He nods. ‘About twenty years ago. Her name used to be Harriet Ogilvie and she used to be blonde and ninety pounds heavier. She was married to my first editor, Marcus. I think they’re still on good terms.’
‘Well, even journalists come on retreats like this,’ I reply. ‘It’s not that big a deal, surely?’
‘My wife still works with Marcus,’ he replies quietly. ‘I don’t want her to find out I’m here. I don’t want—’
His voice trails off as he throws the remainder of his coffee into the grass.
‘You don’t want her to think you’re moving on?’
He locks eyes with me but doesn’t reply. He doesn’t need to; I can see the answer on his face.
‘Anyway, I gave her theI’m a retired house builderline, which is dull but lucrative enough to be believable that I could afford this place. Seemed to work.’
‘Retired at your age?’
‘That’s just how lucrative it was… Besides, everyone’s too interested in talking about themselves.’
I laugh. ‘You have a point. You’ve never asked me anything about myself. Where I’m from… what I do for a living.’
He squirms. ‘You’re right, I haven’t. Let me guess?’
‘Go for it.’
He looks me up and down then stares like he’s trying to extract clues from my very soul.
‘You run a business. A restaurant… no… a coffee shop.’
I glare. ‘That’s cheating. Who told you?’
‘Nish,’ he replies. ‘He was filling me in on your little dating chat last night at Meg’s cabin. He’s a tad smitten, I think. He said you were intriguing.’
‘He did? Well, that’s very… hang on, he was at Meg’s cabin too?’
Will tuts. ‘You think I just shacked up alone with some wee girl for the evening? I invited Nish over straight away.’
‘She’s a grown woman!’ I insist. ‘Besides, you were willing to shack up with me!’
He grins. ‘Yeah, but you’re my buddy. Buddies hang, they don’t shack.’
Normally, a man describing me as his ‘buddy’ is a fate worse than death but this time, it doesn’t feel like any kind of rejection. It feels right.
‘Time to go,’ I say, lifting my cup from the ground. ‘You ready to define love?’
He sighs. ‘Not particularly.’
‘Great,’ I reply. ‘Me neither.’
We head back towards everyone else and make our way inside where Anna is already waiting to begin.
CHAPTER21
‘We’re taught from an early age that true love equals a happy ever after. That we have a soulmate out there and that our romantic lives will only be truly complete when we meet them. I’m here to tell you that this is wrong.’
I notice a few confused people side-eye each other, while Anna projects a picture of two flames onto the screen behind her.
‘You can have many, many soulmates in your many, many lifetimes. A soulmate is simply someone who is made from the same kind of energy as you. These do not just have to be lovers; they can be friends, family, anyone you have a deep connection with. Ever just click with someone? Feel like you’ve known them all your life? That’s a very good indication that they are a soulmate. However, it’s not uncommon for these people to come in and out of your life quickly, which of course can lead to confusion.’
I see Will scribbling on his notepad before nudging me.
