‘She’s hardly back. She’s here temporarily, for you, and she’ll be going back to her other half soon enough.’
‘Shame. I think she’s seeing what she’s missing in Heritage Cove.’
‘I think she’s got it made doing all the travelling, seeing what’s out there in the world. It’s what she always wanted.’ The tea finished, Harvey took his empty mug and Barney’s, rinsed them beneath the tap and popped them into the dishwasher. ‘Did you travel much when you were younger?’
‘Not really. I got a full-time job and worked hard. Too hard.’
‘That’s life, I guess.’
‘Sometimes you need to look up from the path you’re tramping down to see there’s more to life than work, than money.’
‘That sounds very philosophical.’
‘Just advice, Harvey. Give Melissa a chance.’
‘She had her chance, we both did.’
‘I disagree. I’ve seen the way you two still look at each other. Don’t be so adamant about a situation that you fail to see what’s in front of you. And never give up on someone, even if they caused you pain. Fight for them, don’t give up.’
‘You sound like you’re talking from experience.’
‘I’m rambling, I apologise.’ He pushed himself to standing. ‘And now I need to lie down.’
The way Barney was talking, it seemed Melissa was spot on about something holding him back – he seemed to have regrets he’d never shared and perhaps if they could find out more, they might be able to help.
But Harvey also wondered whether perhaps he and Melissa should be listening to Barney and taking his advice, talking about whatever happened between them so they could finally lay the past to rest and move on with their lives.
Chapter Eleven
Melissa had been sitting on the back doorstep at Tumbleweed House waiting for Harvey for almost an hour. She wanted to see him the moment he got home, find out if he’d wheedled the name of the village out of Barney.
‘I tried,’ he told her as he stepped out of his truck, predicting why she was here and what she was about to ask. ‘He changed the subject and I couldn’t get him back on course.’ He let Winnie out of the house to join them and Melissa didn’t waste a second fussing over the dog.
‘That man is far too stubborn,’ she complained.
‘Don’t I know it.’
Winnie seemed about to settle down in the sunshine when Gracie showed up and instead she trotted over to her trusted walker. ‘Hey you two, hey Winnie.’
Melissa thought that made them sound like a couple and when she surreptitiously looked at Harvey he didn’t appear to mind – but, more worrying, neither did she. She watched Winnie settle down again although close to Gracie this time for maximum fuss.
‘I think maybe you’re too tired for a walk,’ Gracie said to the dog, but as if to prove her wrong, Winnie got up, stretched and shook her body.
‘I’ll grab her lead,’ Harvey chuckled.
‘And some more poo bags,’ Gracie called after him, brown eyes dancing in amusement, and she told Melissa, ‘I got caught out yesterday when I took her for her walk. I had three bags, she did four poos. I had to leave the last one and I felt terrible, then later on I stepped in another batch of dog poo on my way down to the cove. I guess that’s what they call karma.’
Melissa grinned. ‘I suppose it is.’
‘I’ll be making sure I have lots of extras from now on.’
‘Do you have your own dog?’
‘No, I can’t afford the expense right now, but one day for sure. You?’
‘My job takes me away too often so it’s not possible. And I live in a flat, it wouldn’t be fair.’ She stroked Winnie, head to tail. ‘This one loves the outdoors and all this space, the patches of sunshine she can curl up in.’ She caught herself, she was talking with such familiarity, as though Winnie and this place were a part of her own life.
‘You’re a flight attendant, aren’t you? It must be glamorous,’ said Gracie, ruffling her chestnut curls, using both hands to shake them out before unhooking a hair bobble from around her wrist to tie it all back into a low ponytail out of the way.
