Chapter 29
Jake opened the door to the room and Elodie stepped inside. It wasn’t huge. The double bed took up most of it. There was a wardrobe, a bookcase at one end and a chair squeezed into the corner. Sunlight streamed in from the window. She manoeuvred her way past the bed to look out of the window. From this angle she could see the road and the pretty village beyond. It was so different to her room at home. Smaller, certainly, but also … not a child’s room that had morphed into an adult one. This was the sort of room an independent adult lived in. She took a deep breath and felt the flutter of excitement. Could she imagine becoming this new person? The woman who ran her own business, properly? Who didn’t live in the house she grew up in?
Mal came to stand next to her. She glanced at him and smiled. The woman who had a boyfriend who stood by her.
‘What do you reckon?’ he said.
She knew he wanted her to say yes to moving into Jake’s spare room. After all, it made perfect sense. He could hang out with Jake and her at the same time. The rent Jake was asking was reasonable. She had negotiated the commitment down to six months from a year, because now that Saffron had paid the rest of her bill, she knew she could afford rent for that long on her savings if she needed to. The whole idea was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
She turned to look at Jake, who was leaning against the doorframe. ‘I’ll take it, please.’
‘Excellent. I have some paperwork for you to look over,’ Jake said. ‘I’ll see you downstairs in a bit. Take your time.’ He disappeared down the stairs.
There. It was done. She was finally striking out on her own. The enormity of the decision loomed over her. This was the right thing to do and she wasn’t doing things alone anymore. She had friends who would help, who were already helping. There was a community she was slowly becoming a part of. She drew in a deep breath and felt the tremble in it.
Mal must have noticed it too. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’ve never really lived without my parents as a safety net,’ she said. ‘Which I know is pathetic at my age. So all this … this is scary.’ She turned and Mal was there. She leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her. This new life included him.
‘Of course it’s scary,’ he said. ‘But you can do this. It’ll be okay.’
She leaned back so that she could see his face. Any life that included him must be worth taking a risk for. ‘I know it will.’
She reached up to take his face in her hands and kissed him. His arms were snug around her. His lovely face had the beginnings of stubble on it. He made her so happy. With him around, everything seemed possible.