‘I better look and see what’s going on,’ I said with a sigh, wondering what had my cousin so het up. She was ruining my morning afterglow.
‘Wait.’ Blake leaned down to give me a kiss and a dreamy smile. ‘Morning, gorgeous.’
I smiled back. ‘Morning, handsome.’ I gave him another quick kiss. ‘Hopefully, she’s being all dramatic for no reason.’ I climbed reluctantly out of the cosy bed, away from Blake’s arms, and stepped over to the window. I peered carefully outside, shielding my naked body from anyone looking up.
‘Nice view,’ Blake commented behind me.
I chuckled but then my eyes widened. ‘Oh, shit,’ I said as I noticed the cars parked in the driveway and the group of people talking down there, two of whom I unfortunately knew very well. I could also see a photographer and some more family members, and Dylan and my uncle were there too.
Then my eyes fell on Willow and who she was talking to. She was shaking her head, arms gesturing, but I knew the look on that man’s face: he was determined to succeed at whatever he was trying to do. My heart sank. This felt… bad.
‘You won’t believe this.’ I turned to face Blake, who was now sat up in bed, his delicious chest on display, but I couldn’t enjoy my view like he had been enjoying mine. ‘Sarah and Henry are here.’
‘Are you joking?’
‘Nope, come and see.’
Blake jumped out of bed and came over to the window, putting a hand on the small of my back as he leaned out to look. He swore under his breath. ‘That’s Sarah’s parents,’ he said, frowning.
‘That’s Henry’s dad and he looks like he’s giving Willow a tough time.’ I watched as he shoved a brown envelope at her. ‘What’s he giving her?’
Willow looked shocked as she took hold of the envelope. Then the group started walking past her. She was shouting after them but they ignored her and headed for the Strawberry Fields Trail.
I frowned at Blake. ‘What’s going on?’
Blake sighed. ‘We better go and found out, I guess.’
We dressed as fast as we could in yesterday’s clothes, running combs through our hair and splashing water on our faces, quickly brushing our teeth. Somewhat presentable, we hurried down and out of the farmhouse, walking the trail, looking for where everyone was. Blake didn’t take hold of my hand and I was unsure whether to take his or not. We hadn’t had a second to talk about our night together.
I was stunned as to why either of our exes were back on the farm, let alone here together. Along with their parents. And a photographer. I really hoped whatever was going on wouldn’t derail what was blossoming between me and Blake.
We approached the strawberry fields to find everyone had assembled close to my flower arch. Sarah appeared to be directing people to stand in various spots near to it. She wore a stunning white dress with pretty, light-blue flowers, heels, and her hair and make-up were flawless. I looked around for Henry. He was with his parents and was wearing a crisp, white shirt and navy trousers. A photographer was setting up near to the arch.
‘There you are.’ Willow hurried over to us. ‘Henry’s father is so rude! He just kept demanding I let them go over to the flower arch. I kept saying I didn’t want them on the farm, that I needed to speak to you two. Then he said he’d give me all this cash…’ She showed me the envelope stuffed full of money. ‘He shoved it at me then they all just walked out here. What should I do?’ She looked at me worriedly.
Before I could answer, Henry strode over, full of confidence, with a dazzling smile on his face as though he was thrilled to see me. ‘Daisy. I’m glad you’re still here. I wasn’t sure if you would be.’
I frowned, finding that hard to believe. ‘What’s going on, Henry?’ I asked, really hoping he wasn’t here to try to get me back again.
‘And why did your father shove money at me and then act like he owns the place?!’ Willow cried, exasperated.
‘He just wanted to thank you for letting us do this,’ Henry replied smoothly.
‘I didn’t let him!’ Willow cried, throwing her arms up in the air.
I knew how she felt. Henry’s dad steamrolled over people. ‘Henry, what are you all doing here?’ I asked him sharply, my patience evaporating.
Henry ignored my question and glanced at Blake, who was standing a couple of feet from me, keeping a careful distance, as if he didn’t want anyone to know we’d spent the night with each other, and he shrugged. ‘I know you lied that you two didn’t know each other,’ he said, turning to me. ‘You’re here together still. You must think I’m an idiot.’
‘We’ve been through this…’ I began, wishing we’d never fake dated. Henry would never accept that I didn’t want to be with him, Blake or no Blake, now.
‘It’s fine,’ he said to me. ‘I don’t care any more. You can do whatever you want. Sarah and I have moved on. We spent a fair bit of time together while we were here and when I got back to the city, I asked her out for a drink. We were going to console each other about what happened but to be honest, we both found we didn’t need consoling.’ He shrugged, still smiling his charming smile, as if he wasn’t dropping a dig at both me and Blake. ‘We actually fell hopelessly in love.’
My mouth dropped open. I glanced over at Blake, who was looking away at Sarah. She was fluffing her hair up as the photographer took some snaps of her in front of my flower arch. ‘You and Sarah?’ I checked as Willow snorted under her breath beside me.
I felt relieved Henry wasn’t here to win me back but I had no idea how to feel about him being with Sarah now. That was a plot twist I hadn’t bargained for.
‘Yes. Sarah and I are more real than you and me ever were.’ He turned to Blake. ‘And far more real than you two ever were,mate,’ Henry said, his voice dripping with sarcasm on the word.
