Chapter 43
Lola cupped her hands around her G there were a couple of photographers capturing the rising sun in all its glory, as the trees glowed golden and the dark surface of the lake transformed into a reflective watercolour of trees, mountain and sky.
Lola’s face was flushed. Whether it was from the bracing walk in the semi-darkness of a cold morning, or from the beauty that was materialising in front of them, he wasn’t sure.
But with his arms around her as they watched the sun rising, nothing else mattered.
It was only when she turned to him with tears tracking down her pink cheeks that he realised she was crying.
‘I always thought something was missing in my life, and then I met you,’ Lola said quietly, as if she didn’t want to break the stillness of the morning. ‘You make me whole.’
She wiped away her tears with her fingers and turned back to look at the lake. He remained quiet, allowing time for her words to sink in, giving her the opportunity to say more.
‘Believe it or not, I am incredibly happy right now.’ She gestured to her still-damp cheeks and laughed.
‘I’m fed up of bottling up my emotions and being scared to admit how I feel in here.
’ She pressed her fingers over her heart.
‘Which is why I wanted you to know that. Know how much I’ve missed you and thought about you.
I don’t expect anything in return, I just need to be honest and open with you.
I’ve pretty much felt that way since we first met on the jetty.
Do you know I was about to creep away when I saw you because I thought you wanted to be on your own. Then you invited me to join you.’
Rhys folded his hands over hers. ‘I’m just glad you stayed.’
And made a love pact that had come full circle to them watching the sunrise in the Dolomites; a love pact where there was no longer any pretence, just a heady feeling of love.
‘I learnt quite a lot about myself in Sardinia thanks to you.’ Rhys took a deep breath of the cold, pine-tinged air. ‘I’d been afraid to really live, because to do so, to fall in love and have those magical life experiences, could invite heartache and disappointment.’
‘It also invites possibility and hope. True happiness.’
‘Oh, I know that now, because I felt all of those emotions the minute we met, but I didn’t dare believe those feelings were real.’
‘When did you realise?’
Rhys smiled and a chuckle escaped. ‘I realised our love pact was no longer pretend the moment you thumped your feet against the headboard in our hotel room in Bosa.’ Lola stifled a laugh as her cheeks flushed.
‘But the moment I realised I was in love with you was when I saw you walking towards me yesterday.’
‘Because you understood I love you too.’
They gazed at each other with an openness that had always been there but meant so much more now their feelings were out in the open. A quiet happiness thrummed through Lola and she seemed at peace.
She snuggled closer. ‘I don’t quite know how we’re going to make us work, but I’d like to give it a try if you do too?’
Rhys cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. He knew without a doubt that the smile he gave when he pulled away reached his eyes.
‘More than anything,’ he said as they gazed together at the sky, mountain and golden larches mirrored in the glass-like surface of the lake.