He looked up from his plate. ‘What?’
‘Nothing,’ she said.
‘So you said there was something you wanted to talk about?’ He was being very weird the way he was loading his next mouthful onto his fork. He was doing it very over-carefully.
‘I’ve kind of said it already.’
‘So what exactly was it, though, that you wanted to say?’
Seriously, he was still loading the same mouthful onto his fork. It was going to be the most well-balanced mouthful anyone had ever eaten any time, anywhere. He couldn’t have done it more carefully if he’d used weighing scales.
‘I love you and I’m sorry for asking you to move out, and I understand all your points…’
Declan put his cutlery down,stillwith the well-balanced mouthful on his fork, and cleared his throat. Twice.
‘And I think my question would be, where would you like to go from here?’ he said.
Actually a good point. She just wanted him to move back in. She wanted to havesexwith him. She wanted them to be properly married again. And she hadn’t said that.
He was looking really hard at her now.
‘If you’d like to, and I totally understand if you wouldn’t—’ which was a lie; she would not feel understanding, she’d be really, really upset ‘—I’d like you to move back in.’
‘Where would I sleep?’
‘With me? If you’d like?’
Her heart was galloping away again.
‘I would really like that,’ said Declan. He was smiling a little bit and he hadn’t touched his cutlery since he put it down. ‘When would you like that to happen?’
‘Tonight?’ Poppy was whispering. It felt like an incredibly big deal, effectively propositioning your own husband.
Declan’s smile got a lot bigger and he pushed his chair back and walked round the table to her.
‘Could we have a hug?’ he asked.
‘Yes, please.’
The hug was just what she needed and she cuddled into his warmth. They didn’t kiss or anything. They just clung on to each other.
‘I thought at one point that you were going to ask me for a divorce,’ said Declan. ‘I don’t think I could have borne the pain. I’ve really hated being separated. I’m so relieved. And so happy.’
‘Me too.’
And then he kissed her and it felt like they’d come home together.
When Declan suggested going upstairs, Poppy said, ‘But I spent ages making one of your favourite meals for you.’
‘Yes, of course,’ Declan said. ‘Let’s finish eating first.’
‘Joking,’ said Poppy, pulling him towards the door. ‘I’ve got Key lime pie for pudding, though.’
Declan stood still for a moment.
‘Now that’s a tricky one,’ he said.
‘What?’
