Eliza shook her head. “Everything that happened was accidental. I never intended to undermine you. We’ve been playing cat and mouse for at least a decade. I even got married in the interim. You could say we’ve been playing the long game.”
The sexual tension that had been simmering between us all day suddenly crackled to life, intensified by the emotional intimacy we’d just shared. I was acutely aware we were alone on this terrace, and that the golden-hour light made everything look soft and romantic. Eliza’s hair was catching the breeze in a way that made me want to reach out and touch it.
Instead, I forced myself to look back at my laptop, though the screen was blurry through my lingering tears. “Roka’s shooting next week when she’s back in the UK for another festival. Then she launches her album two weeks later at 23:00 on July 23rd, and the watch pre-order will get super-charged off the back of that. It’s already up for super-fans. We’ve got 50 influencers lined up for the big launch, social media ads ready, select newspaper and airport ads primed.”
“You’re creating a moment together.” Eliza’s voice was warm with something that sounded like pride. “This is going to be massive. I predict you might crash the internet.”
My phone buzzed with a call from Fiona, and I grabbed it gratefully, needing the distraction from the way Eliza was looking at me.
“Hi Fiona, how are things?”
“All good here, love. Just wanted to check in. I know you’re worrying about capacity, but we’ve got plans in place. The new 3D printing setup arrives next week, and I’ve got three morecraftspeople lined up if we need them. We can handle whatever comes our way.”
Fiona’s surety made calm run through me. I wasn’t doing this alone. I had a team behind me who were backing me all the way.
Even so, I had to check. “You’re sure we can do this?”
“Poppy.” Fiona’s voice was firm but kind. “Take care of yourself. That’s what your mum would want, and in lieu of her, I’m the closest thing you’ve got to a mother figure telling you to stop panicking and enjoy what you’re doing.”
The words hit me unexpectedly hard, especially after my tears about Mum and Gran. Fiona was right: she was the closest thing I had to a maternal presence.
“I know,” I managed. “Thank you.”
After I hung up, Eliza eyed me with concern. “Everything alright?”
“Yeah, just... Fiona looking out for me, like always." I stared out over the lake, where the last light was painting the water gold. “Sometimes I focus so much on the people I’ve lost, I forget the people I still have.”
“You’re not alone,” Eliza told me, and when I looked up, the intensity in her gaze made my breath catch, and a sonic boom explode in my body. I gripped my leg for something to hang on to.
The silence stretched between us, loaded with all the things we weren’t saying. The weekday rule felt increasingly ridiculous when she was sitting there looking at me like that, when she’d just held me while I cried.
“We should probably get ready for our dinner reservation,” I said finally, though I made no move to pack up.
“Probably,” Eliza agreed, but she didn’t move either.
CHAPTER 29
We never made it to dinner.
Instead, Eliza suggested we walk into the village, and something about the way she said it — gentle, like she understood I needed to move, to breathe — made me nod. The path wound down through vineyards, past stone walls covered in climbing roses that released their perfume into the evening air.
The village was small and perfect, like something from a fairy tale. Cobblestone streets, wooden chalets with flower boxes overflowing with geraniums, and a little church with a bell tower silhouetted against the darkening sky. Most of the shops were closed, but warm light spilled from restaurant windows and we could hear the gentle murmur of conversation and clinking glasses.
We wandered past a fountain where water trickled over worn stone, and Eliza slipped her hand into mine. I didn’t pull away. The sparks I’d come to expect when our fingers met didn’t stun me this time. Rather, they warmed me. Here, it felt like the perfect thing to do.
“Your mum loved evening walks through the village, didn’t she?”
I glanced at Eliza’s heart-shaped chin, her strong jaw, her just-right ear lobes. She was taking charge. She was looking after me. The butterflies in my stomach soared.
“How did you know that?” The observation caught me off guard.
“I remember her telling me, and also, I remember you moaning about it when you were younger. How you just wanted to be on your iPad after dinner, but she always dragged you out for a walk, a drink, a chat.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head. “That sounds like something I would have said. Mum loved the old buildings and streets, being connected to history.”
Eliza squeezed my hand gently. “It’s time to make your own traditions in Switzerland. But they can be the same as your mum’s, too. That might make them extra-special.”
I expected to be overwhelmed with memories, and I was, but not in a sad way. Instead, I could feel Mum here with me, smiling at the washing on the lines up high, waiting for the church bell to ring. It was nice to do it with Eliza. It was extra-nice that she understood.
