Chapter 37
37
Oh, boy, my head is pounding. I’m scared to even open my eyes – not just because I think it will hurt, because I have no idea where I am, and I’m scared to find out.
I pry my eyes open, wincing at the light pouring in through the balcony doors. Oh, I’m in my room. Alone. That’s… interesting.
I know I had a lot to drink last night, but of all the things I probably don’t remember, one thing that I do remember is being in the garden with Travis. It was amazing, perfect, everything I dreamed of. And yet here I am, alone.
My hangover is so rotten that, when I hear the banging on my bedroom door, I actually stop to consider if the noise might be my brain, throbbing against my skull.
‘Come in,’ I call out, the volume of my own voice making my headache worse.
It’s Travis, and I would say I’m pleased to see him, because the fact that he’s here means he’s not avoiding me, but he doesn’t look happy at all. Shit. Is he here to tell me he regrets it? If he does, I’ll just have to say that I regret it too.
‘I’ve really fucked up,’ he tells me.
Oh, right, bloody charming. I know he might regret what we did, that I might not be everyone’s dream conquest, but to file me under ‘really fucked up’ is a bit harsh.
‘Oh…’ I say simply. ‘I… er…’
‘I’ve lost the rings,’ he continues.
He looks genuinely panicked. He’s not even thinking about what happened between us right now.
‘What?’ I reply, wrapping the covers around my underwear-clad body as I struggle to my feet. Yes, now is the time to worry about him seeing me without my clothes, even though he not only saw but touched pretty much every part of me last night. I guess he was drunk then. He’s very sober now.
‘I’ve lost them,’ he says again. ‘I was supposed to be looking after them and… I don’t know.’
‘You had them?’ I reply.
‘Owen thought they would be safest with me,’ he tells me. ‘And, yeah, now we know how that has turned out.’
‘Were they in your room?’ I ask. ‘Has someone taken them?’
‘I kept them on me,’ he replies. ‘So they were with me last night and… fuck.’
‘Okay, this is fine, because we went to the bar, and we were… in the garden, so we can just check those places,’ I say. ‘Go check the garden now, I’ll throw some clothes on and catch you up, and if they’re not there then we’ll just go to the bar and check there. They have to be somewhere.’
‘Yeah, okay, you’re right,’ he says, pausing to puff air from his cheeks. ‘Okay, I’ll do that. Thanks, Molly, it means so much to me that you’re willing to help.’
‘It’s nothing,’ I reply with a reassuring smile.
I mean, I’m reassuring him with my smile, but I’m not sure how confident I feel. He must have lost them somewhere – who knows if they’re still there? Could they have fallen into the pond? On the road, as he got out of the taxi? Could he have lost them in the bar – shit, what if someone has found them?
I throw on some clothes, wash my face, scrape my hair up into a big bun on the top of my head, grab my handbag (because I’m pretty sure I’m going to need some painkillers) and head downstairs.
‘No sign in the garden,’ he tells me as I join him in the back garden. ‘And there’s more bad news.’
‘Go on,’ I prompt him, bracing for what he’s about to say.
‘There are no taxis available to take us to town, they’re all booked up for the day,’ he says. ‘But I did find something…’
Travis walks around the villa, to a shed, where the door is already open.
‘Can you ride a bike?’ he asks me.
‘I could, when I was younger, but I don’t know if I still can,’ I admit.
‘Well, you know what they say, right?’ he asks.
‘What?’ I reply.
‘It’s like riding a bike,’ he jokes. ‘Alternatively, one of them has a seat on the back, but you will have to hold on to me.’
Obviously I would love that.
‘I think I’ll ride on yours,’ I say, instantly cringing at my choice of words. ‘Just in case, because the last thing Lou needs is me falling off a bike, days before her wedding.’
‘Fair enough,’ he replies with a smile. ‘Let’s go.’
Travis hops onto the bike, which has an extra-long seat, making it perfect for two – well, two who want to be up close and personal. As I take my seat behind him, pressing my body up against his, wrapping my arms around him tightly, I swear, we’re closer than we were last night. I’m fixed to him.
‘Okay, let’s go,’ he replies.
Travis is safe but obviously terrified about the missing rings, so we don’t talk much as we head to town. Time is of the essence, but I’m happy to let him concentrate. From the back of the bike, I can admire the beautiful Spanish countryside in a way that I couldn’t from the back of a taxi. In a way I’m sort of disappointed. I know this trip was for Lou’s wedding, and not for sightseeing, but I wish I’d got to experience more of Spain. I’ll have to come back the next time I go on holiday – whenever that might be. I suppose I’ll have plenty of time, if I lose my job…
* * *
Well, they’re nowhere to be seen in the bar, and while we’re lucky that the barman speaks English, he sadly has nothing to say to us that helps us. He hasn’t found anything, no one has handed them in – I don’t know what we’re going to do. My head is really banging now, I can’t think straight.
‘I was so adamant I was going to keep them safe,’ Travis says to himself. ‘What have I done with them?’
I turn to the barman, because I can’t go on like this.
‘Could I have a glass of water, please? I need to take some painkillers.’
‘Yes,’ he replies.
As he takes a glass and fills it, I rummage around in my bag for painkillers, but then I feel something strange.
As I remove the small black box from my bag, examining it in front of my eyes, I watch Travis’s expression shift as he claps eyes on it.
‘The rings,’ he says.
A memory hits him like a ton of bricks.
‘Oh my God, Molly, I remember now,’ he says. ‘I knew I needed to keep them safe, and I was worried about having them in my pocket, so I asked you to look after them. I trusted you with them.’
I can’t help but laugh.
‘Well, I guess you made the right choice,’ I reply. ‘Because here they are, safe in my bag.’
Travis hugs me and squeezes me tightly.
‘Oh, Molly, Molly, Molly, you’re my hero,’ he says, his voice muffled by my hair. ‘There’s a shop, next door, that serves food. Let me buy you breakfast, to say thank you – it’s the least I can do.’
I’m not sure how much I feel like eating right now, but I can tell that he wants to do something nice for me, so I’m happy to oblige.
‘I’d love that, thank you,’ I tell him.
I may not be hungry but if it means I get to spend more time with him, one on one, then I’m all for it.
Plus, someone still needs to mention what happened last night…