‘Fuck!’ Sarah’s eyes widened.
‘Of course, it’s never easy seeing someone you were in love with cosying up with another man. But I was over her. And although it stung that they had a child, because that was what we’d planned, I still could’ve dealt with it. Especially because I’d realised that my brothers were right. Back then, I was too young to settle down.’
‘So did you speak to her or walk away?’
‘I spoke to her. She introduced me to her husband and daughter, which as you can imagine was rather awkward. But I survived and was about to go on my way unscathed when the little girl, who I guessed was around three, so must’ve been conceived less than a year after she jilted me, ran off. That’s when the dad called her name.’ I swallowed hard and tried to compose myself.
‘Sorry, but I don’t understand.’ Sarah frowned. ‘What was her name?’
‘Eleanor,’ I said softly, and Sarah’s frown deepened. ‘The name of my dead mother.’
Sarah gasped and her eyes popped. She reached for my hand and squeezed it tight.
‘I’m so sorry. And I’m guessing that she knew that was your mum’s name.’
‘Ha,’ I laughed. ‘She more thanknew. We used to talk about having a family together and I always said that if I had a girl, I’d like to name her after my mother. And she agreed. Sheknewthat name was special to me. Yet she deliberately named the child after my mother. She wasn’t content with crushing my heart and humiliating me in front of my loved ones. She had to do that too. Then to add insult to injury, the child’s father, not realising who I was, unwittingly revealed that they’d just bought a house, two streets away from where I lived.’
‘For God’s sake!’ Sarah shouted. ‘That’s fucked up!’
‘She could’ve chosen anywhere to live. But she decided to return, not just to the same town, but right on my fucking doorstep to rub everything in my face.’
‘Some people are sick. She’s not right in the head!’
‘I tried to make sense of it but I couldn’t believe how she could be so cruel. How I could’ve got it so wrong. And it started to eat away at me. So that’s why I stopped believing in love,romance and happy endings. I treated her like a queen. I was ready to give her the fairy tale and she repaid my kindness by shitting all over me. I knew when she lied, cheated and jilted me that I was done with relationships, but after realising the true extent of her callousness, that sealed the deal. I’m never getting attached or sucked in like that again.’
‘I can understand why you might feel that way. I used to feel the same.’
I wanted to ask Sarah what had changed, but I was exhausted. Dredging everything up had taken a lot out of me.
‘So, when Theo said he needed help with the library, it felt like a sign,’ I added. ‘I already knew that I couldn’t stay in that neighbourhood and was considering moving to another city. But I decided I’d come here for a bit and help him instead, then figure out my next move.’
Sarah’s face fell before she nodded her understanding.
For a moment I considered telling her that I was glad that I’d made that decision because my time in Sunshine Bay had been incredible and that was mainly because of her. But I was worried about leading her on.
I liked Sarah.A lot. More than I should. But I had to stick to the agreement. This was only temporary.
‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘For listening. For not judging.’
‘You’re welcome. And I’d never judge. I’ve been there, remember. I know how shitty it feels when someone betrays you. You feel worthless and stupid and embarrassed, but I’ve learned that it’s not on us. Our exes didn’t deserve us and weareenough. The right person will see that. And like I told you when we got back from Spain, you’re amazing.’
‘In the bedroom,’ I sighed.
‘No!’ Sarah protested. ‘I mean, yes.Clearly, you’ve got skills, that’s obvious. But you’resomuch more. You’re one of the kindest men I’ve ever met. I’ve been meaning to thank you forages for what you did for me the first time I had my period pains.’
‘You already thanked me for that.’
‘I thanked you for looking after me and the supplies you bought, but not for paying for the honeymoon suite just so that I could have a bath.’
‘I didn’t realise you knew about that.’ My eyes widened.
‘Glenda told me. It was such a generous thing to do.’
‘It was nothing.’
‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘It waseverything. And when I had another period a couple of weeks ago, you took care of me at your flat too. Without me even asking. So like I said, you’reamazing. I came for the sex and the inspiration, but I stayed for the man. Foryou. Because of the person that you are.’
I swallowed hard, looking her deep in her eyes.
