Chapter Fifty
Beth hadn’t looked at Kieran properly since that night.
Scrub that. She’d actively ignored him.
Kieran drifted around the cottage, dodging the pile of laundry, the dishes piled in the sink, and the unfinished app work. Even Prom, perched on the arm of the sofa with his tail flicking in disapproval, seemed fed up.
‘You think I should say something?’ Kieran asked.
Prom blinked at him slowly. Judgement oozed from his furry frame.
Right.He paced the living room, feeling the cottage shrink around him. He could try the pub again, but the last two attempts had gone nowhere, and she’d ignored all his texts.
Kieran thought about how she’d disappeared. Left without a goodbye or explanation. He’d been chatting to Charlie about the future – kids, maybe, a family. The sort of conversation you only have with your best mate when you think no one else is listening.
But Beth had heard him. And she’d left.
‘Idiot,’ he muttered.
Prom yawned in agreement.
By evening he’d worked himself into a lather of self-loathing, so he headed to the pub.
‘Hi.’ Angela greeted him with a tight-lipped smile.Great.Kieran sensed he wasn’t in anyone’s good books at The Jekyll and Hyde. Even Jimmy at the bar side-eyed him – although that might have more to do with the whisky tumblers lined up in front of him.
Beth emerged from the kitchen, flushed and carrying a tray of food.
‘All right?’ he asked.
‘Yep,’ she said, striding past.
He waited till she’d delivered the food before approaching her. Tentatively, in case she whacked him over the head with the tray.
‘I’m busy,’ she snapped.
‘Beth, I know I’ve upset you. And I think I know what happened.’
Tension prickled the air, sticky and uncomfortable.
‘I think you heard something the other night,’ he said, finally. ‘Something that sounded … bigger than it was.’
Beth’s shoulders tensed, but she didn’t move away.
‘What I said to Charlie, I meant it in theory,’ he went on. ‘Like saying I might climb the Munros one day. All 282 of them. Obviously, notallin one day.’
Beth’s mouth twitched a fraction. She nodded towards a quiet area of the bar and set the tray down on a nearby table, fingers lingering on the edge as if she needed something solid.
‘You weren’t wrong,’ she said suddenly. ‘About kids.’
Kieran frowned. ‘Beth?—’
‘No. Let me.’ She drew in a breath that shook on the way out. ‘It’s what I’ve always wanted.’ A brittle smile flickered and vanished. ‘I just don’t get to have it.’
The words landed between them, heavy and final.‘When I heard you—’ She gestured vaguely, unable to finish.
Kieran stepped closer, instinctively, then stopped himself, letting her set the distance.
‘I’m not broken,’ she added, her voice firm now, as if she’d rehearsed the words a thousand times. ‘But I amdone. And I can’t be the reason for someone to give up the life they want.’
