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Uncertain but feeling that he’d gone too far to lose the honesty now, he replied, “Weird, but yeah. I guess.” Then she surprised the hell out of him by closing the distance between them and throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing tight. He hugged her back, taking a moment to be grateful for her. For her understanding. For her generosity. For her sweetness.
She pulled back, beaming at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I totally thought you were sick, or moving away, or…Jesus, I don’t know. I never thought it was only that you wanted to kiss me.”
Great. He’d tied himself up in knots for something that didn’t seem to bother her at all. “So, what now?”
“Nothing. We did it, it’s done. Let’s move on.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, let’s move right on to fish and chips. I’m starving.” With that, she turned and whistled again for the dogs, bumping Rafe with her shoulder as she moved past him. He felt some of the balance restored to his world and chose to ignore the niggling uncertainty that it could be that easy to move on.
Chapter 5
Mikayla pulled up out the front of the Keeper’s Cottage at the Blessed Inlet lighthouse compound, glancing around to see if Rafe had arrived yet. He hadn’t. She blew out a breath of relief, then scolded herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him; it was that she wanted to see him too much. The chat at the beach had helped clear the air in one respect, but she’d shown a bit of bravado in saying they would just move on from the kiss, because she couldn’t stop thinking about it, about him.
She pushed open the car door, grabbed the bag of crusty bread rolls Juniper had requested and let herself into the cottage. It was already a hubbub of activity and awash with the scents of Juniper’s amazing cooking. Billy greeted her before she had time to close the front door. “Mummy and Daddy are back!”
“Yay! I can’t wait to see them!”
He took her by the hand and dragged her through the entrance hall into the open living area. A big bay window showcased a view of the Tasman Sea, inky black right now with a crescent moon sitting low on the horizon. Leah and Nora were sitting on the sofa in front of the window. William, Callum and John stood around the dining table, snacking on the hor d'oeuvres, beer bottles in hand.
“Mikky’s here!” Billy announced. She greeted everyone, giving William an extra squeeze, then quickly made her way down the short hallway to the kitchen.
“Unless you’re fixing to get spanked, William Locke, get out!” Juniper had her back to the kitchen door, bending over and sliding a lasagna tray into the oven.
“Jesus, kinky!”
Juniper spun around, with a wide smile on her face. “Mik!” She hastily closed the oven door and moved across the kitchen, throwing her arms around Mikayla, who returned the hug with gusto.
“Look at you, Junebug, absolutely glowing.” Mikayla dropped the bag of bread on the countertop.
Juniper brushed a strand of golden hair behind her ear. It was warm in the kitchen and her hair was curling wildly.
“You think?”
“Sure. You’ve got quite a tan going on. Good honeymoon then?”
Juniper sighed with ecstasy. “The best. We missed Billy like crazy, of course, but with your Mum video linking every day, it wasn’t too bad. It helps to know he was having an absolute ball. How many times did you take him to the ice cream shop?”
“Only every other day, I promise,” Mikayla replied with a mischievous grin.
She rolled her eyes at that and picked up a tray of cheese and biscuits. “Here, take these out, would you? I just have to throw the salads together, then I’ll be out.”
“Sure.” Mikayla took the tray and moved back through the door, only to see Rafe coming through the front door and turning down the hallway. The breath left her lungs with a whoosh and she felt her knees turn to jelly. “Hey.”
He smiled at her, causing her heart to do a slow turn in her chest. “Hi.”
“Juniper’s in the kitchen, I’m just taking these out.”
“Right. Need a hand?”
“No, I think I can handle one cheese platter.” But she didn’t move, just stood there, gazing at him.
“I’ll just go and say hi to Juniper,” he said after a long moment.
“Right. Sure.” She stepped aside, breathing deeply as he moved by her, taking in the scent of him. God, he smelled so good. She gave herself a shake as she moved into the living area and placed the platter on the table, gratefully taking the glass of wine William offered her before plopping down on the couch next to her mother.
She drank her wine quietly, watching as Rafe walked back in, moving straight over to the men. While he milled about the snack laden dining table, Mikayla struggled to keep her eyes off him. She tried to focus on what her Mum and Leah were discussing. Something about a new quilting technique Nora was learning. Leah, ever the arty one, was fascinated. Mikayla, not so much. She almost screamed with gratitude when Juniper walked in, giving her husband a quick kiss before moving over to the other couch. Mikayla got up and, under the guise of passing around the cheese platter, sat down next to her.
