And he beamed right back, a thousand times as bright.
Fuck! He loved this woman.
Chapter 25
Cherry
Aweek later, Cherry drifted downstairs to make a coffee. As she did most days, she would sit on the patio in the morning sunshine, letting the birds’ early twittering soothe her, meditate on squirrels scuttling across the grass and scaling trees as the caffeine filtered in.
But something was already different.
Sean was still at home.
‘Oh, hey. Morning.’ Cherry rubbed her eyes, her nipples peaking at the sight of her husband drinking coffee all casual and perky like they hadn’t been up until the wee hours together. The whole separate rooms thing was a joke, seeing as how much time he spent in hers and how much she thought of him when he left. Whether or not staying married was the right thing to do, she was losing sight of anything else but Sean.
‘The clocks didn’t go back, did they?’she asked.
He eyed her over his coffee cup. ‘Nah, I took the day off work. Wanted to fit in a run – and it’s quieter than the weekend. Bonus is seeing you, of course. I missed you the past four hours.’
And the bonus for her was seeing him. ‘Me, too. You want some company?’ If Sean could have a day off work, she could too. That was the benefit of being her own boss.
He put down his cup. ‘Seriously? You want to come for a run?’
‘That wouldn’t be too awful, would it? I’d like to get into an exercise habit again since I’ve left hotel gyms behind. And spend some time with my husband? Plus, you need a PT, right?’
Sean came to her, and she saw in the softness of his expression how much this meant to him. ‘It wouldn’t be awful at all, Cher. And I’d love to spend more time with you. I’m planning on running up to Inchfallon Falls today. It’s a beautiful waterfall with a swimmable pool. Much like these.’ He motioned around his eyes.
‘Ha! I stand by what I said in New York.’ She pulled in close to him, rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him. ‘Skinny dipping it is.’
Sean gave a throaty chuckle. ‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Paradise.’
‘Guide’s honour, I won’t. Now, show me where your bike is.’ She playfully pinched his bum, and he extricated himself from her.
‘Bike? You didn’t say you were a lazy PT!’
‘It’s motivational for you. I’ll ride, and you run alongside me.’
‘Do you want a megaphone to bark orders at me?’
‘If you’ve got one, then sure.’
‘I don’t. If I thought you’d believe me, I’d tell you I don’t have a bike either.’
‘This beats a hotel treadmill any day,’ Cherry cycled at a moderate starting pace along the shoreline road. The morning sunshine sparkled across the still blue waters of the sound.
‘Aye. We’re lucky.’ Sean jogged alongside the bike. ‘My dad brought me running here as a kid. We’d do wee jogs on the beach and mini-sprints, and he’d tell us we had to build our stamina for the three-legged race at school sports day. It’s bizarre that a man who ran a distillery was fighting fit, until he wasn’t, and that some of the old soaks he knew are still cutting about the place. Doesn’t make sense.’
‘No, it doesn’t.’ Cherry could relate. ‘My dad seemed in fine health, and then the heart attack hit. I’ll never forget getting home from school, excited to show him my project on the history of poker, only to see the ambulance outside the house. He’d been climbing mountains on the weekend, so I assumed it was the old bloke next door. Then I saw my mum on her knees in the hallway...’
Whenever Cherry recalled this memory, she so often focused on her own grief, but today, for some reason, her mum came into sharp focus. Pam always said she didn’t have much in the world but what she had, she loved ferociously. And that day, one of those things was snatched from her forever. She had never dated again, her existence completely shaped by grief of losing the love of her life.
‘Shit, Cherry. I’m sorry.’ Sean placed a hand on her shoulder, briefly, until the motion of the bike parted them.
‘It’s okay. It was a long time ago now. Shall we talk later and concentrate on the running for now? Focus on your breathing and…um…keeping up the good work.’
It was strained, but Sean laughed. ‘Amazing pep talk, Coach.’
‘Sorry. Think how tight your buns are going to be after this.’
