Chapter 29
Saying goodbye was harder than Gaby imagined it would be.
Over the last two weeks, she’d become much closer to her Aunt Jill and had loved every minute of the time they’d spent together.
Phone calls and messages were fine, and she’d always looked forward to the occasional short breaks they shared together when Jill joined her in London if she was passing through or flew out to meet her wherever she happened to be working.
But none of that was the same as day after day spent in each other’s company.
Gaby had come here to help her aunt recover from surgery but she’d also rediscovered forgotten depths in their friendship. She would miss her once she was gone.
“Saying goodbye to you is very hard,” Jill said as Gaby wheeled her suitcase to the front door.
“I’m trying hard not to cry, Aunt Jill,” Gaby replied. “I know I came here to help you recover and the last few weeks have been hard for you, but I’ve loved being here and spending time with you.”
“I’ve loved it too. I only wish it could’ve been under better circumstances and I hadn’t been recuperating. We could’ve had much more fun together and gone out and about.”
“I liked just hanging around the house with you. And let’s be honest, I wasn’t exactly stuck indoors the entire time.”
“I didn’t expect you would be. I’m so pleased you made yourself useful here to someone other than me and jumped in to assist the Goodwins.
You’re a good girl with a very good heart.
And I’m pleased you had time to socialise, too.
” Jill gave her a serious look. “Have you thought any more about Peter and what we talked about last night?”
“I have,” Gaby said on a sigh. “But saying goodbye to you is hard enough without thinking about Peter, too.”
Jill held up her hands in surrender. “You know your own mind. You know what’s best and I won’t mention it again. Now, come here and hug me, my lovely girl.”
Gaby embraced her aunt, holding back the tears that threatened. “I’ll miss you, Aunt Jill.”
“I’ll miss you too, very much. But we’ll see each other soon. Once you’ve finished with your wonderful ocean voyages, we’ll make arrangements to get together again.”
Gaby nodded, blinking back tears as her aunt patted her back and then made her laugh by giving her cheek a soft squeeze.
“Now, off you go before we’re both sobbing. You’ve got a train to catch and I don’t want to be the reason you miss it.”
Gaby walked out the door, rucksack on her back and wheeling her suitcase behind her.
The morning was bright and cold and as she walked to the gate she glanced at the bird feeders she’d filled after breakfast. Birds chirped and swooped as they pecked at the seeds, making a cheerful racket.
She would even miss the sweet garden birds she realised with an amused smile, would miss the routine chore of refilling the feeders to welcome the feathery visitors for her aunt’s entertainment.
You could have this too—a pretty garden of your own with little wild birds that you welcome with seeds and a smile.
That thought spun inside her head as she closed the gate behind her and took one last look back at her aunt who stood framed in the doorway of her lovely house.
Jill waved and held her hand to her heart before blowing a kiss.
Gulping down a sob of emotion, Gaby waved back, grabbed her suitcase again and started walking.
Foxglove Street rolled past her with every step.
She glanced at the houses through eyes wet with unshed tears and did her best to smile at the people she passed.
When she turned onto the high street, she looked one last time at the pretty shops and bustling cafes.
By the time she reached the train station, her heart was aching.
She’d said goodbye to so many places in her life and was always sorry to leave those she’d especially loved. But she couldn’t remember ever feeling quite this sad at the prospect of departing.
And that was before she even allowed herself to think about Peter. Only by blocking him entirely out of her head could she board the train and begin the journey ahead.
Right on time, the train pulled out of the station.
Gaby watched Hamblehurst disappear behind her.
The streets and roads, the houses and churches, the parks and allotments all turned into a blur as the train picked up speed and headed into the open landscapes of the Hampshire countryside on its journey towards the coast.
Gaby told herself she’d feel better once she arrived in Southampton and made her way to the port terminal where she’d check in with her new employer.
It stood to reason that saying goodbye to her aunt would leave a lump in her throat, and it was only natural to feel sorry to leave behind a town as pretty and charming as Hamblehurst.
Once she reached the port and focused on the grand adventure that lay ahead, she’d feel excited, she was sure of it.
But when the train arrived in Southampton and she jumped into a taxi to take her to the cruise liner terminal, she still felt… oddly numb about the adventure ahead.
That numbness was both frustrating and unsettling.
Gaby had moved between jobs and places enough times in her life to know how she usually felt in these moments.
She was almost always sad to leave wonderful locations behind, particularly those that had become extra special during her stay for one reason or another.
But even as she was sorry to leave, excitement about the next destination and the next adventure always trumped the sadness caused by departure.
Thoughts about what lay ahead—the new places she’d see, the new job she’d do—kept her focus on the days to come rather than the days just past.
That wasn’t the case this time around. When she thought about the cruise ship she would soon board and the new job responsibilities she’d soon be dealing with, she felt distant and detached and not particularly enthusiastic.
Even when she forced herself to think about the amazing destinations that lay ahead—cruising around Mediterranean resorts before crossing an ocean to sail around the glorious islands of the Caribbean—she couldn’t work up much excitement at all.
Which was ludicrous. She’d wanted a trip like this and a job like this for a long time and now this wonderful adventure was about to begin at last. But no matter how much she thought about the luxurious cruise liner on which she’d be travelling or the fantastic new job she’d be working at or the new responsibilities and skills she’d be learning, she still felt completely and utterly flat.
And no matter how much she tried to imagine the gorgeous Mediterranean destinations ahead or the idyllic Caribbean islands she’d longed to visit, none of it sparked excitement the way it should.
Worse, every image she conjured about the weeks and months ahead was quickly pushed out of her head by thoughts of Peter.
When she thought of him, her heart ached. And when she remembered the moments they’d shared, it only made her want more of them.
I don’t want to leave. I want to stay. I want to be with Peter, now—and forever.
Realisation hit her like a freight train. The carefully laid out plan she’d decided on last night shattered into a thousand pieces as she grasped, at last, a thought that was life changing.
If she left now, she might never have another chance with Peter.
He’d told her he loved her and asked her to stay. He’d taken a risk when he’d said those things. What risk was she willing to take in return?
The only risk she was taking right now was the risk of losing him forever. By leaving to join her job on board the cruise liner, she’d told herself that the time away would give her the perspective and the certainty she needed to be sure of what she felt.
But she was already sure of her feelings for Peter. If she hedged her bets and sailed away on that cruise ship, she’d always know that she’d played it safe and walked away from something extraordinary… and she’d done it because she was scared.
Scared of what it might mean to have found a man she loved with all her heart. Scared of what it might mean to build a home with him. Scared of what it might mean to belong to someone and to somewhere.
She’d told herself she couldn’t break her promise to her new employer and couldn’t risk her future job prospects in case things didn’t work out with Peter. But that was just fear talking.
Gaby realised the last thing she wanted to do was join that cruise ship now docked at the port terminal.
The idea of sailing away and spending months and months at sea filled her with despair.
Thoughts of the glorious coastal and island destinations ahead no longer made her think of exciting adventures.
Instead, they made her ache for what she was leaving behind.
This ocean voyage might have been what she’d wanted once, but it wasn’t what she wanted now.
What she wanted now was Peter.
And while the idea of breaking her employment contract still made her feel ill, that was as nothing compared to how she felt at the prospect of sailing away and leaving Peter behind.
The decision was made. She had to stay.
Now she just had to make it happen.
With her heart thumping so hard in her chest she thought it might break a rib, she paid the taxi driver and hauled her luggage out of the car and hurried into the cruise ship office where she’d been told to report for administrative processing.
The office was housed in a squat brick building about half a mile from the cruise terminal. Gaby could see the enormous liner that was docked there even from a distance. Her first sighting of the spectacular ship didn’t even come close to making her want to change her mind.
Inside the office area, she found a hive of activity, the place buzzing with the staff who’d already turned up for processing and orientation in advance of departure.
Gaby hurried to the reception area and waited in line.
As soon as it was her turn, she’d give her details and apologise for being unable to join the crew.
She felt bad about leaving her new employer in the lurch this close to departure. The least she could do was provide an explanation. The employment agency that had connected her to this job would expect at least that much if she was ever to work with them again.
Which she might not have to, she realised, her mind already turning to Harry Goodwin and his family’s hospitality business and the job he assured her would be there if she ever wanted it, and…
“Next!”
The reception assistant was waving at her to come forward. Gaby stopped her mind from racing long enough to hurry to the counter. The sooner she got this horrible bit out of the way, the sooner she could dash back to the station and catch the next train back to Hamblehurst.
The reception assistant asked for her name and details. Gaby answered the questions and then braced herself for the next part.
“Listen, there’s something I need to tell you—”
“Hang on, what did you say your name was?” the receptionist asked, frowning.
“Gaby Leonard. Gabrielle Leonard. But listen, there’s something I really need to let you know—”
But the receptionist held up her hand to stop her talking as she frowned at her computer screen.
“Could you just hang on for a minute?” the receptionist said, rising from her chair and disappearing through a door behind her.
Frustrated, Gaby sighed. Ditching this job was hard enough without having to wait any longer to do it. Almost five minutes passed before the receptionist reappeared alongside another woman.
“Er, Gabrielle Leonard?” the new woman asked, peering at Gaby before glancing back at the tablet device she was holding.
“Yes, that’s right. Listen, I was just about to tell your colleague that—”
“Ms Leonard, I’m really sorry, but there’s been some sort of mix-up with our paperwork,” the woman said.
Gaby frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It appears that something’s gone wrong in our employment systems and I’m sorry to say that we’ve hired two people for the same job.
We think there’s been a glitch with the contracts handled by the employment agency we work with.
I’m afraid we only need one person for the job of guest experience manager, but we’ve ended up processing paperwork for two people.
The other person has already turned up and we’ve just finished onboarding her into our system.
Now that you’re here too, we’ve only just discovered the error. ”
Gaby stared, trying to take in this information. “So, you’re saying you don’t need me?”
The woman glanced at Gaby’s luggage and looked sheepish.
“Not for the job of guest experience manager. But we understand of course that you’ve come here expecting to work, so if you’ll just bear with me, I’ll dig into our system and see where we might be able to fit you in.
I’m afraid it won’t be a management position, but it’ll be something at least, and—”
“Wait,” Gaby interrupted. “Are you saying you… don’t have a job for me?”
“Well, yes but—”
“What I mean is, if I don’t join the cruise ship today, you won’t be left in the lurch?”
The women behind the reception desk exchanged a confused look.
“Uh, that’s right. Like I said, there’s been some kind of mix-up and we’ve hired two of you for the same job and the other person is already here, which is why if you give me a few minutes, we’ll see if we can find something else for you on board.”
“No! Don’t do that!” Gaby squealed and clapped her hands together. “You have no idea what this means to me! Thank you!”
Gaby leaned across the counter and hugged the astonished women and then grabbed her suitcase and all but sprinted out of the reception building.
They’d hired two people for one job and she wasn’t needed after all! Which meant she could leave and not feel sick about letting down a new employer.
It was a sign—not that she’d needed one. Her heart already knew what it wanted.
Gaby ran towards the taxi rank that served the cruise terminal, desperate to get back to the train station and return to Hamblehurst.
And to find Peter… and ask if he still wanted to begin a new adventure with her.