“I promise I’ll let you sleep.” He pantomimed a yawn. “See, I’m pretty tired myself. Let’s get back under the covers and close our eyes.”
Gaby couldn’t help laughing at his antics. “You know that’s not what would happen.”
“Please don’t go, Gaby,” he said, sitting up suddenly and with a look on his face that caught at her heart. “I finally found you again after all these years and it’s been the most amazing time I’ve ever had. Please, don’t go.”
The shocking honesty of his words hit home. She sighed, hating this and hating more the fact that she’d known this was exactly what would happen from the moment she’d agreed to come here.
“Peter, even if I stay and we spend the rest of the night together and I somehow muddle my way through my shift tomorrow, I’m still leaving on Monday.”
“You don’t have to leave. You could just stay here.”
She frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You could just stay. Here. In Hamblehurst.”
Her frown only deepened. “No, Peter, I couldn’t do that and you know it. I start a contract on a cruise ship on Monday. They’re depending on me. I can’t just not turn up.”
“But couldn’t you just tell them you can’t make it?”
Frustration was quickly turning into anger and she had to battle to keep a lid on it.
“No, Peter, I can’t just tell them I can’t make it. I’m a professional. My entire career is built on being excellent at my job and completely reliable. I won’t risk that reputation. What would happen if you told your headmaster at school that youjust couldn’t make it into work?”
She couldn’t resist making air quotes with that last part, because his casual suggestion had ticked her off so much.
At least he seemed to be thinking about what she’d said, because he looked sheepish now. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It was a stupid suggestion and insulting, too. I just… I just wish you didn’t have to go, that’s all.”
She wanted to rescue this before their lovely time together ended in angry disaster, because that would be a real pity.
“We both knew I was leaving, Peter. We said this was just… a walk down memory lane together. Those were your words. Let’s not ruin what we just shared by falling out over something silly. Please?”
Peter ran a hand through his hair and nodded. As he got out of bed and pulled on some clothes, he gave her an apologetic look.
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Gaby. I don’t want to ruin this and I definitely don’t want us to fall out. I’m sorry for being flippant and suggesting you could just quit your job because I asked you to. That wasn’t fair. Forgive me?”
She smiled. “Of course.”
“It’s just that this time we’ve spent together has meant so much to me. I’d forgotten how good we were together. Being with you again and being with you tonight…” He gestured vaguely towards his bed before looking back at her. “I loved every moment. I just wish it didn’t have to end.”
The look he gave her kept her pinned in place for a long beat and her heart hammered inside her chest as she realised something profound.
She wished it didn’t have to end, either.
More than that, the idea of walking away and leaving Peter behind actually made her chest squeeze.
In her life, she’d enjoyed many affairs with wonderful men and she’d always known those affairs would eventually end. Parting was never easy. But it had never before felt this hard.
She felt like she might shatter the minute she stepped through the door.
But you won’t shatter. You can’t shatter. You have an amazing job waiting for you aboard a beautiful cruise liner and many months of exciting travel and adventures ahead.
And even if you didn’t have any of that, you couldn’t stay here anyway… because you’re not made for a life laying down roots with one man.
That was the truth Gaby knew in her heart. She wasn’t built for commitment. For permanence. For home sweet home.
She was built for moving, always moving, always searching for the next destination, always chasing the next adventure.
That’s who she was. This brief interlude with Peter hadn’t changed that.
