“Our children.” I froze and he squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to give you a deadline for those.” He walked through the garden. I held back, watching him. It felt like a lifetime since I’d dreamed up this place, holding him in a jacuzzi tub, trying to exorcise his demons that I couldn’t even name yet.
“We had our first kiss in this spot.”
“I remember.” I smiled. “When you kissed me I’d never felt anything like that before.”
“Me either. I didn’t expect it.” He crooked a finger at me, beckoning me. I walked towards him as if I had no choice. “You grabbed me by the soul, Lola. I’ve spent a lot of time wishing you’d let go, now I’m going to make sure you never do.”
His mouth found mine and I met his urgency. Our kiss was just as intense as the first time. He lifted me then knelt, lowering me to the ground. He wasn’t waiting anymore and I wasn’t going to make him.
“Careful,” I teased as he unfastened the buckle of his belt. “You’re going to get dirty.”
“That’s the point.”
I unfastened the button on my jeans and lifted my hips so he could pull them off. I made short work of the buttons on his shirt. I pulled him to me, hungry for him. He hitched my legs up over his hips, hurried hands pushing up my t-shirt so our skin could touch.
I gasped as we connected. I arched my back, basking in the sensation of him moving inside me coupled with the dappled sunlight warming my skin. His mouth barely left mine for a breath. He only kissed me and moved gently, deeply. I held onto him, pulling him back to me with everything I had. Two days apart was a lifetime when things weren’t right.
He’d made love to me with a rich intensity that I felt in every fibre of my being and when it was over, I was desperate for more. But I let him go. He rolled onto his back, pulling me with him until I lay sprawled across his heaving chest.
“I don’t ever want to leave this place.”
“You’re the boss,” I reminded him. “I’m pretty sure we could live here forever if you wanted.”
He chuckled softly. “Now there’s a thought.”
We were getting married in a year. That was the agreement. When Harrington was finally finished and the Evergarden was in full bloom, we would get married. A warmth spread throughme whenever I pictured it. Alfie Tell would be mine, forever. It was an incredible thing, to be chosen for life.
Alfie didn’t want to wait that long of course, but he understood I didn't want to step on Natalie’s toes. Every day she had sent me venues she and Riley were looking at, ideas for dresses. Their wedding was happening as soon as they could find somewhere that wasn’t fully booked. I envied her eagerness. She knew right away where she wanted our father in her life. I needed at least a year to figure it out.
I sat in the clawfoot tub in my Harrington bathroom, picking Evergarden dirt from under my fingernails. The occasional tear ran down my cheek. Most days, missing my mum was bearable. Other days, it ached acutely. I needed her presence, her advice. I needed her to help me pick out flowers for the wedding, I needed my gran to teach me how to be a wife. Mum would tell me to forgive, gran would tell me to never forget.
I heard the creak of the bedroom door, Alfie had finally finished his work call that had interrupted our reunion. He stepped into the bathroom, already stripping out of his clothes.
“The waters’ dirty,” I warned him.
“I don’t care.” He climbed in, water sloshing over the side of the tub. His arms cocooned me, smothering me in security.
“Work?” I asked him.
“My mother. We’re having lunch next week.” My stomach clenched. His mother was the last thing I wanted to think about.
“I want to come. I don’t want you facing her alone.”
He looked like he wanted to argue and I was surprised when he agreed. “Fine, but please behave yourself.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, trying to keep the conversation light. I didn’t want Alfie falling into a black hole over that woman.
“You know exactly what I mean. My mother is not worth creating drama over.”
“No drama, but maybe I can make her like me. I’m a delight, you know.”
“I do know but I doubt she has any intention of liking you. The purpose of this lunch is likely to turn me away from you.”
I fell silent. I hated that he was probably right. And all because I wasn’t wealthy.
“You really don’t trust her, do you?”
“We don’t have a relationship, Lola. Not like you and your mother, not even like you and your father who was a good parent until he left. My feelings for her aren’t conflicted. She knew what they were doing to me, my father and Charles, and she did nothing because she didn’t want to complicate her perfect life.”
