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Lily considered. She’d walked from her mum’s, so technically there was nothing stopping her. And a drink might make the next part of the conversation go more smoothly. ‘Sure.’
‘Bull and Frog?’ Alex asked. ‘Or have you had enough of being talked about today?’
Lily winced. ‘Just a bit. Got anything in here?’
Alex yanked the fridge door open. ‘Beer or wine?’
‘Either’s fine.’
Staring at her over the fridge door, Alex said, ‘I thought leaving Edward would mean you’d actually ask for what you want for a change.’
He had a point. ‘Wine, then. White, for preference.’
‘Your wish is my command.’ Alex pulled the bottle out with a flourish and grabbed a glass from the counter, filling it to the brim. ‘So, what else did you want to talk about?’
Lily followed him through to the lounge, dropping onto an oversized sofa and tucking her feet underneath her. ‘How are you settling in here? It’s looking very homey already.’ She glanced around her, taking in the sweater flung over the arm of the sofa, the pile of proofs on the dining table.
‘Getting there,’ Alex said, sitting beside her. ‘Dad had cleared out a lot of old stuff after Mum died, so there wasn’t much left to sort through, really. And I’ve almost unpacked all the boxes from the flat, which is a start.’
‘Did you bring this sofa from London?’ Lily snuggled deeper into the cushions. ‘Or was it your parents’?’
Alex shook his head. ‘Neither. That’s the one thing I bought especially for my new life in Wales.’
‘So it’s a settling-down sofa,’ she said, amused. Alex really did seem to be taking this settling down thing seriously. She wondered how long it would last.
‘That’s exactly what it is.’ Taking a long drink from his bottle of beer, Alex eyed her speculatively. ‘So, did you really come here to talk about home furnishings?’
Lily sighed. ‘No. Mostly I came to tell you about the Mill. But now that I’m here…’
‘Let me guess. The gossip.’
‘I suppose it was too much to hope you wouldn’t have heard it.’ She shook her head. ‘I really am sorry.’
‘Not your fault.’ Tilting his head to look her in the eye, he asked, ‘It’s bothering you?’
‘Isn’t it you?’ It had to be, surely? No one could ignore an entire village talking about them.
But Alex just shrugged. ‘Not really. I mean, it’s not what I’d choose, but they’ll forget about it soon enough.’
‘You mean, if we just show them we’re only friends?’
‘Sure. But, to be honest, they’ll get bored of us either way.’
Now, that didn’t sound very likely. ‘I think you might be underestimating how much this town loves to talk about me screwing up.’ She’d heard at least two people that day muttering about how “it was only a matter of time” when they thought she couldn’t hear them.
Alex laughed. ‘And a fling with me would be screwing up?’
‘You know what I mean.’ Lily gave him an apologetic smile. ‘If they think I left Edward for you, then you actually do up and marry your perfect bride to match your perfect new life… Yeah, they’ll think that’s me screwing up.’ It was always possible that Alex would stick to his plan, after all.
‘Okay, if that’s how you feel. We’ll just make sure everybody knows we’re friends, and nothing more.’ He said it so casually, as if it were easy to convince this town of anything. Lily tried not to be stung that the idea of just being friends was so easy for him. Of course, he wasn’t the one who had been nurturing a decade long crush.
But that was all in the past. She was free and single at last – why on earth would she want to sacrifice that anyway? Friends was best by far, especially since they’d be working at the Mill together.
‘That’s what I was thinking,’ she said. ‘Which is why I think maybe we should scrap the wedding plans.’
Alex raised an eyebrow. ‘The elopement to Vegas, or…’
‘The going together plan,’ Lily clarified. ‘Obviously.’
‘So you’d rather go to your cousin’s wedding alone? Because I’d sure as hell still like some company at Carrie and Nate’s shindig.’ Was he annoyed? He sounded annoyed. It was kind of refreshing, after years of passive-aggressive responses from Edward.
‘Look, it’s like you said. We need to make sure that everyone knows we’re just friends. Going to a wedding together isn’t exactly the way to do that.’
‘Why not?’ Leaning forward, Alex took her glass from her hand and placed it on the coffee table. He wrapped his fingers around hers, and a warmth worked its way up her arm. ‘Look, I’m all for letting people know that you left Edward of your own free will and for your own reasons. But I absolutely will not sacrifice our lives to what other people think. You can’t control that, Lily, however much you want to. All you can do is live your own life, your own way, and with a clear conscience.’
He was right. She knew he was right. But… ‘My mother –’
‘Is a grown woman. You wouldn’t expect her to live her life to make you happy, would you?’ Lily shook h
er head. ‘Then why on earth should you do the same?’
‘I know. I know you’re right. It’s just… my whole life, this place has been talking about me. When I was with Edward, they stopped, finally. Or even started saying good things.’
‘Like?’
‘Like… I’d settled down at last. Given up my wild ways.’
‘Your wild ways were fun,’ Alex pointed out.
‘They were.’ Lily sighed. ‘I know it shouldn’t matter what people say about me.’
‘But it does?’
‘Yeah.’
Alex sat back. ‘Okay. Look. What do you want? That’s all that really matters here. Do you want to go to the wedding alone on Saturday, or with me?’ Impatience shone through in his voice. At least she always knew where she stood with Alex, and it was only fair to give him the same candour back.
‘Honestly? I want to go with you. I think we’d have fun.’
‘So do I.’ He shifted closer again, nudging her with his shoulder. ‘So here’s what we’ll do. We’ll go to the wedding. We’ll relax, have fun, maybe even dance. I’ll tell every single person there that we’re just friends. Then I’ll take you home, not kiss you goodnight, and see you at work on Monday.’
Lily gave up and smiled. ‘That does sound good.’
‘Then that’s what we’ll do.’
Looking up, Lily caught Alex’s bright blue eyes and knew she was lost. ‘Okay.’
* * * *
Alex couldn’t help but feel a little guilty as he drove up to Evelyn’s house on Saturday morning. It wasn’t that he wanted to make Lily or her mother uncomfortable, or to garner more gossip about Lily’s broken engagement. But he couldn’t sit by and watch Lily carry on doing what other people wanted, or even what she thought they expected. That was how she’d ended up engaged to Edward in the first place.
Not a situation to be repeated.
Stepping out of the car, he strode up to the door, straightening his tie as he waited for them to answer the bell.
‘Oh. You’re here.’
Evelyn’s sour expression wasn’t going to ruin his day. He gave her his best, charming grin and said, ‘Am I early? I’m sorry. Just couldn’t wait to see what beautiful outfits you girls have chosen for today’s wedding.’
