“Staying with Aunt Jill that summer was the best thing I could’ve done,” Gaby said. “When my parents decided to separate, I thought the hostilities would settle down but they only got worse, especially as they both refused to move out of the house. I think they secretly liked torturing each other. Getting away from all that was a relief.”
Peter’s expression clouded. “I always knew whenever you’d spoken to either of them because you were sad and withdrawn afterwards. I hated that.”
“You always chased away the sadness, Peter. No matter how bad I felt, you made it all better.”
She hadn’t meant to say something so raw and honest but it was out there before she could stop herself. When she looked up from her wine glass, Peter’s smile was soft.
“I would’ve done anything to make you smile, Gaby. Anything.”
He held her gaze for a long beat and the noise and bustle of the pub seemed to vanish as she looked into his eyes.
“It was an amazing summer we spent together,” she said.
“The best I’ve ever had.”
“Really?”
“Without a doubt. The endless sunshine. The long hot days. And you.”
Her heart was fluttering wildly because of what he was saying and the way he was looking at her. It was inevitable that they’d revisit their memories of those long-ago summer days, but she hadn’t realised how bittersweet it would feel to remember the past.
Because the look on Peter’s face wasn’t desire, like it had been back then.
It was a look of longing.
Longing for days that were gone.
That’s why her heart was fluttering. The words he’d said had sent a bolt of longing through her for a time that was lost in the past. And that made her ridiculously and inexplicably sad.
“Do you remember the afternoons we spent lazing around beside the river?” Peter asked. “Just talking and laughing.”
There’d been a whole lot more going on than just talking and laughing. She remembered their endless kisses beneath the summer sunshine, remembered lying in Peter’s arms as they stretched out on the old picnic blanket he brought whenever they went to the river, remembered the feel of his body so close to hers.
The look on Peter’s face across the table told her he remembered those things too. In that moment, she knew they were both thinking the same thoughts and remembering the same sweet memories of their summer love affair.
“We used to hold hands for hours,” Gaby said, “lying beside the river underneath that old oak tree.”
The soft rush of the river and the dappled light beneath the oak canopy and the familiar warmth of Peter’s fingers laced through hers—she could hear and see and feel those things as if they were happening right now.
Peter smiled across the table, his eyes searching hers. “I loved those days. Do you remember the night we climbed up Blackberry Hill to watch the meteor shower?”
“God yes! I’d forgotten about that. It was amazing.” Gaby couldn’t understand how that memory had slipped out of her mind. From the vantage point above Hamblehurst, they’d watched meteors streak across the summer night sky, each burst of light making her clap her hands with joy. “It was almost four in the morning before we came back down the hill.”
“I had to sneak back into my parents’ house so they wouldn’t give me hell for staying out all night with a girl who’d only just left school.”
“And I had to sneak into my aunt’s house or she would’ve grounded me for sure. Looking back, I’m not sure how I managed to get inside without waking her.”
“The magical powers of being a teenager.”
“Yes, that must be it.”
They shared a laugh. “Those were great days,” Peter said.
“The were wonderful.”
He gave her a long look before speaking again. “It’s funny, but I sometimes wondered?—”
The moment was broken when Peter’s phone began ringing. He frowned and pulled it from his coat pocket.
