Chapter 26
William
“You’re different here.” She said quietly without looking at him. She was staring out over the harbor, her robe pulled tight as she sat across the breakfast table from him, not touching her food.
“Am I?”
She nodded, keeping her gaze averted. He wanted to push her, but he was too afraid he knew what she meant, so he let it lie.
“Mum’s already texted this morning, asking after you.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That you were much better, but that you really wanted to get home to Billy, so we were going to make an early start.”
“That’s good.”
“Maybe you could eat a little bit of breakfast, at least, before we go.”
She picked up her fork, pushing the poached egg around on her plate.
“Juniper.”
She glanced up at him, then quickly away. He sighed. He had no idea what he’d been going to say, anyway.
He leaned back in his chair, one hand in his pocket, the other wrapped around his coffee mug, his own plate of food virtually untouched.
She managed to force down a little to eat before pushing her chair back and rising to her feet.
He looked up quickly as she came around to his side of the table.
The look in her eyes nearly broke his heart as she bent down and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
“I love you.”
He managed to speak around the lump in his throat. “I love you, too.” He moved to put his arm around her, but she shifted away.
“I’ll just get my things. I’d really like to go home now.”
“Okay.”
The drive back to Blessed Inlet seemed to take forever.
He usually didn’t mind it, just cruising in the Porsche, maybe playing a bit of music, usually thinking about Juniper.
But there was no festive mood in the car, just a somber quiet, with Juniper curled up in her seat, staring out the window.
When they finally pulled up in her drive, she got out of the car wordlessly, waiting at the trunk for him to open it. She took her case from him.
“Juniper.” He couldn’t disguise the pleading note in his voice. “Are you angry with me?” That finally got her looking at him.
“No, of course not.”
Well, that was a relief, but then it made him more concerned. “Then why are you avoiding me? You won’t look at me, you’ve barely touched me since we got up this morning.”
“Because if I touch you, I’ll want to hold you, and if I hold you, I won’t be able to let you go.”
“Jesus, Juniper, don’t talk like that.”
She sighed, closing the gap between them and wrapping her arms tight around his neck. He squeezed her tight against him, not wanting to let go. She pulled back first, looking up at him, laying her hand on his cheek before stepping away. “Maybe I can let you go.”
He felt a sliver of icy fear curl around his heart at her words.
“Come over tomorrow night. We’ll talk then.”
“Okay.”