‘About that—’ Amy cringed.‘She had some business to attend to.We’ve been sworn to secrecy—’
‘—but she didn’t want her pookie abandoned.’ Gen pinched my cheeks.‘So we’re here to drive you back to Everly Heath.’
‘Drive me—’ I took a deep breath, calming myself.‘Where the fuck is my girlfriend?’
‘Don’t worry, she’s fine.’ Amy smiled, but it was strained.‘She’s back in Everly Heath.She’ll explain everything when we get back.’
‘Come on – let’s go.’
As I silently packed my things, my mind wouldn’t stop spiralling.Had I pushed her too far yesterday with all that talk about the farm?Shit, I’d mentioned getting married.I’d practically proposed.Who does that when you haven’t even had a proper first date yet?Maybe she was freaking out about going back to Everly Heath with me, so got a head start and had gone on her own.Maybe she was worried about her parents, the gossip, all of it.
My brain clawed at any reason, any excuse, for why she’d get up and leave my bed in the middle of the night, and why I’d woken up alone.Defeated, I climbed into Gen’s car and let them drive me home – desperately hoping it was towards my future, not my past.
I jolted awake hours later, with Amy’s cheerful ‘We’re here!’
‘What—’ I frowned, seeing we were parked in a gravel courtyard, overgrown with weeds and flanked by crumbling outbuildings.A dilapidated farmhouse loomed before us – broken window panes with overgrown ivy crawling through them and stonework that needed repointing.
Everly Heath Farm.As I got my bearings, my mind couldn’t help but tease me with the architectural plans I had drawn up – the orangery we could have built on the side to extend covers.The rundown barns and outhouses we would convert and repurpose.The courtyard where I imagined we would host markets similar to the ones Gareth and Bethan did at Glynmere Farm.
Then, I saw her.
Lydia was leaning against the driver’s side of my car, which she’d nicked.We were absolutely going to be having words about that.But relief pounded through me when I saw she was smiling, completely absorbed in conversation with a man who looked as if he was in his early forties.He was tall, with salt-and-pepper hair at his temples, and he returned her smile easily, gesturing animatedly as he spoke.
‘Who’s that?’ Amy asked, curious.
‘No idea,’ Gen replied.
A flicker of something sharp and stupid twisted in my chest.Irrational, I knew.But after waking up to an empty bed, finding her here, laughing, so at ease with some stranger, sent a pang through me.
Who the hell was he?
I forced a breath through my nose, steadying myself, said my goodbyes to Gen and Amy and strode across the courtyard.
The confusion, the slight tinge of jealousy, vanished the second she turned to me, a wide, radiant smile lighting up her face.
‘Ren.’
Without thinking, I cupped her face in my hands, cradling it, and gave her a slow, claiming kiss on her lips.I felt the shock ripple through her, and when she melted into the kiss, I let her go, pulling back to give her a look.
‘Please tell me there’s a good reason you drove six hours, alone, before sunrise.’
‘Hey,’ she said, a little breathless.
‘Hey.’
‘You made it.’
‘I did.What plan are you hatching?You’ve been slowly torturing me for six hours, Sunshine.You haven’t replied to my messages—’
She brought a hand up to my cheek.‘I know, I’m sorry.It’s nothing bad, I swear.I just wanted to be one hundred per cent sure before I told you.I didn’t want to get your hopes up.’
She turned to me, beaming.‘Niall, this is Ren.’
Niall was standing there, watching our interaction with a cocked eyebrow, and looking as if he’d quite like some popcorn right now.
‘Quite the show, you two.Guess I don’t have to worry about you breaking up halfway through the renovations.Maybe we’ll put some curtains up first, though, huh?’
Niall grinned.He had a soft Irish accent – sounded like somewhere near Dublin.
