‘That’s such a gorgeous thing to say.’ Tears welled up in her eyes. No one had ever said anything so lovely to her.Without you I am blind and lost.Then she heard whispered giggles from behind the hedge and pulled away, a little irritated by the interruption of such a sweet moment.
‘Come on,’ she said, taking Will’s arm as he looked towards the shrubs with a perplexed frown. ‘We don’t need an audience.’
Her heart was still humming from his lovely words and the way he’d demonstrated so beautifully that he needed her and that she was important to him.Thatwas what mattered. Being necessary to someone. And she believed him when he said he’d made a mistake. Hadn’t someone once said that being human was about recognising your mistakes?
Chapter Nineteen
Felipe made Rebecca jump when he stepped out of the door just as she was about to enter the hotel. He hoped she didn’t suspect he’d been lurking there waiting for her return after her drink with Will.
‘Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.’
‘Felipe! I didn’t see you there.’
‘Lost in thought?’
‘Something like that,’ she said, a smile hovering about her lips.
‘It’s still early…’
‘Will has a lot of work to do.’
‘Fancy a walk on the beach? It’s such a lovely night.’ He looked up at the moon, which was high and full and glowing luminous in the clear, bright sky. ‘I could do with clearing my head.’
Perhaps asking Rebecca along wasn’t the greatest idea because it washerthat his head needed clearing of. He enjoyed her company, that was all. Although she was easy to be with and asked very little of him, she never let him take an inch. Shenever took him too seriously and that was a refreshing change. She treated him with such a light-hearted attitude… it was infectious, made him feel much less worried about all the million and fifty things waiting for him on his desk.
‘And you can tell me what’s going on with Will.’
‘Okay,’ she said with such alacrity it gave him a sense of foreboding.
Walking through the balmy night air with the moon glowing above them, they approached the dark wooden staircase, their steps loud in the quiet night. Beyond them, the cliffs cloaked in dark shadow ranged, silent and stern, as if guarding the land from the magic of the sea.
Down on the beach, Felipe took a long, slow breath, his soul immediately calmed by the peaceful rush and retreat of the sea, washing in and out, as regular as the seconds ticking by on a clock. Moonlight skimmed across the water, rippling across the waves, like quicksilver pooling and spreading.
They both kicked off their shoes, leaving them at the foot of the stairs, and he linked his hand in hers. She paused and looked up at him. Inside him something settled as they walked to the water’s edge as if drawn there by the tidal pull of the moon. The move to take her hand was instinctive, a moment of solidarity, the two of them sharing this peaceful oasis in the night, and he was pleased that she didn’t pull away.
The water lapped at their feet, icy tentacles trickling over toes. He felt the sand thicken around his feet when they sank slightly, as if the landscape was trying to absorb him too.
A warm wind blew off the sea, teasing the curls in Rebecca’s hair, which had been Cristina’s handiwork this evening, although, since her hair was naturally straight, they had since drooped.
‘So how did it go with Will?’
She raised a hand to brush an errant curl from her face as if to delay answering. Felipe beat her to it, grazing her face with his fingers as he tucked it behind her ear, wondering if Will had any idea what he had in Rebecca. Temptation shimmered but he held back from kissing her even though he wanted to.
‘He thinks he loves me,’ she said. ‘And he apologised for sleeping with that other woman.’
‘Thinkshe loves you,’ Felipe repeated.
‘Felipe.’ She nudged him with her elbow. ‘You don’t know him. He’s very careful and precise. This is a big deal for him and a very big step after his wife’s death. He wants to take things slowly.’
‘I guess,’ said Felipe flatly, thinking he should be happy for her. This was what she wanted. ‘Come on, let’s walk,’ he said, putting an arm around her shoulder and hoping that she wouldn’t push him away. He wanted her touch. They were friends. To his relief she melted into him and he drew her close. Friends touched, he told himself, comforted by the feel of her body next to his.
She sighed.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Felipe, attuned as always to her moods.
‘I feel as if I ought to feel guilty, but I don’t,’ she said.
‘For what? Us sleeping together?’ He could read her so well.
