Chapter Twenty-Four
The evening was spent celebrating and showing off the ring that thankfully fitted once Lisa was out of the heat of the sun and on lower ground. While Nathan called his parents, Lisa FaceTimed hers, and her brother, Luke – who was in Ireland but would soon be joining them in England. Felicity had been so happy for them Lisa had been concerned her screech of excitement wouldcause even the most resilient snow caps on the surrounding mountains to avalanche. Without hesitation Lisa had asked Felicity and her girls to be bridesmaids and Callum and Fred to be page boys, but told them there would be no wedding until the baby was born and she could fit in to something other than maternity clothes.
With the children in bed, and Flick and Pete sorting some bits of packingto give them a head start the following morning, the chalet was falling silent on their final evening. Lisa stood on the edge of the terrace, looking across the valley as lights began to shine in the chalets all around. Dom and Florian were at the end of the garden standing close, chatting. From the distance their stance looked intimate.
‘Have you enjoyed your day?’ Nathan put his arms roundher, onto her bump.
‘It’s been perfect, really perfect. Do you think Dom will be OK when it’s time to leave Florian?’
‘I think he’ll be fine. Besides, it turns out Florian’s mum is English and so he has family in Brighton. As he mentioned he was overdue a trip to see them, and he does painting and decorating to pay the bills, I suggested he could combine the two. Come to England for awhile and help finish the renovations on my place, while he’s there. Make it fit for you and this one.’ Nathan motioned to the baby.
‘Really?’ Lisa turned to Nathan. ‘Does Dom know?’
‘Of course. I wouldn’t have suggested it without him agreeing first.’
Lisa hoped her excitement for Dom masked the fact that while she and Nathan had agreed, in a moment of post-engagement euphoria, thatshe should move into his place before the baby was born, she was less keen on doing so while Sam was still there.
Catching a glimpse of Lisa’s ring in the moonlight, Nathan lifted her hand. ‘I’m glad it fits.’
‘So am I. I love it.’
‘To be honest, I had thought about using the first one I got for you.’
‘You kept it?’ Lisa had no idea why she said that.
‘Yes. Well, that is, Idid … I definitely still had it when you first moved back to your parents’. I spent a whole evening looking at it after I got your friend request on Facebook.’
‘You did?’ Lisa remembered her drunken friend request, or at least the confirmation that Nathan had accepted it the following morning.
‘But when I went to look at the ring recently, I couldn’t find it. Can you believe that, afterhaving it for eleven years?’
‘I’ve got it.’ Lisa bit her lip. Why did she say that? It sounded as if she had taken it, which she had, but not from him.
‘What? … Why?’ Nathan stepped back, confusion on his face.
‘I found it.’Found it!Wishing she hadn’t led herself down the path of having to explain ‘finding it’, she turned and sat down on the top step of the terrace.
‘Lisa, it’sOK. It was yours anyway. I just wondered why you’d take it and not say anything.’ Nathan rubbed his forehead as he sat next to her, taking her hand in his.
Lisa swallowed to encourage saliva into her too-dry mouth. She remembered Nathan’s words of earlier in the day and knew she should just speak to him – trust in him. ‘It was in Sam’s flat.’
‘What? When? I mean … how?’
‘The day Iflew here I came looking for you. I could hear your phone in Sam’s flat. I thought you might be there, so I went in. I wasn’t snooping or anything.’I was definitely snooping.
‘I was looking after Alex. We played tennis while Sam was out.’
So not there to see Sam. Not with Sam.The confirmation pleased her more than she expected. ‘When I went to leave, I knocked Sam’s bag over. The ringwas on the floor. I don’t know if it was in her bag or if it had been there under the sofa the whole time.’
‘It must have been under the sofa, I don’t know how, but maybe I dropped it there when I was sorting the flat.’
‘Did you carry it around with you?’
‘No. But it’s the only logical explanation.’
I can definitely think of at least one more logical explanation.
‘She’d haveno reason for having it in her bag. You didn’t think I’d given it to her, did you?’ Nathan laughed, his expression incredulous.
