‘I’d love to.’ His maple-brown eyes hold mine as his lips tilt up at the corners.
‘Have you heard anything else about your house sale?’ I ask, topping up my tea as my face warms.
‘No, nothing.’
‘You haven’t switched off your phone again, have you?’
‘No, but it’s tempting,’ he grumbles as he lifts his pint.
‘Is it very strained between you and your ex?’
‘It’s not great. We were together for three years, so it was always going to be messy unpicking that.’
‘Three years is a long time.’
‘Yeah, I thought that was it for me.’
‘You were ready to settle down?’
‘Marriage did seem like the most likely next step,’ he admits bleakly.
He would have married her?And there was Rach, assuming it hadn’t been serious.
‘All our friends were tying the knot and everyone was saying it would be us next, but we were just coasting. It felt like the right time to settle down when we got together, but we weren’t that well suited. I didn’t want to face up to it at first, but it’s blatantly obvious now. We’d always wanted different things.’
‘Was your break-up mutual?’
‘She was the one who called it quits in the end. I’m still trying to get my head around it all, to be honest.’
That’s code for time to stop fishing.
I wonder what the tipping point was between them.
‘Is there anyone significant inyourlife?’ he asks casually.
‘No,’ I reply.
It feels like the truth when I say it.
THREE SUMMERS AGO
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
‘This is your one-month warning.’
My heart leaps as I read the text that I woke up to. I quickly tap out a reply, hoping Finn’s still awake.
‘Have you booked your ticket?’
It’s a quarter past eight in the morning here. What time is it in LA? It must be after midnight. I hold my breath as three flashing dots show that he’s reading or replying.
‘Yep. Are you single?’
I’m laughing as I reply: ‘What do you think?’
‘Please keep it that way for the foreseeable future.’
I send him back a smiley face and bounce out of bed.
