‘That sounds awfully serious and important.’
‘It’s semi-serious,’ Nick said. For once, the amusement was absent from his voice. ‘But itiskind of important… to me.’
Now I was the one who was nervous. ‘Okay.’
‘Lexi Edwards, will you go out with me? On a date. Ourfirstdate.’
I’m not sure what I’d been expecting him to say, but it certainly wasn’t that. ‘We’ve already been on loads of dates together,’ I said. ‘How can it possibly be our first?’
He reached for my hand and slid his fingers through mine. ‘Those dates were Amelia and Sam’s, or they’ve been snatched meetings on a windswept beach. I’d like to do it properly this time.’ The piece of driftwood he’d been twirling slipped from his grip and fell to the sand.
‘Could you be free on Saturday, and would you come to a wedding with me?’ he asked, dropping to his knee to retrieve the stick.
‘It’s not going to be mine, is it?’
I have no idea why I thought this was the right moment to go for a quip. I think seeing him down on one knee and talking about weddings had rattled me a little. ‘Obviously, that was a joke,’ I said, biting my lip awkwardly as I looked at him. ‘And not a particularly funny one,’ I mumbled, as I dropped my gaze to my feet because it was more comfortable than meeting his eyes.
‘Not your best,’ Nick agreed. ‘But interesting that that was where your thoughts went.’
He hadn’t made me blush for quite a while, but he didn’t appear to have lost that skill at all. He picked up the driftwood and laughed, but there was a muscle twitching at the base of his throat that I swear hadn’t been doing that a moment ago.
‘A good friend of mine from university is getting married next Saturday and I’d really like you to come with me. As my date, myplus-one,’ Nick added with emphasis, seeing as I’d proved myself to be in need of clarification. ‘I’d like you to meet my friends,’ he added, ‘the people I went to uni with.’
‘I’ve already met one of them, haven’t I?’ I said, remembering only too well how little I’d enjoyed that particular experience.
‘Natalie isn’t going to be there,’ Nick was quick to assure me, before adding softly, ‘but I really hopeyouwill be. Do you think your mum would be able to stay with Amelia?’
‘I’m sure she would,’ I said, my thoughts already turning to the logistics. It would be tricky to arrange, but not impossible. Didn’t we deserve the chance to have one normal day together?
‘Yes,’ I said impulsively, grinning at him. ‘We’ll make it work somehow. I’d love to come with you. Consider it a date.’
‘Our first,’ Nick said, leaning forward and dropping a light kiss on the end of my nose.
‘If you say so,’ I said with a mock long-suffering sigh, glad that our normal banter had been restored.
We had turned around and were retracing our own footsteps in the sand when Nick threw one last curveball in my direction.
‘It would have been a very poor proposal, wouldn’t it? Just randomly asking you while we were on a walk, with no flowers or champagne or anything.’
‘Those are just trimmings, they’re not essential. I happen to think a beachside proposal is rather romantic.’
Nick’s laugh was soft and low. ‘Well, I’ll bear that in mind, then. Just in case.’
As I slipped my arm through his, I wondered how many times I would replay this conversation in my head over the next few days.
More than I could ever have imagined, as it turned out.
24
It was the fourth time I’d read the email, and each time my finger hovered over the button to reply and then fell away. The email was hardly a surprise; in fact, I’d been expecting it weeks ago. My office in New York had been incredibly understanding, but I’d always known they would eventually press me for a decision about the new job.
The clock counting down my return had begun ticking once they knew Amelia was out of hospital and making good progress. It was time to go home. Except I wasn’t so sure where home was anymore. My head said it was back in New York and the life I’d made there, doing a job I had worked my butt off to get. But my heart… my heart was pulling me in an entirely different direction.
‘Are you decent?’ Amelia called from the hallway and then came in anyway before I could answer. I hurriedly closed my laptop and stuffed it back into its case.
‘How do I look?’ I asked, getting to my feet. I wasn’t fishing for compliments, just trying to throw her off the scent. Even so, I was pleased with the admiring wolf-whistle she attempted.
‘Youdoknow you’re not meant to outshine the bride, don’t you?’ Amelia asked, taking a step back to get the full effect of the dress I’d always intended to return because it was more ‘red carpet’ than I’d expected. Catching sight of my reflection in the full-length bedroom mirror, I was very glad I’d kept it. The shimmering floor-length gown was one-shouldered in design, with delicate silver embroidery over ink-navy tulle. It was easily the most glamorous dress I’d ever tried on – let alone owned.
