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“No.” Abby felt like her head was spinning.
“Then I’ll just have to make do with Flynn. A puppy would fetch a ball, but Flynn can teach me to play football. That’s better than a puppy fetching a ball, isn’t it?” She grinned up at her mum, who was trying hard not to hyperventilate. “I’ve decided you can marry Flynn. He can be my daddy and teach me to play football. But I want to play in a pink shirt.”
Before Abby could say anything else, Katy was off running, pleased she’d worked everything out.
???
“Take off your shoes.” Lawrence laughed at the shock on Victoria’s face. “I didn’t tell you to strip. Just take off your shoes. Feel the sand under your toes.”
“Why?”
“For fun, Vicki. Don’t you have fun?” Lawrence wanted to reach out and tug the woman into his arms. The look of utter confusion on her face broke his heart. He might have been stuck in an endless loop of work and sleep for the past several years, but there had been pockets of time where he’d lived. He suspected Victoria didn’t even have those.
“I read,” she said. “Reading is enjoyable.”
“Take off your shoes.” Lawrence stepped into her space, making her cheeks flush and her eyes dart around in confusion. “Reading is great, Vicki, but you can’t live completely until you experience things for yourself. Look around you.” He entwined his fingers with hers, making her jerk and her eyes go wide. “The loch is a rich blue, the warm scent of summer flowers is in the air and the sky is clear of clouds. Be present. Be here. Take off your shoes, curl your toes into the sand and breathe deep. No one will judge. No one is even watching. It’s just the two of us, stealing a moment to live fully in a beautiful part of the world.”
A flurry of emotion passed across her face. She nodded once, tersely, dropped his hand and bent to tug off her shoes. Lawrence felt like he’d won a great victory. He watched as she curled her toes into the warm sand and her obvious trepidation turned to joy. Her shoulders relaxed and she gave him a small smile. It
was better than a medal.
“Move here with me,” Lawrence said before he could stop the words from escaping. “Start a new life, here. In Invertary. With me.”
She blinked in shock. “I can’t.”
He suspected those words were her standard answer to anything asked of her.
“Why can’t you?” He stepped closer to her, standing behind her as she looked out at the loch. Water lapped gently in front of him, the sounds of the town fading behind them. Lawrence couldn’t resist the pull of the woman any longer. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. At once she stiffened, then slowly relaxed into him. “Why can’t you stay, Vicki?”
“I don’t understand why you can stay.” There was genuine confusion in her tone. “How can you walk away from everything you’ve built? What makes you think you’ll have a better life here?”
He nuzzled her temple as he considered her question. “When I called my partners and asked them to buy me out, do you know what they said? They said, ‘About time.’” He chuckled. “They’re happy for me. This move wasn’t a surprise. I’d been making noises about changing my life for a couple of years now. One of the guys thought I might buy a house in Provence, but I like it better here than France. I like the people here. I want to get to know them. I want to slow down. I want to learn to fish. I want to feel the sand beneath my toes and listen to the locals rib each other over breakfast in the pub.” He turned her in his arms. “I want to wake up each morning with a beautiful woman beside me.” He ran a finger down her cheek. “With you beside me,” he whispered.
She jerked against him. He tightened his hold. He wouldn’t make it easy for her to escape.
“Why? Why me?” She twisted to look up at him. The absolute rawness he saw in her eyes made him want to crush her to him and never let her go.
“I see you.” He touched the corner of her mouth with his thumb. “I see you trapped in there. I see all that emotion and need bursting to get out. I see a woman who’s lost herself under the pressure of a tyrant. I see someone who needs to live, just as much as I do. We can do it together. Start again. Go slow. Here. In a place where they don’t mind people who aren’t quite normal.”
“I don’t know if I can.” The words were barely a whisper. He had to strain to hear. “I don’t know how to be any other way.”
“We’ll learn together. You want to spend time with Abby and you want to be a part of Katy’s life. Don’t deny it. I see it. You are full of wonder and joy when you’re with them. But you’re also afraid they won’t want you. They will. Give them a chance. Give us a chance. Don’t let your mother win. Have courage. Have a life. You can do it, Vicki, I know you can.”
To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest.
“I’m so scared,” she told him.
“I know.” He held her tight as he watched the beauty of the Highlands just gently be in front of him.
“I have secrets,” she said as they relaxed into the breeze.
“We all have secrets.”
“I’ve done things. Terrible things.” She looked up at him, the absolute agony in her eyes utterly heartbreaking. “Things that will make Abby hate me if she finds out about them. It’s too risky to stay here. She might discover my secrets.”
“Every chance to be happy, to be free, comes with risk. And Abby is a very forgiving woman.”
“I don’t see how she could forgive me when I can’t forgive myself.” A lone silent tear rolled down her cheek and crushed his heart.
