Chapter 52
In the end, Lauren did stay the night at the lake house.
With Myriam away, and a sudden carpe diem sense of adventure running through her veins, she snuggled up with Marc in his bed and was soon sound asleep.
She’d felt, when they’d gone upstairs long after midnight, that she wanted to stay awake all night, to see the sun rising in the side window of Marc’s room, until its red glow turned the lake a glorious burnt orange, but they’d both crashed out, exhausted.
The next morning, Lauren jolted awake, and it took her a few seconds to realise where she was. The familiar sense of guilt washed over her about being away from home, laced with a momentary panic, until she remembered that Myriam was safe and well.
‘Hey,’ Marc murmured, stirring beside her. ‘Are you okay?’
Lauren turned to him, willing her racing heart to slow down. ‘Sorry about that. I forgot where I was for a sec.’
‘I forgive you.’ Marc’s playful smile wasn’t helping to slow down her pulse – rather the reverse, in fact. He leaned down and planted a feather-soft kiss on her lips. She responded equally gently, but soon their temperatures were rising again.
Marc pulled away, laughing. ‘Tea?’
‘That would be lovely.’ Lauren leaned back against the pillows and watched as he pulled on a pair of boxers and walked across the room.
Alone, she glanced around, smiling to see a photograph of the twins in a box frame on the wall.
They must have been toddlers when it was taken. They looked so happy, so carefree.
Lauren swung her feet out from the bed and grabbed Marc’s white shirt, which he’d gathered up with the rest of their things before they’d come upstairs in the small hours.
She decided to use the loo before Marc came back with her cuppa.
Padding out into the hallway, which had only been lit by the dimmest of plugged-in night light bulbs last night, she quickly used the bathroom.
As she passed the twins’ room on her way back, she noticed another framed photograph on the wall, just inside the door.
A small image, just eight inches by six, it hung above the light switch.
Tessa.
Lauren drew closer and looked more carefully.
She’d been surprised that there hadn’t been any photographs up in the living room, or in the hallway, of the family, but then Marc had mentioned the amount of redecorating he wanted to do, so perhaps they hadn’t been put on the wall yet.
The boys had obviously wanted one in their room, though, which had already been painted.
A warm ray of winter light shone on the image, encased in a white frame, and Lauren saw a beautiful woman, with lustrous long dark hair, caught in what looked to be laughter, staring back out from the shot.
The smile reached her clear blue eyes, and the simple green sundress she wore was immensely flattering.
She was leaning back against the wall of what looked like a fort, with the calm sea and blue sky in the background. A holiday snap?
What a loss to this family she must have been.
Lauren swallowed hard and shook her head.
She mustn’t be jealous. She couldn’t be jealous of a woman who’d passed away.
Marc was moving on, and she should trust that.
All the same, a train of thought now overtook her – what if Tessa hadn’t died?
What if Marc and the boys hadn’t moved back to the UK?
What if she was just a casual ‘getting back on the horse’ affair, and Marc was going to move on from her as quickly as they’d got together?
‘Hey,’ Marc’s voice behind her made her jump guiltily. ‘Everything all right?’
Lauren turned around quickly, almost knocking the tea mugs out of his hands. ‘Sorry. I was on my way back from the loo.’ She blushed. ‘The boys’ room looks really nice,’ she continued hastily. ‘You’ve done a great job redecorating it.’
Marc smiled carefully. ‘They seem to like it.’ Lauren saw his gaze flickering from her to the framed photo. ‘They wanted her to be there when they turned out the light,’ he said gruffly. He looked back at Lauren. ‘They miss her.’
Lauren nodded. ‘They must.’ As Lauren watched, Marc seemed to shrug off the weight of the conversation, as if he’d been practising. ‘But let’s drink some tea, shall we? I’m getting chilly, standing in the hallway.’ He turned away from the boys’ room and walked back to the master bedroom.
‘Yeah, let’s.’ Forcing a smile, Lauren followed.
She was determined not to overthink this.
She and Marc had spent the night together – it didn’t mean they were going to spend the rest of their lives like that.
One step at a time, she told herself as she re-entered Marc’s room.
Something else flickered through her mind, too, a piece of advice that her mother had drummed into her after her accident: if you want to know something, just ask politely.
Most of the time, people will answer you.
And if they don’t, they have good reasons why not.
They snuggled back down into bed, and Lauren gratefully took her large mug of tea.
‘I hope it’s up to your standards.’ Marc grinned at her, their prior conversation seemingly finished. ‘I’m aware I’m serving tea to a professional!’
‘Well, a self-taught one.’ Lauren smiled. ‘But it’s lovely – thank you.’
They sipped their tea in silence for a few moments, and Lauren leaned back against the pillows.
She still couldn’t quite get a nagging sense of uncertainty out of her mind.
She battled with herself; one part of her brain wanted to ask Marc where he thought this was going, but the other part was entreating her to enjoy the moment, not spoil it with talk of ‘what next?’
The sun was now streaming through the glass, warming the room and casting the lake in a sparkling light.
Marc’s room was dual-aspect, allowing him to see both the sunrise and the daylight as it progressed across the sky.
Lauren’s heart flipped as she saw the sun gilding the grey streaks in Marc’s hair; in that moment, she realised that she didn’t want this to be a one-off.
She wanted to wake up next to him again and again.
Last night had been funny, and lovely, and sexy, but most of all it had felt like she’d found someone who might get her, and all of her quirks. She took a deep breath.
‘About last night…’