She smiled when he climbed out and greeted her with a smile. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
“You’re not. I was way too early. I’m nervous, can you believe that?”
“Hell yeah, I can. I’m nervous too.” He smiled. “Who would’ve guessed that being nervous would make us each react the opposite way?”
She raised an eyebrow “What do you mean?”
“I mean it makes you early and it makes me late.”
She laughed. “Yeah, we must have it bad, huh?”
“I know I do.” The way he looked at her made her insides melt. He was so damned gorgeous.
He held his arm out to her. “Shall we?”
She slipped her arm through his with a smile. “Yes, please.”
When they arrived at the restaurant, she looked around. Giuseppe’s had been the new place when she was last here. Now it seemed old and a little rundown. They didn’t seem too busy either.
When they were seated and they’d ordered their drinks, Ben reached across the table and took hold of her hand. “I can’t believe we’re really here, really doing this.”
“Me neither. I’m afraid I’m going to wake up at any moment and I’ll be back in my flat in London and this will all have been a dream.”
He smiled. “It is a dream, but it’s a dream come true.”
The server returned with their drinks. “Do you need a few minutes?”
Ben raised an eyebrow at her. She smiled and said, “No, we’ll share a large pizza, pepperoni, sausage, and extra cheese.”
“Will that be all?”
“Yes, that’s it. Thank you.”
Ben chuckled. “I wondered if you’d remember.”
“Remember? How could I ever forget?”
For a moment, he looked sad and Charlotte squeezed his hand again, feeling terrible. “I wasn’t sure, I didn’t know. I haven’t known all these years, Charlie. All the little things that, to me, were unforgettable, I didn’t know …”
“Well, you do now. No matter how it may have seemed, no matter what you thought after … After what my parents did to us. Now you can know with absolute certainty that I never forgot. I never forgot anything. Not one single little silly thing.” She met his gaze, trying to blink away the tears that threatened to fall. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to get all heavy on you straightaway. It just breaks my heart to think that you doubted. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why. I doubted too. When you didn’t answer that last long letter I sent you … I doubted everything.”
“But now we know better. Now you know that if I’d ever received that letter I would have answered you.” He nodded, looking close to tears himself. “And now I know that you didn’t think the resort was more important to me than you were.”
“I still can’t believe they did that.”
“I spent a lot of time trying to understand it. I don’t want to be angry at them, I want to try to see why they thought it was best for you.”
“You’re too understanding, Ben. You want to believe that they were doing the best for me. I can’t make myself believe that. They do what’s best for them—always have—and I suppose they always will.”
“And what did they think of you coming back here?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what they’ll make of it, and I don’t really care.”
“You didn’t tell them?”
“No. I didn’t. I didn’t want to have to deal with them and their opinions. I just left. Don’t look at me like that. Please don’t disapprove. I will talk to them, but it takes them a while to catch up. I only just got my divorce through and they thought Alastair was quite a catch.” Ben still didn’t look convinced. “Have you told your parents?”
Ben shook his head. “No, but you know that’s not because I’m afraid of getting any resistance from them.”
