His mouth dry, he walked over to her. Without a word he held out his hand and when she smiled and took it he pulled her closer. Their bodies almost met. But someone else cut in.
‘May I have this dance?’ the voice asked.
And judging by Melissa’s reaction, Harvey didn’t even have to ask who the mysterious stranger was.
*
‘Not interrupting, am I?’ Jay, standing before her, took her hand once Harvey took a step back. ‘I’ve missed my fiancée, I’m sure he won’t mind letting me cut in,’ Jay told her, a brief glance over at Harvey before he turned his attentions back to her.
Melissa watched Harvey’s reaction to the instant engagement announcement she hadn’t shared with anyone yet. He looked defeated as he turned to leave and as Jay pulled her closer. She looked past Jay’s shoulder and saw Barney try to stop Harvey walking out, but he just kept going.
‘Am I pleased to see you at last,’ Jay breathed into her hair as he had them moving in time with the music.
She let herself be swept up with the flow, the slow strains of an Elvis Presley tune sounding out as couples came to the dancefloor and the mood mellowed for the song. The smell of food drifted towards them as caterers lined the tables at the side and those who had already worked up an appetite finally stopped paying so much attention to her or the newcomer to the ball.
Something inside her shifted. She pulled back and took Jay’s hand in hers. ‘Come with me,’ she urged.
She led him outside and into the courtyard, across to the other side where she knew they wouldn’t be disturbed. She couldn’t see Harvey anywhere.
Jay bent his head to kiss her. He thought she was bringing him out here to be alone and now she had to break his heart. She touched a hand to his chest to keep him from getting too close.
‘It’s all right,’ he smiled, the handsome pilot she’d thought she’d fallen for when all along she’d never really stopped loving Harvey. ‘Nobody will notice we’ve gone.’ He hooked a hand beneath her hair and held the back of her neck, edging her back towards him.
She pulled back out of his reach.
‘What’s wrong?’
Shaking her head, tears in her eyes, she didn’t want to hurt him any more than she was already going to. She hated that it had taken her until now to finally realise what she’d given up all those years ago but had never truly let go of. ‘You didn’t do anything, I promise.’
‘It’s not you, it’s me?’ he laughed. But the laughter faded. ‘You’re not messing about.’
‘No, Jay. I’m really not.’
‘What’s going on? I thought you’d be pleased I turned up as a surprise, you’ve been on about this event for the last couple of weeks.’
She had, hadn’t she? He’d listened to her talking about the reason she had to stay in the Cove, the event for the village that she couldn’t give up on. Unwittingly, in her ramblings to make conversation and avoid talking about their engagement or anything wedding-related, she’d encouraged him to come here. She looked up at him, no longer worried that her tears might make her mascara run. Because this was over and she should’ve realised a long time ago. They were so busy in their day-to-day lives that she’d been swept up with the excitement of it all, going from dating to almost living together to being engaged. She’d said yes to his proposal but had never dreamed about a wedding, she had her own flat and had resisted moving in with him and now she realised why. He wasn’t the man that she really loved. Over the last couple of days she’d imagined saying goodbye to Harvey, then she’d imagined saying goodbye to Jay, and each time the farewell that upset her the most had been the one to the man who’d held her heart ever since he kissed her on those beams in the barn and then properly in the loft of Tumbleweed House. She hadn’t known it then, but she knew it now. She’d been living in a bubble since she left the Cove five years ago, a bubble where Harvey didn’t exist, where she couldn’t be hurt and think about what she’d lost. Coming home to Heritage Cove had made everything clear for the first time in years.
‘Your friend Barney is going to be OK, isn’t he?’ Jay thought this was about Barney, not about him.
‘Barney’s going to be fine.’
‘I’m glad.’ Grinning, and before she could add anything else, he pulled out a small box from his pocket, and even in the dim light now the sun had started to set, the shine of the diamond was unmissable against black velvet. ‘I want us to set a date, Melissa. The sooner the better.’
She knew that if she started at the beginning, that if she told him how she’d not only fallen back in love with Heritage Cove but also with the man she’d once promised her heart to right over there in the barn where people were mingling and dancing, then she’d hurt him even more than she had already. And he didn’t deserve that. But he didn’t deserve dishonesty either. She’d got together with him because it was new, it was exciting, there was no pain attached, only adventure. And she’d been swept away, all the while hiding a part of herself she couldn’t face up to, the part that let in the memories and embraced all that she’d lost.
‘Jay, I…’
The ring lay there in the open box, still in his hand, still waiting for her, but then the fingers of his same hand flipped the lid shut. ‘Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to need this?’
‘I’m really sorry.’
‘What happened, Melissa? When you came here only weeks ago we were engaged, and what, now you’ve simply changed your mind?’
All along she’d thought she wasn’t ready to tell anyone because she didn’t have a ring yet. But, deep down, maybe it was because she knew it wasn’t right. ‘It’s complicated.’
‘You either love me or you don’t.’ He gave her a chance to speak but what could she possibly say? ‘You never told me much about this village, but I always knew there was someone or something holding you back.’
‘I left here and started over and if I hadn’t come back this time, I never would’ve realised that a part of me is still here.’
