‘Listen, I never told—’
‘Please stop talking, and if you respect me at all, you’ll stay away from me for the rest of the day.’
‘Alex, wait, I didn’t tell her…’ Quinn started but she turned and walked away, refusing to listen to what he had to say and, thankfully, he didn’t follow her.
She needed time to process this. How could she correlate the man she loved, the man who was so kind he would leave painted baubles around the town for everyone to find, with the man who had betrayed her secrets so easily? She knew he’d done it to try to help her, but he had chosen the worst possible thing to share. She felt sick at the thought that pretty soon the whole town would know Liam was an abusive alcoholic and that meant Zara would hear about it too.
CHAPTER 18
Despite working in the room next door to hers, Alex didn’t see Quinn for the rest of the day. Many customers from the town came, grabbing last-minute gifts, but none of them looked at her with pity or judgement, in fact none of them spoke about Liam or her and Quinn at all. Was it possible that Tina would keep her secrets? Or maybe so much time had passed that this wouldn’t be a big deal after all.
At three, there was a knock on her door and she saw Quinn standing there. She didn’t know what to say to him.
‘I’m leaving now as I have to get ready for my Christmas party,’ Quinn said.
‘OK.’
He walked into the room, which was thankfully empty of customers. ‘I never told Tina Liam was an alcoholic. I knew you wouldn’t want anyone knowing that. I told her he had an affair. I thought it was thelesser of his crimes but would at least show her he wasn’t as squeaky clean as she thought.’
‘Oh.’ Relief coursed through Alex. She could probably cope with people knowing that. Affairs were always hot gossip at the time they came out in the open, but that was only because the two people involved were still around and people could make comments to them when they saw them. However, the furore always died down pretty quickly. Liam’s affair, if you could call a one-night stand that, had been years before. Probably no one would care about that now. And if they did it was unlikely something that would come back to haunt her or Zara several years down the line.
‘But you’re absolutely right,’ Quinn continued. ‘I should never have told Tina that, it wasn’t my place. I just saw how upset you were by the post and people’s comments and I wanted it to stop. I showed Tina the video of Zara asking Santa for a new dad, so that she would see how happy she is about us and how in love we are, in the hope that she couldn’t be hateful in the face of love and happiness. She saw Zara say that her dad made you cry and she asked why. I should have told her that it was none of her business or at least politely found a way not to share your private business. I’m sorry.’
She swallowed down the lump in her throat. ‘OK.’
Quinn nodded and gestured to the door. ‘I’m going to go. I have to make this face look old and saggy.’
‘That might take a while.’
‘Yeah.’
He gave her a little wave and walked towards the door.
‘Come round tonight, after the party, if you want to,’ Alex said.
He paused. ‘If that’s what you really want.’
‘Yes. That’s if you’re not too drunk for make-up sex.’
He laughed and came back to her. He took her in his arms and kissed her forehead. ‘I am sorry.’
‘I know, it’s OK.’
‘It is?’
‘Yeah.’
‘OK, then I’ll come round. And I won’t be drunk. I’m teetotal now so I won’t even be drinking a drop.’
‘What?’
‘I decided last week when you first told me about Liam and how you were scared of losing me. I know you didn’t specifically mean losing me to alcoholism. But I thought it might give you peace of mind, like me giving up shellfish. You never have to worry that I’ll be coming home drunk to you or Zara, you’ll never have to worry that I will be angry because I’ve drunk too much to be able to control my emotions. And if that gives you one less thing to worry about, if that helps you trust me that little bit more, then why the hell not.’
She stared at him in shock. ‘I don’t need you to give up drink for me.’
‘But I want to,’ he assured her. ‘I’ve never been a big drinker so I won’t miss it. It’s such a tiny thing for me, but maybe a bigger thing for you.’
Alex shook her head. This man was going to ruinher. She leaned up and kissed him because she couldn’t find the words to describe how that made her feel. Safe. He made her feel so safe.
