hadn’t changed in ten years.
Anger fizzed in her belly, and she put her fork down and then reached for her wine. She shouldn’t really be drinking alcohol as she was working, but these were, she thought, exceptional circumstances. She knew better than to let her guard slip at a client lunch, but today her heart had other ideas. She neededsomething to numb the old pain that was rising to the surface like seaweed freed from the seabed.
‘So…’ Wyatt said, turning his attention to Edith. ‘You’re a wedding planner?’
Was this it then? They were going to pretend they didn’t know each other. Pretend they hadn’t spent nights wrapped around each other, days walking around parks and sharing pub lunches in cosy inns, curled up on the sofa watching classic movies while feeding each other popcorn and sharing a bottle of wine. Pretend they hadn’t met when they were just eighteen, both undergraduates at the University of Bath, young and excited about life and what it would hold.
Fine!If that was how he wanted to play things, she would go along with it. Edith already knew that what they’d shared hadn’t meant the same to him. How could it? He had walked away and forgotten about her. Left her wondering what on earth she’d done wrong to warrant such cold treatment.
‘I am.’ She held his gaze, trying not to fall into those deep hazel eyes as warm and liquid as honey.
‘Edith is a very successful wedding planner,’ Finn said. ‘The best, in fact.’
Edith flashed him a grateful nod.
‘I’m sure you are. Where did you study?’ Wyatt cocked a brow. ‘I mean… I’m guessing you went to university to study something like… event management?’
Edith dug her fingernails into her palms under the table. He was teasing her. Right here and now, while acting as if he hadn’t met her before. They used to do this to each other all the time. Sharean ‘in joke’ around others and see how far they could push each other until one of them cracked. But that wasbefore, and this wasnow, and everything, just everything, had changed.
‘Hospitality and event management.’ Edith plastered on her most dazzling smile and flicked her hair, a gesture she knew used to drive Wyatt mad. He’d told her it was gently flirtatious and that it used to send the scent of her shampoo towards him. He wasn’t sitting close enough right now for that to happen, but she wondered if it would remind him and mean that she was getting to him too. She did it again for good measure and saw his pupils dilate while his left eyebrow rose ever so slightly as if accepting the challenge. ‘What about you?’
He grinned and raised his glass. ‘Same.’
‘Wait… you two went to the same university?’ Finn laughed. ‘Or did you mean that you just studied the same course?’
‘Yes.’ Wyatt nodded vaguely, and Finn laughed with the ease of a man who was on his third drink and having a great time with family and friends. Thora caught his attention then with a story about their children, and he forgot about Wyatt and nodded as he listened to her.
Edith picked up her wine and raised it in a small salute to her ex, then took a gulp. Thank goodness she only had to endure his company for one day. She didn’t know what she’d do if she had to spend longer in his company. That was a prospect she felt certain she’d be unable to bear.
6
WYATT
