Chapter 19
HALLE
It was Tuesday morning and we were on the luxury coach heading to another secret excursion.
I was so tired after the excitement of the horse riding and sightseeing that I’d passed out on my bed and missed dinner.
When I woke up, I saw that Jake had messaged to ask if I was coming to the restaurant, but by then, it was too late. It was sweet of him to text though. And when I replied to tell him I’d fallen asleep, he was understanding. I’d ordered room service, then went to bed.
Breakfast with Jake this morning was surprisingly fine too.
We’d talked more about the horse riding and he told me about the horses at his uncle’s farm.
We were chatting so much that before we knew it, we had to leave to board the coach.
And it was only when it set off that we realised we hadn’t collected the photos from yesterday’s excursions.
I didn’t tell Jake this, but I was dying to see the pictures.
I was tempted to ask him if I could take a peek at the ones on his phone, but I was too embarrassed.
Looking at the printed versions as part of our daily ‘love’ tasks was fine because that was one of the ‘rules’.
But I’d told Jake repeatedly how much I hated photos, so suddenly begging to see them would sound contradictory.
‘Thanks for the playlist,’ Jake said.
‘Did you like the songs?’ I asked.
I’d chosen ‘Hollywood’ by Madonna, ‘Dark Horse’ by Katy Perry and Juicy J, ‘Crazy Horses’ by The Osmonds, ‘Lost Angeles’ by The Aces and ‘Holding out for a Hero’ by Bonnie Tyler.
I almost added ‘Thank You’ by Dido, but when I remembered that the lyrics included her gratitude for giving her the best day of her life, I thought it’d be way too gushy.
Even though I’d wanted to include ‘Hero’ by Mariah Carey and the same title by Enrique Iglesias, three knight-in-shining armour songs seemed like overkill.
‘I…’ He paused. ‘You were showing your age a bit with The Osmonds and Bonnie Tyler.’ The corner of his mouth turned up.
‘You can blame that on my dad. He loves seventies and eighties music, so it rubbed off on me.’
‘Your dad has great taste. I’m a fan of those decades too.’
‘Yeah?’ I frowned. ‘Who do you like?’
‘I loved bands like Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, Kool and the Gang, singers like Prince, MJ, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Luther Vandross, Phil Collins, Tina Turner… I could easily list dozens more.’
‘Yes! As Dad says, they don’t make them like they used to.’
‘Your pops is right. That’s why so many modern songs sample the classics.’
‘And the remakes are never as good as the original.’
‘You’re…’ Jake suddenly paused and several people on the coach started whooping and cheering.
I frowned, but then the volume on the song playing in the background was turned up and it started to make sense.
They were playing one of Jake’s songs on the radio. I turned to him, expecting a smug look to be written over his face, but instead he looked mortified.
‘Fuck,’ he muttered under his breath, barely loud enough for me to hear it.
‘It’s your song!’ Mandy called out, her eyes wide.
‘Yeah,’ Jake replied with a tight smile.
The coach erupted as some of the guests started clapping and singing along enthusiastically.
But the more they sang, the more Jake retreated in his seat.
‘Not a fan of your own music?’ I frowned.
‘This song is… let’s just say it’s kinda personal.’ He dragged his hand down his face.
I knew this one. It was called ‘Somethin’ Special’ and was all about the joy of falling in love. It was one of his most romantic tunes. And it was definitely one of his biggest hits, so it was weird that he seemed to hate it.
Unless…
Then it dawned on me that maybe it was personal because it was about one of his past loves. And obviously they weren’t together any more.
The thought of a man like Jake ever being deeply in love was a complete contradiction to his playboy image.
I’d always assumed that these songs were just written to sell records because it appealed to his female fan-base. But judging by the look of horror on Jake’s face, there was more meaning to the words.
I could be wrong, but it seemed like Jake was in love.
Clearly, I didn’t know what had happened and I wasn’t about to ask him in front of a coach full of strangers, but if I had to guess, Jake had experienced real, deep, soul-crushing heartbreak.
A wave of sympathy and understanding instantly flooded my chest.
Maybe we had more in common than I thought…