Chapter Twenty-Six
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Ilias
“Do you think you can manage not to get us lost today?” I asked teasingly as we climbed into the car to head up towards Hareford House, the castle on the cliffs above Heather Bay. We didn’t have long to explore, but I wanted to get out in the fresh air before the next leg of our journey.
“You can drive if you want,” Oscar said, giving me a withering look.
“No thanks. It’s your turn.”
“You just don’t want to be the one who gets lost,” Oscar muttered as he turned the car on. “You know all we have to do is follow the signs? We probably could have walked.”
“Probably, but it’s also meant to rain, and I don’t fancy getting soaked and spending the rest of the day looking like a drowned rat. Especially since we have to drive up to Northumberland this afternoon.”
“Okay, you have a point there.”
“Only five more hotels to go, then we’re done,” I said. “I never thought I’d be glad to see the back of luxury hotels, but I’m quite looking forward to a few nights in London.”
“I think it’s just been the intensity. We haven’t really been able to settle anywhere.” He pulled the car onto the main road and began to follow the signs out of town.
“Exactly! Although, it’s given me a list of places I want to go back to.” I peered out the window at the small shops and terraced houses, wishing I had more time to have a nosy.
Out of all the places we’d stayed, Heather Bay was the one that intrigued me most. The narrow, cobbled streets that wound their way up the hills seemed like they’d be a treasure trove of shops, cafés, and restaurants.
“Like here,” I continued. “I haven’t done nearly enough poking around.”
“We’ll have to come back, then,” Oscar said. “Take a long weekend at some point.”
There was something in the casual way he’d suggested us taking a non-work trip together that pulled me up short. If I’d been walking, I would have stopped dead in my tracks.
Travelling was our life, and Oscar was casually just slotting me into his plans like it was nothing. I wasn’t even sure if Heather Bay was somewhere he’d wanted to revisit, but he’d suggested it because I did want to come back.
The slow realisation that had been building deep beneath the surface of my emotions bobbed to the surface, but this time, they didn’t come with a parasitic attachment of fear.
Oscar and I were building something together—a relationship that had a real chance. And while I would always miss Daniele and what we might have had, it didn’t mean I had to spend the rest of my life alone. I just had to take each day as it came and build memories with the man next to me.
We followed the winding road up towards Hareford House, and turned onto the long, tree-lined drive between two large stone pillars. As we parked the car, I got hints of a gorgeous view over the bay, even with clouds starting to gather across the horizon.
“Do you want to go into the house?” Oscar asked. “Or do you just want to walk around the grounds?”
“We could see how much a ticket is. But maybe start with the grounds in case it starts pissing it down, then we can take shelter.” Even though it was May, there was still a sharp breeze blowing in off the sea, and it sent a shiver running down my spine.
As I pulled on my jacket, wishing I had something warmer, a fat drop of rain landed on the back of my neck quickly followed by several more.
“Why must it always fucking rain in this country?!” I shook my head. “I just want some bloody sunshine.”
Oscar laughed and pulled an umbrella off the back seat, casually popping it open and ushering me under it as we began to walk towards the visitor entrance. “Now you’ve said that we’re going to get three months of unending, baking heat and humidity.”
“And I’ll complain about that too,” I said, trying not to laugh. “Because we don’t have any bloody air conditioning. Heat is only acceptable when I have a pool, cocktails, and something cold to lie under.”
The rain was coming down heavier now, and our pace increased, feet crunching on the gravel.
“This is going to ruin your fish and chips on the beach for lunch idea,” Oscar said. He had to raise his voice for me to hear him over the drumming of the rain on the umbrella.
“Fish and chips in the car?” I asked, hopping on one foot to avoid a rapidly forming puddle. The view of the bay had been quickly obscured by the incoming clouds, giving the whole place an eerie vibe.
“Don’t you think that’ll make the car smell?”
“I don’t care as long as I get fish and chips! We can air it out later.”
Oscar laughed, his fingers finding mine and pulling me close. We were suddenly nose to nose, and the world shrank to just the two of us under an enormous umbrella.
And I suddenly knew, with complete clarity, that I wanted to spend every day having adventures with this man. Because I loved him.
I loved him more utterly and completely than I’d ever loved anyone.
Oscar had taken the pieces of me that I’d tried to hide and pretend weren’t broken and had started to glue them back together, unfazed by the fact that he had no guidelines to go on. He hadn’t had to fix my broken heart, but he had done it anyway whether by accident or by choice.
Oscar had allowed me to love again.
My free hand reached out towards him, tentatively brushing his cheek.
“Are you okay?” he asked, frowning.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I just realised something though.”
“What?”
“That I love you,” I said, holding my breath like I was waiting at the top of a rollercoaster, waiting for the drop. “I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s more than okay.” Oscar smiled and tilted his head. His lips were virtually touching mine. “I love you too.”
Then he kissed me, and I knew I’d never forget that moment for as long as I lived.
As pretty as Hareford House was, I hardly remembered a moment of our tour. My mind was still lingering on the man holding my hand, and the three simple words that had changed everything.
I’d never expected to fall in love again, and I certainly hadn’t expected to fall for a prickly travel journalist who’d asked me to be his fake boyfriend.
But that was love, I supposed. It happened when you least expected it.
“What are you thinking about?” Oscar asked. We were driving again, zipping up towards Northumberland in the afternoon sunshine. The rain had cleared not long after we’d left Heather Bay, and despite his minor protestations about lingering smells, Oscar had still given in to my demands for a fish and chip lunch by the sea.
“You,” I said. “Just thinking about how strange fate is.”
“Oh?”
“I never really thought I’d fall in love again. I thought it was for other people. But then you came along and caught me off guard.” I shrugged. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“Is that a bad thing? Do you not want to love me?” Oscar sounded concerned, and I winced.
“No, fuck no, nothing like that! I just meant that it surprised me. You surprised me but not in a bad way. I think that’s why I fell for you. You were so immune to my charms at first, and you intrigued me. I wanted to know what made you tick.”
“What did you find?” Oscar asked. When I turned to look at him, he was grinning.
“A grumpy journalist who actually cares very deeply, even if he won’t let many people see it. And someone who has the most basic taste in cookies I’ve ever met.”
“Oh my God, this again! Peanut butter and chocolate is not a basic choice. It’s a classic. You’re just pretentious.”
“Pretentious?” I laughed.
“Yes! You’re a cookie snob.”
“Then I’ll never buy you cookies again.”
“You’ve never bought me cookies to begin with,” Oscar said pointedly.
“Fine,” I said, picking my phone up from where it had been resting in the middle console. I’d been intending to find a cookie bakery in London I could drag Oscar to the minute we got home to prove my point, but I was distracted by the string of messages from my family. “Oh joy.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just my family.” I flicked open the messages and rolled my eyes. “They somehow found out I had a boyfriend. I guess Dominic ratted me out, even though I just called you my friend, so now they’re playing twenty questions. Oh, and they’re asking if I’m going to be bringing you to my cousin’s wedding, even though it’s not until next year.” I sighed. “And now you think I’m really fucking weird or not committed because I told my brother you’re my friend, and you’re probably thinking about how to get rid of me because I just told you all the ridiculous shit my family’s pulling.”
“First of all,” Oscar said, putting his hand on my thigh in that comforting way he always did. “I don’t think you’re not committed. I understand why you did it, considering you know what they’re like. And I’m not going anywhere. To be honest, I kind of expected this. You’ve told me enough stories to prepare me. So if you want me to come with you to your cousin’s wedding, I will. And we can even have some kind of code word, and I can swoop in and rescue you if they try to overwhelm you.”
“Seriously? You’d do that?” I stared at him. “You realise me taking you would be like throwing prime rib into a lion’s den?”
“I mean, you’ve met my family.”
“Yeah, but your family is actually reasonable.”
Oscar laughed. “Only to some people.”
I grinned and shook my head, starting to tap out some limited responses. They were mostly just limited variations of me politely telling people to fuck off, which they’d probably all bitch about thoroughly, but I didn’t care. I had a boyfriend who loved me, and that was all that mattered.
“I do just have one request though,” Oscar said. “Can we start the meet and greets in small doses? I’d rather leave with all my limbs attached.”
I laughed. “Fine, if you insist. You can meet Dominic and Louisa first. We can go out for dinner or something. My brother owes me big time for squealing, so I’m going to demand dinner, at least, as compensation for emotional damage.”
“Emotional damage?”
“Yeah,” I said, looking at the unending stream of messages and GIFs. Someone really needed to take all my aunts’, uncles’, and cousins’ phones away. “For having to look at this shit. Oh my God, my uncle is now asking gay relationship questions. I’m out!”
I forwarded the message to Dominic with a snide comment about needing repayment for dealing with this shit, then locked my phone. I’d deal with the rest of them later.
“So… where were we?” I asked with a wry smile, knowing exactly where we’d left off.
“Not sure,” Oscar said. “But I’ve just seen a sign for some services. Fancy a break? I’ll get you snacks.”
“Are you trying to distract me with food?”
“Is it working?” He grinned and pulled into the lane for the exit.
“I suppose. But just this once.”
“I’ll take it.”
I smiled to myself and turned my phone over in my hand. This amount of happiness would probably have felt overwhelming six months ago, but now it just felt normal. And I hoped that never changed.