Page 84 of Italy and Forever

‘I know,’ Sophie said, watching her husband knock back a little bottle of something potent and herbal. ‘But this stuff is important to him.’

‘To me?’ Andreas shot her a sidelong look. ‘You wanted to get married properly.’

‘And getting married properly involves schnapps,’ Lucas declared.

Andreas glanced at Ginny, seemingly seeing her for the first time, then he noticed Rhys. ‘What are you two doing here? Did they steal the photographer and the wedding planner too?’

‘No, Ginny and Rhys were up here making out,’ Sophie said with a scowl.

Andreas chuckled and Ginny awkwardly joined him, until she noticed that neither Sophie nor Rhys were laughing.

‘I’m serious. I got the wrong end of the stick. It wasn’t Laurie, it was Rhys. They’ve been sleeping together!’

The smile slowly faded from Andreas’s face. Ginny didn’t dare look at Rhys. She could feel his discomfort strongly enough anyway and his silence had rarely been louder.

She crossed her arms. ‘I don’t know why you enjoyed teasing me and gossiping about Laurie, but you both seem outraged that it’s Rhys. I know you must think I talk his ear off and how could he ever stand to spend so much time with me⁠—’

His hand landed on her waist and closed in the material of her dress. ‘Ginny, shh.’

From anyone else, she would have gritted her teeth and refused to comply with the blunt instruction, but he said her name so beautifully in his gentle accent, and the hand at her back told her everything she needed to know about his motives for silencing her.

‘It’s nothing like that,’ Andreas said gruffly, still looking from one to the other, perplexed. ‘It’s because he’s leaving for Canada in two weeks.’

Ginny had to process that information for a few long seconds, seeing nothing as she tried to reason with herself that she’d known all along he would head off on another assignment. She’d even joked about it herself. But still, the breeze felt suddenly icy and her tongue didn’t want to move.

‘That’s where you’re off to next, huh?’ she said carefully, marvelling that her voice sounded so steady despite her twisting stomach. They’d agreed not to get their feelings involved. She didn’t want him leaving with guilt because she’d broken the agreement. When he got back, perhaps everything would be different between them – or nothing.

‘You mean, that’s where he’s off to permanently,’ Andreas said emphatically. ‘Planning to slip away, as though none of us would notice he’s gone!’

That stopped the world turning for Ginny. Her eyes slammed shut and she groped for the coarse wall of the tower for something to support her. She didn’t want to believe it, but a little piece of something was already breaking off inside her, smashing on the ground at her feet.

In two weeks, he would be gone. It had been bad enough imagining him leaving for a short-term assignment, but Great Heart without Rhys would be… devastatingly empty. She’d never feel his eyes on her in the gym – never have the chance to press her hands to his face.

But that wasn’t the most uncomfortable realisation. Andreas knew, but Rhys hadn’t said a word to her. He would have told her, if he felt any kind of dilemma about staying – for her. If he felt anything for her, he would have told her.

She couldn’t even blame him. He’d tried to gently dissuade her from pursuing the attraction and she’d foolishly ploughed ahead, insisted no feelings would be involved. No matter what she thought she’d learned this week, she was naïve. And for all her brave statements about being glad to have had the time with him, she’d still allowed herself to imagine it wouldn’t end.

Crashing back to earth was painful.

She wanted to rail at him, beat his chest, but it was all her own fault. He’d tried to do the right thing and stay away from her. She opened her mouth to make some kind of excuse to get off this tower before she burst into tears, but only a gurgle of a sob emerged. Shit.

‘I have to—’ she forced out, gesturing wildly at the stairs before making her escape – just in time. Her vision blurred with tears before the door had even closed behind her.

Rhys was torn in two watching her. He wanted to go after her, hold her by the shoulders and make her understand why he had to leave. But then he imagined getting to the bit where he couldn’t imagine being in Weymouth, seeing her every week, not being able to touch her, and he reconsidered.

Their affair had got a little intense and he regretted that, but she clearly didn’t want a monosyllabic, washed-up photographer who was either away all the time or skint. She was hurt that he hadn’t told her he was going so soon. She’d get over him a long time before he would get over her.

He should just let her go – to enjoy the wedding as much as she could without him making it worse.

But Sophie and Andreas were looking at him expectantly.

‘Aren’t you going after her?’ Sophie prompted.

‘Uh, why?’

‘Because you upset her and you need to make it better,’ Andreas grumbled.

‘I’m only going to upset her more, if I talk to her now.’