‘Thank you. Anyway, I couldn’t face sympathy from people so I moved to New York and started a new life there. I stayed there for six years until eventually I felt that I was ready to see my family and friends again, so I came home. But I still didn’t think I’d ever want another relationship. And then I met you. And I realised that I am ready.’
Wow. Georgie was pretty sure that he was officially asking her to commit, and she didn’t know what to say.
‘I’m falling in love with you, Georgie.’
Georgie looked at his kind, gorgeous, now-so-familiar features and knew that she’d totally fallen completely in love with him, ages ago. So when he stopped walking and smiled at her and pulled her into his arms and started kissing her, she kissed him back.Obviously. Because he was the most gorgeous man she’d ever met, she missed him when he wasn’t there, he made her laugh like a drain, and, basically, she loved everything about him. Except the enormous fact that if Anna hadn’t died he’d still be happily married to her.
And then, before she could think, he took her hand and said, ‘Party time.’
The guests were all milling around outside, drinking Prosecco and beer, eating nibbles and exclaiming over what an amazing evening it was.
Georgie and Raf bumped into Poppy and Declan as soon as they arrived.
‘Hello,’ they all said.
‘Lovely evening,’ Georgie said.
‘Absolutely,’ Poppy agreed.
There was a tiny silence and then Raf said, ‘Excuse me, I’m going to steal Georgie away to meet some of my family.’
So – while trying hard not to mind about the weirdness with Poppy – Georgie met Raf’s father for the first time and re-met his mother, which was pretty much asexcruciating as she would have predicted after the searching-for-secret incident. And she met his grandmother. And Noah’s parents. And a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins. And some lifelong friends. All while panicking.
They were all very nice and a lot of fun.
If she hadn’t had the I-don’t-think-I-can-be-second-best-to-his-late-wife-plus-it’s-awkward-being-at-the-same-party-as-Poppy thoughts whizzing round her head, she’d have had a lovely evening. As it was, though, she didn’t love it.
Just after midnight, when some people were starting to go home, Raf asked her if she’d like to go for another walk.
‘We can look at the stars. And hopefully not rescue any cats,’ he said.
Georgie laughed uneasily, trying to ignore how the way he had his hand touching the small of her back was doing all sorts of things to her insides; she had a nasty feeling that he was going to want to continue the conversation from earlier.
Raf steered her round the corner of the pub and over to the stile along the lane, where six months ago she’d thrown up on his feet.
‘I have something really important to say to you and I thought that here would be a nice place to say it.’ He was standing with his back to the stile, holding her hands and smiling down at her. ‘I think that it was probably right here on this spot that I started to fall in love with you.’
‘Oh.’
‘Georgie—’
‘The only other time we’ve been here together, I vomited on you.’
‘Yep. So as I was saying—’ he took her hands in his and looked into her eyes ‘—I’d love us to become more serious. I mean, I know it’s very early days but I justknowand one thing I’ve learnt from my bereavement is that life can be short and we should make the most of every moment.’
Georgie couldn’t speak.
Itwasearly days, but she was pretty sure – certain, really – that she loved him too.
But.
It was bad enough being second best to your younger half-siblings, who at least messed up sometimes. Being second best to a dead person, you didn’t have a hope of competing with them. And if Georgie had children with Raf, what if Max felt second best to them? He’d never be second best in her eyes, but what if he was for Raf? She couldn’t do it.
‘I’m so sorry.’ Georgie knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was the right decision. ‘I just… I don’t think we should see each other any more.’
Raf pressed his lips together and then let go of her hands, and then after a pause said, ‘I wondered, um, if you had a reason?’
Georgie couldn’t do more than shake her head because she really wanted to cry.
