They stared at each other, then something about the situation tickled her sense of humor. Her lips quirked in a rare smile. “I’m sorry.”
He smiled back. “Don’t worry about it.
He came over to her, looking down at her for a long moment, his hazel eyes intense. Something she saw there resonated with her. He knew exactly how she was feeling. He surprised her by pressing a kiss to her forehead before saying, “You’ll be alright.”
“Will I?”
“Yes. I promise.” There was a sort of comfort to be had in the simple sincerity of the statement. The fact that he seemed to believe it meant maybe she could, too. “We’re going to the beach and then the ice cream shop. We’ll be back in about an hour.”
“Okay.”
Day Fourteen
Juniper smiled as she watched Leah chase Billy across the beach. “She’s been an absolute blessing.”
“She’s a gem,”Mikayla agreed.
Sighing, Juniper continued on, the sea pulling gently at her feet as she walked along the water’s edge, the light sea breeze softly caressing her skin. Mikayla had also been a blessing. She was pretty sure it was Mikayla coordinating the constant check ins and support. “You’re such a good friend to me.” She felt that ever present lump thicken in her throat.
Mikayla slipped her arm through Juniper’s, pulling her along. “I hate seeing you like this.”
“I hate being like this.” They walked on for a little longer in silence. “When is it going to get easier?”
“I don’t know, darling. It’s only been a few weeks. Give yourself time. Although…”
Juniper filled in the blanks in her mind.Although, you’re pretty devastated and broken, so you know, maybe never. Maybe it’s just never going to get easier.She took a deep breath. “You know, it would be easier if he didn’t love me. It hurts more knowing that he hurts, too.”
“I know,” Mikayla said quietly. “There’s just nothing you could do?”
Juniper shook her head. “I don’t think so. There are just so many layers to it. His family needs him. It would devastate his father if they had to lose the business. They can’t keep the business without William. So, could he live here and run the business? No, not without traveling to Sydney every other day for business meetings and whatever else he does. Those hideous business functions.” She shivered at the memory. “Could I live in Sydney? No.”
“Are you sure? Could you live in Sydney and just not attend the hideous business functions?”
“I really thought about that and if it was only the business functions that were the problem, then maybe I could. But it’s not onlythe horrid parties, is it? It’s the whole package. I mean, what school would Billy go to? What kind of people would we be associating with every day? Could you imagine him at kindergarten, telling someone he can see their colors?”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, shit.”
“So, that’s it then? He’s never coming back?”
Juniper felt the weight of it pressing on her chest. “No, he’s never coming back.”
CHAPTER 29
William
Life in Sydney was really just a matter of going through the motions; business meetings, another stupid party, traveling interstate to inspect a property, family dinners. His family had been utterly shocked when he’d come from that last, agonizing trip to Blessed Inlet and, calling an emergency meeting, said they had to sell the lighthouse. Cassie immediately bombarded him with questions. It took every ounce of control he had not to scream at her, so he turned away, moving over to the window and staring out wordlessly.
“Don’t tell me to shush, Mum! Look at him!”
“I’m fine, Cassie.”
“The fuck you are!”
He ground his teeth, his hands balled into fists in his pockets. He was so very far from fine but since the only solution was betraying them all and running away, he just had to stick it out. Just keep breathing in and out until it got easier. In the end, they acquiesced on his request to sell the lighthouse and that’s all he needed so he left the meeting.
On impulse, he ordered some blocks of wood online, in varying sizes and types; walnut, balsa wood, oak, cherry. He’d made Billy’s frog pond out of balsa wood. It was good but too soft, not providing enough of a challenge for what he had in mind. The cherry was almost unworkable since he was so out of practice. He’d had to order new tools because he’d blunted the blades on the original set and he just couldn’t get the flow with it. He decided he liked the walnut best; once he’d experimented with a mallet in conjunction with the carving tool it seemed to work.
