She reached into her pocket and retrieved her phone and quickly composed a text to Kayla asking for Gerry, Kara and Lottie to be added to the guest list.
“Done.” Tasha smiled at Gerry who had taken her hand again to gently kissed her knuckles as she instinctively rested her head on his shoulder.
They all got off the rapids ride dripping wet and when they saw the photo in the booth they all laughed at the images in front of them; Lizzie and Pippa clinging to each other, attempting and failing to shield themselves from the flying water. Dan appeared to be almost throwing himself into the water as it came towards him. Tasha was huddled against Gerry, laughing in spite of the torrent of cold water drowning her while Gerry laughed at and with her as he wrapped his arm around her and tried unsuccessfully to protect her from the water.
“We have to have a copy of that,” cried Lizzie.
Tasha nodded her agreement then ordered and paid for enough copies for them all.
They all stood together in a huge drying machine and once finished headed off for the remainder of the rides before leaving to go home for a take-away dinner at Tasha’s.
Pippa and Lizzie had gone to bed first followed shortly after by Dan, leaving Tasha and Gerry alone.
“Thank you for today.” Tasha offered Gerry another glass of wine.
“No problem. I had a great time. It was good to catch up. Almost like old times,” he replied as he covered his glass to decline the offer of wine.
“Almost,” she agreed and leaned across to kiss him gently on the cheek. “Thank you,” she repeated.
“No problem, again,” said Gerry as he got to his feet. “Look, I have to go, Kara will be waiting.”
“Okay.” Tasha followed him to the front door where she hugged him tightly. As she loosened her grip she looked up at him feeling sad and reminiscent for what they’d once had and shared. Despite her better instincts she leaned up and kissed Gerry on the lips. He responded in kind and although they both allowed their lips to part slightly neither of them permitted their tongues to leave their own mouths. Tasha breathed heavily as Gerry pulled away and gripped her lower lip gently between his teeth then lowered his forehead against hers as he released her lip.
“You will always be my princess you know, Tash,” he told her.
“I know.” She knew he was right. “And you will always be my saviour. Everything I am and have is because of what you did for me and for that I will always love you.” She smiled weakly whilst fighting back tears.
“My pleasure, babe. I’m glad I was the one to do that for you. I’m just sorry I couldn’t do it sooner.” A small break entered his voice because that was the biggest regret in his life, not saving her sooner.
“Ssh.” Tasha placed a finger across his lips to silence him because he had nothing to apologise for, not in terms of all he did do to rescue her and to keep her safe. “Thank you, but we’ve moved on now and you have Kara and Lottie and I have Jim and I really, really love him and as familiar and welcoming as kissing you felt, something was missing, something that is always there when I kiss Jim.” Her admission was to herself as much as Gerry.
“Maybe that’s a good thing because if it was still like it used to be I would have been forced to follow you to L.A. and win you back, but now I can save myself the time, money and energy.” He offered her a short laugh before kissing her gently on the cheek. “Bye, Tash. Don’t forget my wedding invite,” he called as he left.
Tasha closed the door and smiled to herself; any doubts she’d had about her and Gerry, unresolved issues or feelings were gone. She loved Jim, really, really loved him and suddenly their wedding couldn’t come soon enough for her.
****
She hit send as their flight was called and as she prepared to turn her phone to airplane mode it vibrated in her hand.
Tasha took her seat next to Dan and smiled at Lizzie and Pippa giggling in front of them when she realised that Jim intended to meet her at the airport. She hadn’t expected that. They didn’t do the public displays of affection and hadn’t done the departure and arrival lounges’ long goodbyes and happy reunions. Maybe it was because of Lizzie. He wanted to meet Lizzie and take her home, make sure she was okay and safe. That was the most likely explanation, but she didn’t care. She was still rather excited at the prospect of him meeting them at the airport, whatever the reason.
They all made their way through to the arrivals lounge after retrieving their luggage from the carousel, Lizzie was the first through as she didn’t have to go through immigration as an American citizen. The girls struggled to push the trolley, making them giggle which in turn made Dan and Tasha laugh at them, but Tasha felt slightly relieved that they still appeared to be getting along and not competing for her attention. Tasha scanned the assembled people there to meet their loved ones and felt her smile dissipate as she spotted Mike looking at her rather than Jim.
“Hello there,” he called to them all.
“Mike,” cried Lizzie as she hugged him and abandoned the trolley and Pippa.
Tasha greeted him with a warm smile. It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t Jim. “Hi Mike, how are you? This is my brother Dan and my sister Pippa,” she said introducing her siblings.
“Hello you two, nice to meet you. Tasha talks about you all the time,” he said as they grimaced and turned back to Tasha. “Jim sends his apologies, something has come up, but he said to tell you to put your phone on.”
