Chapter 48
48
Holly did sleep. Despite bouncing around in the sports car with no form of comfortable headrest, other than her jumper, she actually managed over two hours. Unfortunately, that still meant she had over two hours left until they reached their destination and another four back, but at least it was something.
‘This is beautiful,’ she said, as she looked out of the window. At some point, Giles had come off the motorway, and they were now driving down a tree-lined A-road. It was far flatter than she expected – a sign they probably weren’t in Wales yet, but the fields were alive with the colours of late spring.
‘Do you remember when we used to do this?’ she said softly.
‘Do what?’
‘Just go for a drive. When I was pregnant with Hope, you’d just take me in the car to a hidden pub in some tiny village. Or sometimes, we wouldn’t even do that. We’d just drive around for hours.’
‘I remember,’ Giles said. ‘Those were the days when you were embarrassed to be seen with me.’
Her head snapped around to face him. ‘I wasn’t embarrassed to be seen with you.’
Although, as her eyes met his, she knew that wasn’t true. For a split second, they just stared at one another before Giles’s eyebrow rose, ever so slightly, and a smile twitched at the corners of his lips.
‘Okay, maybe that’s a little true,’ she said. ‘But you were pretty embarrassing back then.’
The conversation was a long way from flowing, but it was a lot better than it had been at the start of the trip and, as they continued, it was clear to Holly that both she and Giles were sticking to very neutral topics: the naming day, her parents’ health, and how Hope was practising constantly for her upcoming spring concert. Yet, as they neared their destination, Holly could feel the questions burning in her throat. Things she would’ve had no problem asking had they not kissed.
‘Where are Sienna’s family?’ she asked, broaching the subject as cautiously as possible. She couldn’t come straight out and call her a liar without at least some type of preamble, could she?
‘I’m not sure where all of Sienna’s family is, to be honest,’ Giles said. ‘I know she’s got a couple of relatives abroad. She was actually born in Singapore… or Bangkok, one of the two, so that makes sense.’
Holly bit down on her lip. She wasn’t going to respond to it. She wasn’t. But it was so difficult.
Giles looked across from the driver’s seat. ‘What is it?’
‘No, it’s nothing,’ Holly said.
‘That’s obviously not true. It’s obviously something, or you wouldn’t be pulling that weird face.’
‘I’m not pulling a weird face.’
‘You absolutely are. I swear to God, if you don’t tell me why you’re sitting in my sports car looking constipated, I will stop right now and kick you out.’
Frustration shot through her, but Holly sighed a long sigh and relented.
‘Do you not think that perhaps you should know a little bit more about Sienna before you marry her? I mean, you don’t even know where her family is from. And six months, I mean, can anyone really know a person properly in six months? I don’t think you can. You don’t even live together yet.’
‘You’re saying I don’t know Sienna?’
It was an outright question and a perfect opportunity to give an outright answer, but she couldn’t do that.
‘Have you spoken to Faye?’ she said instead.
‘Faye? What’s Faye got to do with this?’
This was it. She had to get it out, or she’d go insane.
‘I just wondered if you’d spoken to her. If she’d had anything to say about the weekend? You know. Like how I demanded we go to the pub and that type of thing.’
Holly could see the anger simmering away in Giles. This was not how the conversation was meant to go at all, but she didn’t know how to get out of it. She was too far in now.
‘She’s sent me a couple of messages,’ Giles said. ‘She said she had a really lovely time and to thank Sienna for arranging it. That’s what people normally do when a friend does something nice. They say thank you.’
She knew it was a dig, aimed at getting a rise out of her, but she didn’t care. She ignored it. He hadn’t answered her question.
‘Can you just tell me if you’ve spoken to her?’ She reached her hand across the gear stick and placed it on top of his. It was something she must’ve done dozens of times, and yet a sharp spark of electricity fired between the two of them. Hurriedly, she pulled her hand back.
‘You have to understand, I just… I just don’t want you to get hurt. You know that’s all I care?—’
She didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence. The car suddenly swerved and Holly gasped as she grabbed the door handle. Before she could work out what was happening, they had stopped again; Giles had pulled the car up onto the verge where he slammed on the brakes and looked at her.
‘You want to do this?’ he said. ‘Do you really want to do this now?’