‘What?’ Sophie shook her head, disgusted at what she’d heard. ‘This is a new low, Brody. I wouldn’t have expected a line like this from you. She clearly seems to think you’re still together.’
‘It’s not a line. It’s the truth. We split up months ago. Tegan met someone new in New York, not long after she started there, and broke off our engagement. We only pretended we were still together for the sake of her father. Tegan didn’t want to upset him. Neither of us did,’ he qualified. ‘Alan took a turn for the worse after her brother announced he was getting divorced last year. Tegan is petrified another shock might make Alan have a relapse before his op.’
Could it be true? Could she really trust what Brody was saying? He had no reason to make up such a story. Sophie tugged his jacket around her, shivering with the cold. ‘And Tegan’s going along with this? Because she didn’t even hint to me that anything was wrong just now. The opposite, in fact.’
He shoved his hands through his hair in frustration. ‘Initially it was Tegan’s idea. I wanted to make a clean break as soon as she told me about her affair, but I agreed to keep up the charade until her father was recovering. I genuinely thought I could do it, while she was on the other side of the Atlantic. Only a couple of people had known about the engagement, and not having to face them and tell them we’d broken up was easier to begin with too. I didn’t factor in how hard it is to deny your real feelings. I didn’t factor in falling for someone else. Foryou…’
Sophie could feel her heart beating faster. Suddenly the cold didn’t matter, and yet …
‘I’ve always liked you,’ Brody went on. ‘Morethan liked you, but obviously I suppressed my feelings. Then Tegan dropped the bombshell that she’d been having a relationship with her boss. I was stunned and hurt. I felt humiliated.’
‘I know that feeling,’ Sophie murmured, hardly daring to believe that what Brody was saying was true. ‘After I first split with Ben, I realised that it was a good thing we’d parted before we were married. Anyone who could have an affair with my best friend behind my back – and blame me for it – was better off out of my life. I needed something to blame, and I blamed Christmas. Even though I knew it wasn’t rational, I needed something to hang my insecurities and my grief and anger on.’
‘I understand. I always did.’ Brody took her chilled hands and held them between his own warm ones. ‘Even if you were having doubts about a relationship, a betrayal like thatknocks you off your feet. Maybe it served me right; maybe Tegan could sense that I wasn’t as committed as I should have been, but even so I wouldneverhave hurt her in the way she hurt me. It’s why I’ve tried so hard to stop myself even thinking about you.’
‘After the lantern parade and then at the party that night, I realised how much I liked you,’ Sophie told him. ‘I was just starting to feel brave enough to open up to someone else, but then that … stable moment happened and made me terrified in case I got hurt again.’
‘No, please believe me. I’m nothing like your ex. Even growing close to you felt like betraying Tegan, and I hoped I might feel differently over time. Unfortunately, the more I saw of you, the more I realised that I couldn’t go on pretending.’
Sophie was torn between joy and fear. She’d longed to hear Brody say these words. She’d lost all hope that he really was the lovely, gorgeous, nice guy she’d originally thought. It was miraculous to know the truth, and yet she couldn’t get past the fact that he was still engaged to another women, even if in name only.
She took her hands out of his and moved apart from him. ‘I – I do like you, Brody. More than like. You must know that, but I could never be part of breaking up a relationship. Tegan clearly hasn’t accepted it’s over between you, and I don’t want to be part of some agonising love-triangle. Until and unless she accepts that you two are over, there can’t be a future for us. Don’t let me be the reason you hurt someone.’
Brody’s fingers brushed hers for the briefest moment, setting off fireworks through her whole body. ‘Sophie, no matter what I do, I’m going to hurt someone. Sometimes you can’t avoid it, if you want to do the right thing for the ones you love.’ He took her hand again. ‘I can’t tell you how much I want to hold you. Kiss you.More.’
Sophie had no need of his jacket. The heat rose in her body and every nerve ending zinged. She longed to be in his arms, and alone with him.
‘Not until you’re truly free,’ she insisted. ‘Only you can make that happen.’
‘I know, and Iwill.’
‘Brody!’
Tegan ran up to them, tears running down her face. ‘I’ve been looking for you everywhere! You have to come. It’s Dad. He’s having an angina attack.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Brody apologised as he carved a path through the drinkers in the bar. The floor above thumped with dancers and the bass pulsated from the disco, which was now in full swing. He’d had no choice but to leave Sophie and immediately follow Tegan inside.
It seemed an age before he made it to the upper deck, where Alan was sitting at their table, bow tie hanging loose, with Fiona fanning him. The man did look pale, though it was hard to tell with all the flashing disco lights.
‘Dad!’ Tegan knelt on the floor in front of her father. She had to shout above the music.
Brody joined her at his side. ‘Alan. How are you feeling now?’
‘You can tell my wife and daughter to stop fussing,’ Alan replied firmly. ‘I’ve taken my medication and I’m already feeling better.’
‘Can we help?’ A couple of people from the mountain-rescue team approached them, and the grey-haired man of the two spoke to them. ‘I’m a doctor, and Deep here is a paramedic. Can you tell me what happened?’ the doc asked, sitting down on a chair next to Alan.
Brody helped Tegan to her feet, so that the doctor had more room.
‘I’m fine. I felt breathless and an attack coming on, but I’ve had my pills now and I’ll be OK. Please, I don’t want a fuss!’
‘Alan …’ Brody pleaded, his own heart pounding when he recalled the moment his head teacher had called him out of the classroom to break the news about his father. ‘Best to let them help.’
Fiona put her hand on her husband’s shoulder. ‘Yes, you should. How often do you get to see a doctor within two minutes of feeling poorly?’
‘I’m not poorly. I have angina and I have my pills. Theywillwork.’
