Page 101 of Second Chance Summer
Much as he’d loved spending time with her family – the girls were sweethearts and Étienne was great company – Sam had been both longing for, and fearing, this moment.
Now it had come, he was so afraid of wasting his longed for gift. He’d rejected Lily the other evening – or had she rejected him? He still couldn’t decide.
‘I’ll stoke the fire,’ he said, stalling for time.
Abandoning his beer, he piled on a couple of sticks and some dry lichen. He didn’t want it to die down because that would leave them in the dark and cold. He didn’t want the evening to end.
Lily broke the silence. ‘Thank you for making it such a wonderful weekend. The girls have had a fantastic time.’
‘I’ve loved meeting them. I’m knackered but I’ve loved it.’
‘They’re livewires, that’s for sure.’
‘And Étienne is a great guy. I’m glad he’s enjoyed the break. He deserves it after what he’s been through.’
‘They’ve all fallen in love with the islands, especially Stark. They want to come back …’ He noticed she fell short of adding that she did.
He hid his disappointment with a joke. ‘So, I might not be getting rubbish reviews after all?’
‘You know you won’t.’ She winced. ‘I’m sorry I was so rude about the retreat when I first arrived. I can hardly believe it was only a couple of weeks ago.’
A couple of weeks that had changed her life? They’d certainly changed his.
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘you’d never get rubbish reviews.’ She smiled and her eyes were lit by the glow of the fire – or was it an inner glow that had come out during her stay on the islands? Sam smiled to himself, dismissing his romantic notions yet wanting to give in to them too.
‘Étienne gave me a lecture last night.’
‘Did he? What about?’
‘It was about going after your dreams. Not wasting time. I think he feels that he might be ready to move on – romantically, I mean.’
Despite the warmth of the fire, Sam had goosebumps. He sensed Lily was heading along a new path yet hardly dared to hope where it might lead.
‘How do you feel about that?’ he said softly, adding a stick to the fire, hoping to fan the flames of this new and fragile intimacy between them.
‘I was shocked at first. It’s weird – a bit upsetting – to imagine him with anyone but Cara, or the girls with a different mum. Yet I also want him to be happy.’ She looked at Sam. ‘How could I ever wish for anything different?’
He thought back to when Rhiannon had left: how hehadn’t wanted her to be happy; he’d only wanted her to change her mind and come back to him. He didn’t feel that way now … in fact, he hadn’t thought about her for the whole weekend.
He’d only thought about the woman at his side.
Realising this fact made him daring. Possibilities unfurled ahead of him that he hadn’t dared to believe existed. ‘You say you want Étienne to be happy with someone new but what about you?’ he asked. ‘You persuaded me to tell you about Rhiannon but you never mention anyone special.’
‘Oh, I had flings when I was young before Lily Loves was so successful. All of a sudden, I was thirty with a tiger by the tail – Lily Loves took off so fast, I could hardly cope and then there really was no time for love. No time for anything.’
‘Has staying here changed that?’
‘Yes. In so many ways,’ Lily said, watching the fire compete with the fiery ball sliding towards the horizon. The last daylight in the country. The final few hours. ‘Time is so short, like Étienne said.’
‘Étienne is a very wise man,’ Sam said, treading warily, hoping yet fearing her response. ‘Doesn’t that mean we should make the most of the moment that’s in front of us now? And,’ he added softly, ‘take a chance and leave no regrets?’
She looked up into his eyes, her lips parted slightly. He heard her breathing. ‘You’re right. I’d never have done the things I have without taking chances. We should live for now, and not worry about afterwards.’
Her face was lit by the flickering flames – and desire? His pulse quickened when she got to her feet and said, ‘Shall we go for a walk?’
As he stood up, his whole body thrummed with need for her. ‘I’d love that. Where to?’
‘To the ruined cottages. On the far side of the island. Away from it all.’
