‘Mel, I’d never?—’
‘I know that, but my head was such a mess. I couldn’t think straight about anything.’
Flynn picked up the curtain and draped it back round me before passing me the bottle of wine. I took a glug and passed it back to him to do the same.
‘Do you still want to know the truth?’ he asked eventually.
‘Yes!’ I said without hesitation. ‘Even though there’s nothing I can do about it now, I still want to know who Noah’s new friends were and who gave him the drugs. It wouldn’t answer all my questions but it’d be something and it might help me find a way to shift the blame from me to them and to forgive myself.’
Silence settled on us again, the only sound being the slosh of the wine in the bottle as we intermittently passed it back and forth until Flynn announced we’d finished it and a third bottle probably wasn’t a good idea. I agreed wholeheartedly. My head was so fuzzy.
‘Why did it take you so long to sell The Bothy?’ I asked, my words slurred. ‘I thought it’d sell just like that.’ I tried to accompany the wordthatwith a click of my fingers but I couldn’t coordinate the movement.
‘I had three offers the day it went on the market,’ Flynn responded, his words also slurring. ‘Didn’t put it up for sale straightaway cos I kept hoping you’d come back.’
My heart skipped. ‘Even after we’d divorced?’
‘For a long time after. Kept hoping you’d have the time and space you needed and then you’d return to me.’
‘Sorry.’
‘Me too.’
‘So when did you give up hoping and start dating again?’ I asked.
‘I didn’t. Part of me kept believing that, with enough water under the bridge, we’d eventually find our way back to each other because we were always meant to be together.’
I laughed out loud. ‘Yeah, right. That’s the truth!’
‘It is!’ He sounded affronted.
‘I’ll accept that you believe the always being together stuff. You always were romantic. But the never dating stuff? That’s bullshit! You’re married!’
‘Married? What makes you think that?’
‘Erm, the wedding ring for a start.’
He held up his left hand. ‘This ring?’
‘Yep! Gotcha! Married man.’
‘Take a closer look.’ He thrust his hand towards me and shone his torch onto it.
‘It’s very nice,’ I slurred, struggling to actually focus on the ring.
‘Closer. I’d take it off so you can see the inscription, but I’m not sure it’ll come off my finger now. I’ve worn it for that long.’
Shocked, I grabbed his hand. ‘That’s the ring I gave you!’
I ran my fingers over the platinum band but he took his hand from my grasp.
‘What can I say? Hopeless romantic.’
I couldn’t believe he was still wearing his wedding band after all this time. My engagement and wedding rings were safely tucked away in their original boxes but I placed my hand against my chest, feeling the eternity ring I always wore on a chain. Flynn had given me it after Noah was born, and I could remember his exact words:I’ve heard being a parent can be both the most rewarding and the toughest thing ever. This is to remind you that, no matter how tough things get, my love for you will last for all eternity.He’d had the infinity symbol engraved inside the band with N L for Noah Lucas within the two ovals and our initials either side. I was about to show him it, but I suddenly remembered what I’d seen on the beach.
‘Not married, but youareseeing someone,’ I said. ‘Or you were.’
‘I’m not and I wasn’t.’
