‘Of course I believe it.’ That was the least of his worries. ‘When are you going?’
‘The train leaves from Glasgow Central at six-forty.’
‘Six-fortytoday?’
She nodded, her eyes large.
‘But today is Tuesday. The rehearsal isn’t until Thursday. Why the rush?’
Her expression changed, just the way it had done in the garden before she’d stormed off.
Calm down, you idiot,he told himself.If she leaves now, you might never see her again. Is this how you want to leave things?
There would be no hope for anything in the future then. And if all her memories did come back in a rush, she’d forget that they’d ever met again. He’d go back to being the guy who’d let her down, and that was the last thing he wanted. ‘Sorry,’ he said, making himself take a slow breath. ‘I don’t mean to get so …’
‘I know you’re trying to protect me, Ben, and I really appreciate all you’ve done for me, but …’ She looked away from a second. ‘This sounds horrible to say, but I’m not your responsibility.’
Ouch. True, but … ouch.
‘And I don’t need to be told what to do,’ she added. ‘I can make my own mind up about this.’
She waited, staring intently at him. He nodded just once. Message received and understood. He had to respect that, just as he had to respect her decision not to turn up at St Dunstan’s a year after they’d first met.
‘Norina has a friend who runs a boutique hotel in Kensington. He’s going to put me up for a couple of nights.’
Of course … Marco. He and Norina had worked at the same hotel thirty years ago. He’d occasionally taken advantage of Marco’s generosity himself when he’d been in London. At least she was going to be somewhere safe.
He had to let her choose for herself and hope that if fate had brought her back to him after all this time, it wasn’t for nothing. Not that he actually believed in fate. But he believed in … this. Whatever was happening here. What they’d had in those stolen hours in London. Maybe the universe would be kind?
‘Will you let us know you get there safely? Whether you find your family or not?’
She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket. ‘I wrote the number for the phone Norina gave me down, you know, just in case you …’ She trailed off, looking a bit shy.
‘Thanks.’ He took it from her. ‘And let me put mine in yours.’ This time he wasn’t making that stupid mistake. He quickly tapped it into the handset and gave it back to her. ‘Call anytime if you need anything.’
Be patient, he told himself. He’d found her. He had her number. At least this time, they really would be able to keep in touch. And maybe it would be better this way? If she got her memory back, she’d remember him from before, wouldn’t she? And then he could explain what had gone wrong five years ago. God, he hoped she’d understand, maybe even forgive him. Maybe theywouldhave a second chance; it just wasn’t going to be right this very moment.
Besides, there was Willow … She needed to be the centre of his love and focus at the moment. The rest could come later.
‘Of course I’ll call and let you know what happens.’ She stepped towards him,and his heart began to thud like a jackhammer. ‘Ben … I’m so grateful. I will never forget what you and your family have done for me.’ And then she began to laugh. ‘At least, I hope I won’t …’
His mouth twisted into something approaching a smile. It wasn’t lost on him that Lili had promised him that too, to never forget him, and yet, here she was standing right in front of him, having done exactly that.
God, he wished he hadn’t let her talk him out of abandoning his year of travel. Yes, it had reaped huge rewards in terms of his career, but it hadn’t outweighed what he’d lost.
‘Well … I suppose this is goodbye.’ She smiled, but the light in her eyes dimmed a little. ‘Norina’s rustled up a little daypack for me for my clothes, so I’m heading over to the B&B in a minute to collect it before I catch the bus at four.’
She made a hesitant move and then raised her arms and gave him a hug. It started out awkwardly, but after a second or so, they clung to each other. Ben felt something inside himself soften and release, something that had been wound tight, yet he hadn’t even realised had been there.
‘I’ll miss you …’ she mumbled as they held onto each other. ‘For a little while, you were the only person I knew in the whole world.’ She squeezed him a little tighter, then pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before pulling away, looking down at the carpet.
‘Bye. Have a good journey …’ His words sounded hollow to his own ears. So trite and meaningless in comparison to all the big declarations he had locked away inside.
‘See you,’ she said, holding a hand up to say farewell.
‘Wait!’ he said as she turned to go. She stopped, looked at him. ‘Have you bought your bus ticket yet?’
‘No.’
