“There’s always something new happening and I need to keep up to date. We’ve also got interest from a potential new client, a big bioengineering company based in Cambridge that might want to purchase some of our business products to help them streamline their sales and marketing processes, so I’m booked to go up there next week to walk them through the next steps.”
He wittered on about his work for a few more minutes, answering Carole’s questions about this and that. Swapping stories about their work life was easy and relaxing, and sitting at the kitchen table as the evening sunlight slowly dipped outside the window while they drank wine and ate was…
… wonderful. Maybetoowonderful.
“So,” Tom said, “after what happened to your poor dad at the wedding on Saturday, you must hate your ex, Steven, even more than you did before?”
He laughed as he spoke, making a joke out of the question even as he wondered why on earth he was steering the conversation back to the idiot oaf who’d caused so much mayhem.
“I never hated him, not really,” Carole said, and gave a careless shrug. “I was nervous about seeing him after all these years, yes, but to be honest…”
She trailed off and looked thoughtful before speaking again. “The truth is that seeing Steven again was a revelation. I imagined he’d be a certain way—charming, gorgeous, funny, all the things I remembered about him from when we were together. But he was none of those things. Instead, he was boorish, rude and drunk, and it sounds like his life is pretty chaotic. I had a lucky escape.”
“Chaotic in what way?”
Carole waved a hand. “With everything that happened with my dad, I never got the chance to tell you what Steven said when he came over and spoke to me. He’s been married and divorced three times.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, that was my reaction too. Although I always knew Steven was the one at fault all those years ago when he cheated on me, some part of me couldn’t help but wonder if he’d gone on to find happy ever after with some other woman. And I couldn’t help but wonder if it was something about me that caused him to cheat in the first place.”
Tom opened his mouth to protest against such an idea, but Carole held up a hand.
“I know it wasn’t anything to do with me, or at least I do now,” she said. “But I was a broken-hearted twenty-year-old andit was impossible not to wonder. I stopped thinking about Steven a long time ago, but what he did left its mark. Seeing him at the wedding and talking to him made me realise that the version of him that lived in my memory was very different from the real man. I thought seeing him again would open all the old wounds. But instead, it just left me feeling relieved that things fell apart when they did and that I never ended up any more embroiled with the man that I did.”
“That’s a good way to think about it. And now you can forget about him.”
“Yeah.” She sipped more wine, her expression still thoughtful. “I can’t help but wonder, though…”
“What?” he asked when she trailed off and stared into her wine glass.
“I can’t help but wonder if what Steven did all those years ago had a bigger impact in my life than I realised. I’m still single, after all.”
“You just haven’t met the right man, yet.”
She glanced up at his words and he saw something mysterious in her eyes as her gaze held his. A long beat passed before she looked away and drained the last of her wine from the glass.
“Maybe you’re right,” she said, her tone breezy again. She picked up their empty plates. “Let me clear these away and then I can stick the kettle on for coffee.”
Tom rose from his chair and helped her carry the dishes to the counter, wondering at the abrupt end to their conversation. He wished they were still sitting together at the table as the candlelight flickered, drinking wine and sharing their deepest thoughts.
As they stacked plates and carried things from the table to the counter, they turned at the same time and bumped into each other in the middle of the kitchen. Tom, holding the breadbasket, narrowly avoided knocking the bottle of salad dressing out of Carole’s hand as they collided, reaching out to grab it just in time.
Their fingers tangled together and they laughed at the near miss.
And then the laughter vanished as their gazes held.
For a long beat there was just the soft music from the little speaker on the counter and the warm candlelight dancing around the kitchen and the feel of her hands in his. Golden sunlight slanted through the window and lit up her hair and Tom saw the rosy glow in her cheeks thanks to the wine.
He imagined dipping his head to taste the remnants of the lush red wine on her lips.
Lost in the heat of the moment, Tom searched Carole’s eyes for the invitation he longed for.
Before he could find it, the moment was shattered thanks to the shrill ringtone of his phone.
Blinking, he dropped Carole’s hand and stepped away as he tugged the phone from his pocket. Carole quickly turned to the sink, but not before he caught the look on her face.
A look of disappointment? Relief? Tom wished he knew.
