Sarah came out of the farmhouse then. ‘Can I have a lift back to the pub, please?’ she asked Henry, avoiding my gaze.
‘Sure, come on.’
I watched them walk off together and my chest sagged with relief. I never thought when I called off our wedding that things would become even more complicated and confusing, but they really were.
Heading back inside, I returned to the table. ‘Thank you,’ I said to my uncle. ‘That was so tense.’
‘I don’t like to see any of you unhappy,’ Adam said. ‘I hope you all follow your hearts. You know how you feel. Don’t let anyone make you feel differently out of obligation or fear or guilt.’
Blake and I looked at one another.
The rest of the meal was far more peaceful. Willow chatted about the farm with Dylan and my uncle while Blake and I were quiet. It felt like it had been the longest day.
Blake rubbed his shoulder. ‘I ache everywhere.’
‘You work muscles you didn’t know existed being on a farm,’ Willow told him.
‘Who needs a fancy gym membership?’ Blake tried to smile but it didn’t fully work.
‘I haven’t been to a gym since I moved in here,’ Dylan said down the table to him. ‘Farm work is the best workout you can have.’
‘Maybe not the best workout,’ Willow said in a low voice.
‘I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,’ Uncle Adam spluttered.
Willow and Dylan giggled like teenagers and it helped; I smiled and so did Blake, and some of our tension faded.
Willow sighed then. ‘Crap, I forgot to put the ponies into the barn for the night. It’s meant to rain so I don’t want to leave them outside.’
‘I can do it,’ Blake said readily.
‘I’ll come too,’ I said. ‘I better cover the flower arch if it’s going to rain a lot,’ I added. ‘There’s spare tarpaulin in the barn, right?’ I asked Willow.
‘Yep, use whatever you like.’
Blake and I headed out to the barn together.
‘Did I ruin your evening with my car issues?’ Blake asked me as I hunted for the tarpaulin to cover the archway up.
‘I was relieved to get out of the dinner with Henry. Is that bad?’
‘No. I’m glad that Adam seems to have convinced Sarah to give me some space. Maybe I’ve let her have hope about us getting back together but it’s hard. She was my life for a year. And you and Henry had five years.’
‘Yeah. My uncle said follow your heart but that is really terrifying.’
Blake met my gaze. ‘Tell me about it.’
I went to pick up the tarpaulin but Blake got there first. ‘Thanks.’
‘Come on, let’s go to the field.’
We left the barn and Blake seemed to be considering what I had said. ‘When we first got together, I wanted to spend all my time with Sarah; I loved it when it was just us. Now, I don’t want to be alone with her. When I am, all I can do is think about her with that man I saw in our apartment.’
‘I get that. Do you think you can ever forgive her?’
‘Maybe it’s more that I’m not sure I want to. What about you and Henry?’
‘Before we spotted you on the side of the road, Henry was still talking about the future he sees for us. He hasn’t listened to anything I’ve been saying to him since our wedding day! He still hasn’t asked me what I want.’
