He shook his head again and eased me away from him, walking towards the fridge as he spoke.
‘Nope. That’s the stuff of fairytales, in my opinion. Life isn’t a fairytale, Lucy.’
‘I know that,’ I said, taking the milk from him as he reached out for the cups. ‘But we have to believe in something or what’s the point? I do believe in love and marriage. I believe there’s someone out there I could happily spend the rest of my life with. Raise a family with. Share my good times and bad times with. Don’t you want that? Wouldn’t you like to have someone special in your life?’
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at me, a deep crease forming between his brows.
‘I do have someone special in my life,’ he finally said. ‘And she’s standing right beside me.’
‘Oh Sam!’ My heart soared in my chest, but it soon came crashing to the ground.
‘But that doesn’t mean I’m about to have a relationship. People come and go in our lives. It’s important to enjoy times like this, and then move on to the next experience.’
‘Oh, Sam,’ I sighed. ‘For a moment there I thought there was hope.’
He tensed visibly and I realised this was dangerous ground.
‘What did you do with the biscuits?’ I quickly added.
‘Biscuits? Oh. From last night. They’re in that cupboard.’
He nodded towards the end cupboard of the row and then he went and got them. I didn’t want a biscuit, but it was the first thing that had popped into my head, so I took one, and my coffee, and I went and sat on the sofa.
Sam came and sat beside me, bringing his own coffee with him, together with the packet of biscuits which he placed on the coffee table as I stared out at the wall of white.
‘Are we okay?’ he asked.
‘Yes. We’re … great. Aren’t we?’
He nodded. ‘Yep. We’re great.’
It was only then that I realised there were flames dancing behind the glass door of the wood burner.
‘When did you light that?’ I asked, pointing towards it.
‘When I made breakfast,’ he said.
‘Wow. You’re handy to have around.’ I smiled at him.
‘All part of the service.’ He smiled back.
‘Do you need me to give you a review or something? Because you’ll get five stars from me if so.’
‘Only five? I was hoping I had excelled.’
‘Oh you have. Five out of five is only for those who excel. Okay, but six is as high as I’ll go. And no one ever gets a six from me. Or a five, for that matter, so you should be as pleased as punch.’
He turned to look me directly in the eye. ‘No one? Ever?’
‘Nope.’
‘Not even Ted?’
I’d completely forgotten about Ted, as awful as that seems.
‘Not even Ted. Although he did come close.’
‘But … he wasn’t the one. That special someone you believe is out there for you. The one you could happily spend the rest of your life with. Raise a family with. Share your good times and bad times with.’
