“She was mortified. I was… sort of amused and, well, to be honest I was completely charmed.” His grin widened. “And thatwas the start of our story. I’ve been head over heels in love with her ever since.”
Gaby let out a little sigh. “That’s very romantic.”
“Are you sure you still want to come and help me with this birthday party booking?”
The sudden shift confused her once more. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
Harry gave an easy shrug. “I saw the way you looked at that guy when you crashed into him just now. And I saw the way he looked at you. Maybe you’d rather go back to Mel’s and have coffee with him.”
Gaby felt the flush of embarrassment burn her cheeks. She might only have known Harry Goodwin for a total of two minutes, but her reaction to seeing Peter again must have been obvious if even a stranger could detect it.
“I said I’d come and help you and I meant it,” she said. “I swapped numbers with Peter and we’ll catch up later.”
Harry glanced across at her, his expression warmly amused. “Fair enough.”
It was time to change the subject before she started blushing furiously again. “While we’re driving, why don’t we make the most of the time we’ve got. Give me a rundown of the system I’ll be working with at your hotel and the event timings and anything else you think will be useful.”
Harry launched into an overview that filled the time until they reached Foxglove Street. When she ran inside her aunt’s house with the shopping and explained about the situation at Harry Goodwin’s hotel and her offer to help him out of a difficult situation, Jill immediately approved and was glad to know her niece was lending a hand to the great-nephew of one of her friends.
Jill added that while Gaby had been out, some other friends had phoned Jill to check up on her progress and a couple of themhad arranged to visit during the afternoon, which meant she wouldn’t be entirely alone. That went a long way to easing Gaby’s conscience about rushing off and leaving her aunt for the entire afternoon.
Gaby quickly unpacked the shopping and prepared a sandwich for her aunt to enjoy for lunch and then rushed upstairs to change. After checking Jill had everything she needed, she kissed her aunt goodbye and dashed back out to where Harry was parked, working on his phone while he waited for her.
“Ready?” he asked, starting the car.
“Ready,” she said, already looking forward to getting stuck into the work that lay ahead and helping a local hospitality business in their hour of need.
The hours of busyness that lay ahead would hopefully stop her mind wandering to Peter Bailey… and the way his appearance out of the blue had made her heart almost dance right out of her chest.
4
Peter carriedthe tray of coffees and the bag of muffins he’d bought at the Sweet Treats bakery café to his brother’s house, his mind racing the entire way.
Had he really just run into Gaby Leonard? After all this time?
Yes, he had.
And was she now even more beautiful than she’d been all those years ago?
Yes, she was. In fact, she might be the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his entire life.
He kept replaying the moment he’d run into her as she walked out of the café. The shock on her face at their near collision. The way she’d laughed. The way her eyes had widened in surprise when she’d recognised him.
The smile that had made him forget his own name.
Seeing her again after all these years had left him completely disoriented. The moment she’d flung her arms around him in a friendly embrace, every second of their time together as teenagers had come flooding back in a rush of emotion. Quite how he’d managed to string two words together while they’d exchanged pleasantries outside the café was a total mystery.
Even in the space of the few seconds they’d spent together, every cell inside his body had remembered how she’d once made him feel. How much he’d loved being with her during that endless teenage summer.
And how much it had hurt when that summer had come to its inevitable end.
Every single thing he’d felt about her, every moment they’d spent together, had rushed through his body like a wave crashing against the shore. Peter wondered if, by some strange magic, that detour he’d taken along Foxglove Street a few nights ago and the memories he’d unearthed about Gaby as he’d driven past her aunt’s house had somehow conjured her back into his life.
Except she wasn’t really back in his life at all, was she? All that had happened was that he’d bumped into an old flame and exchanged a few words with her before she’d rushed off.
There’d been a few seconds during their brief reunion when his mind had reached for ridiculous possibilities and he’d somehow found the words to ask her out for a drink. He’d imagined them getting together, catching up on old times, sharing stories of the lives they’d led since they were kids… and possibly contemplating the beginning of a new chapter between them now.
Peter scowled at his own stupidity as he walked. When he’d asked Gaby to join him for a drink later, she’d turned him down but he’d been too blind to understand. When she’d suggested another time instead, he’d assumed she meant it and had shared his number with her.
