“Why did you do it?”
“I thought I told you already,” he said a bit tetchily. “I was feeling low and I was looking for some kind of...validation, to feel interesting and attractive again.”
“And did you find it?”
“I didn’t need to. I came to my senses and realized that you and our family are all I need.” He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Thisis what’s important. Me and you, and our future together.”
Ginny felt her lips quivering and tried to stop them. Maybe the tiredness of almost drowning, and staying up late to talk to Adrian, were catching up with her. “I can’t help thinking what might have happened if I hadn’t discovered your profile. Would you have actually met up with anyone? And you’ve never told me who Miss Peach is.”
“I honestly don’t know that woman. It sounds like you got a crank call and you should just forget about it. The dating site was like flicking through a catalogue and looking at new clothes you don’t need.”
Ginny winced at the idea of him browsing, dismissing or being attracted to photos of other women. She tried to welcome his assurance and be glad that he’d foundheron the site. She didn’t want to test him, but there was something else she needed to know. “Did you connect with anyone in particular?” she asked.
Adrian’s forehead grew shiny. “I’ll answer your question, then let’s drop it and enjoy our day.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “I chatted to a couple of women online, and that’s all.”
Ginny’s stomach knotted. Acoupleof women, she thought. Not just Jenny.
“It really was nothing,” he added. “I’ve always been faithful to you, Ginny, never even kissed anyone else, in all the years we’ve been together.”
Ginny felt her cheeks mottle with guilt. The conversations she’d enjoyed with Adrian, while being Jenny, replayed in her head, about rum and cola, and flying and being invisible. All the daft things they’d talked about when they were young lovers, which he was now dismissing as inconsequential. “I have another question to ask,” she said quietly.
Adrian’s face dimmed. “You said there was only one. What is it?”
“Did you form a friendship with someone named Jenny?” she asked.
The world slipped into slow motion while she waited for his reply. Her heartbeat sounded loud in her ears, as if everyone in the hotel could hear it.
Adrian shook his head slightly as if about to deny it, until Ginny gave him a firm stare.
“How do you know about that?” he asked, eventually.
She wetted her lips. “I set up a profile on the site...under a different name.”
Her confession took time to assemble in Adrian’s head. “It wasyou?Youwere Jenny?”
“It was the only way to reach out to you.”
Adrian straightened himself to his full height, his body language becoming defensive. “So, you set up a fake profile to check up on me? That’s pretty sneaky.”
Ginny’s gaze hardened even more. “It meant I got to chat with my husband, in a way we used to talk, so we could get to know each other again. It proves there was no way to keep us apart.”
Adrian’s face set so hard she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Seconds crept by until he forced a laugh. He shook his head in an exaggerated fashion. “Ginny,Ginny. It looks like we’re just as bad as each other.” He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. “I enjoyed those conversations with Jenny. They were fun while feeling familiar, and now I can see how it was you all along. It was how we used to talk to each other, a long time ago. Like you say, it just shows we’re made for each other.”
His last sentences mirrored the thoughts Ginny had been having, yet she found her body turning rigid. “It’snotthe same thing at all. You wanted a divorce and joined a dating site,” she challenged.
“You did, too...”
“Only because you did it first,” she said.
They sounded like children in a playground.
Gianfranco burst into the room again, rubbing his hands together. “We are now ready for the happy couple,” he said. “Bothhappy couples.”
Adrian stroked Ginny’s arm. “Come on, let’s do this,” he said. “Afterward, let’s drink rum and cola and discuss who is the best James Bond.”
“It’s Daniel Craig,” she said, as she followed him toward the door.
Adrian picked up a bouquet of flowers that she hadn’t spotted before. “Really? I thought you liked Sean Connery,” he said, handing them to her.
