Page 100 of Escape for Christmas
‘Thanks. It’s always nice to be told.’ She picked up a perfume bottle and sprayed it on her wrists.
‘Tegan …’ he began, steeling himself. ‘We need to talk about – this situation. Later, when we’re on our own, obviously.’
‘“Talk?”’ Her eyes widened in alarm, making Brody’s pulse rocket. She swung round to face him and heaved a deep sigh. ‘Yes, actually, I think you’re right. You see …’ shechewed her lip. ‘I have something I need to get off my chest.’ Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
Brody sucked in a breath. Had she finally come to the same conclusion as him? That they had to be honest with her parents now? With everyone? ‘I’m so glad we’re on the same page then.’ He felt a rush of relief.
She nodded. ‘I know. It’s killing me too.’ She walked over to him and put her arms around his neck. ‘But, you see, it doesn’thaveto be a lie. We can make it real again.’
His heart almost stopped. ‘How?’
‘I’ve made a terrible mistake. I want us to try again.’
The shock robbed him of words.
‘I could try to win back your trust. I know you were devastated when we split up.’ She touched his face, and Tegan touching him like that made him tense up. ‘I took you for granted. I was so lonely when I first went to work in New York. I was overwhelmed, and the pressure was huge. I didn’t think I could make it, and Wes was … supportive. Charming.’
A tear trickled down her cheek and dropped onto the lapel of his jacket. ‘Or so I thought, but I was simply confused and alone. Now I realise that he isn’t a fraction of the man you are. I’ve made a huge mistake, Brody, and I want to put it right. This may come as a shock, but I’ve finished with Wes. I told him last night that it was over. I told him that,’ she gulped back a sob, ‘I was – am – still in love with you.’
‘Tegan …’
She held both his lapels. ‘So now we don’t have to pretend any longer.’
Brody was so numb with shock, he could barely frame a response. The situation was now even worse than before. He didn’t have feelings for Tegan any more, and he couldn’t believe that she thought she could come back and everything would be OK, just like it was. He realised that Tegan thinking he was much too nice meant she thought he was a pushover, but he wasn’t going to be. Not any longer.
He cleared his throat. ‘We can’t keep deceiving your parents, my mother – everyone. It’s wrong.’
‘It is, and I guessed my dad and mum were starting to suspect things hadn’t been right for a while. I decided to come clean, before you got home from work. I mentioned that we’ve been having some problems, but we’re back together now, so everything is going to be OK. And now Dad knows that, it means he can rest easy and not feel stressed.’
She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips, but Brody pulled away.
‘And wewillbe OK, Brody. I know we will. I’m truly sorry for what I did, and I hope to earn your trust again. As long as you’re willing to try and make it work. It’s up to you.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The taxi dropped them off at the jetty where the steamer was waiting, windows blazing and festooned with coloured lights like a mini version of an old-fashioned liner. The band was already playing, with the sound of jazz drifting over the quay, and there was a queue of excited passengers waiting to board.
Sophie got out, and the cold hit her after the warmth of the taxi.
‘Oh, this is so beautiful!’ Vee cried, while Kev paid the driver.
‘I feel like I’m about to board theTitanic,’ he grumbled, adjusting his collar.
Vee playfully batted him on the arm. ‘I bloody hope not! I don’t fancy my chances in the middle of the icy lake.’
‘No. It’s two hundred feet deep in the middle, you know.’
‘Oh, don’t say that,’ Sophie protested. ‘It gives me the shivers.’
Vee was rocking a red jumpsuit and a sparkly black jacket. She stamped her gold platforms. ‘I’m shivering anyway. I hope we get on board soon.’
They joined the queue at the brightly lit boathouse. It was a clear night and the moon shone down, reflected in theblack waters of the lake, along with the shimmering fairy lights looped along the lamp posts on the boat pier.
‘Although I’m freezing, I’m glad I made an effort,’ Vee said, and Sophie agreed. It was strange to see so many people in tuxes and dresses, when most were usually bundled up in thick coats and jeans.
Luckily the queue moved swiftly and they were soon stepping aboard the Windermere steamer, the largest in the company’s fleet. The guests were, of course, always using the boat service that plied the whole length of the lake and criss-crossed it. However, Sophie had been so busy that she’d only experienced it a couple of times, to reach the far side of the lake for walks on rare days off.
The boat was decorated with fairy lights and tinsel. Dealing with Christmas decorations no longer seemed such an issue to Sophie, set against her other troubles. Besides, the festivities would be over tomorrow and packed away for another year. If only her feelings for Brody could be packed away so easily. If only they could be sealed inside a cardboard box and hidden in a loft.
