‘Nothing will be the same as it has been.’ He pulled her back into his arms and held her tightly. Her hair smelt of summer days and her warm body pressed against his, making him wish he never had to let go of her again. To go from the high of them sleeping together to having to face parting with no idea what future they might be able to make together, if any, was too depressing.
‘Hey, where are you all?’ Brodie yelled from somewhere downstairs. ‘You’re never going to believe who’s here.’
Joe stared silently into Skye’s dark brown eyes. ‘We’ll think of something. Our time isn’t finished yet.’
‘Do you promise?’
She had such a look of sadness on her face that he felt compelled to comfort her, desperate to make her feel better. ‘I do.’
‘Joe, Skye, Lettie, where are you all?’ Brodie bellowed.
‘I think we’ve got too used to being alone here and left to our own devices.’ Joe reluctantly let go of Skye and saw the regret on her face that mirrored his own. ‘Come along,’ he said. ‘We’d better go and greet them.’
‘I suppose we should.’ Skye took a deep breath and smiled widely.
Amused by the comical look on her face, Joe asked, ‘Are you attempting to look happy?’
‘I most certainly am.’ She nudged him in the side. ‘I suggest you try to do the same thing.’
He noticed her lips, slightly swollen from all the kissing they had been doing recently. ‘You look very pretty, you know?’
Her fingertips went to rest on her lips. ‘Yes, I know I look as if I’ve had a filler of some sort.’ She laughed. ‘In fact, I now know that if I’m ever tempted to have any that all I need to do is find a cute man to have a kissing session or two with.’
He narrowed his eyes and kissed her again. ‘In that case, can I volunteer to be first in line?’
‘If you like.’
‘Where are you all?’ Brodie was beginning to sound exasperated. Lindy was a lot to deal with especially when she was excited, Joe knew. ‘I think Brodie needs our support.’
‘Let’s go and put the poor man out of his misery.’
‘I suppose we should. Otherwise, poor Lettie is going to have to cut short little Isla’s feed and that really wouldn’t be fair of us.’ As much as he would love to remain alone with Skye he couldn’t in all good conscience do that, he decided.
They hurried downstairs without saying anything further. ‘Brodie, what’s the matter?’ Joe asked as if he didn’t already know.
‘It’s Lindy and Gareth,’ Brodie said, quietly motioning for them to follow him to the front door. He stopped with the door half open and turned to them.
‘Lettie loves her mum but knows how Lindy will try to take charge from the moment she’s home, especially with Isla being her first grandchild. I have a feeling she’s going to be even more determined to have her own way than she usually is.’
‘Where’s my grandbaby?’ Lindy bellowed from outside, pushing the front door open seconds later and stopping in front of the three of them. She peered around them. ‘Where’s Lettie and the baby?’
‘Um, they’re in our bedroom,’ Brodie replied. ‘Lettie’s feeding her.’
Lindy beamed at him and then, when he didn’t immediately move out of the way, she gently pushed past him, Joe and Skye. ‘Sorry, no time to waste. I need to have a hold of that little angel.’
The three of them looked at each other.
‘We should go and help Gareth with the luggage,’ Joe suggested.
They found Gareth standing among four large suitcases with two smaller cabin bags, an expensive-looking carrier bag and Lindy’s handbag.
‘She doesn’t travel light, does she?’ he whispered to Skye as they waited for Gareth to settle with the taxi driver.
‘I suppose they have been away for a while,’ Skye said thoughtfully. ‘And visited lots of places. Lettie told me that they have balls and smart dinners on board, as well as needing casual clothes for everyday lunches, visiting places and that sort of thing.’
Joe wasn’t sure he would be suited to going on a cruise if that was the case. ‘I wouldn’t have enough clothing in my entire wardrobe to fill one of these cases.’ He gave her a questioning look when she didn’t immediately reply. Skye had only come with a small bag of clothes, and he couldn’t imagine her having a massive wardrobe full of clothes back at her gran’s. ‘How about you?’
Skye laughed. ‘No. I’m far too uninterested in clothes shopping to own anything other than what I usually wear.’ She shrugged. ‘I could probably do with buying some new stuff though, now I think of it.’
