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Closing her eyes, she listened to the cars driving past the bus stop. She had another half an hour to wait for her bus back to Penworth Bay. Another half an hour to try to figure out what had gone wrong. What she’d done wrong.
Maybe Jordan was right. Maybe she should just throw caution to the wind and go and stay with him in Dubai. It didn’t mean they had to get back together; they’d just be friends. But it would give her the chance to get over Gus.
She laughed. Life could be so ironic. Was so ironic. Time after time after time. Pulling her mobile from her pocket, she scrolledthrough to Jordan’s number. If she gave herself any more time to think about it then she wouldn’t got through with it.
‘Jordan? Is that offer still open?’
Chapter Twenty Three
‘Are you sure you don’t want us to wait with you, love?’ Elsie took Heather’s hands in hers.
‘No, I’ll be okay.’ Heather looked around the vast airport. She hadn’t been on a plane in fifteen years. Everything was bigger and busier than she remembered. ‘Besides, they won’t let you go past check-in anyway, but thank you.’
‘Oh, love, I don’t like the idea of just leaving you here.’ Elsie turned to Ian. ‘Do you, Ian?’
‘No, I don’t much.’ Ian scratched his chin. ‘But she’s right, aren’t you, Heather? We can only go so far in with you?’
‘Yes. I’ll be all right. I promise.’ She forced herself to smile. ‘And, again, I’m really sorry for leaving you before my time volunteering is up.’
‘That’s the last thing on my mind right now. You promise you’ll call me as soon as you land? The moment those plane wheels hit the tarmac, you’ll be on the phone to me, you hear? And then I want to know that you’ve met up with that Jordan safely. All right?’ Elsie raised her eyebrows.
‘I promise. I’ll call you.’
‘That’s okay then. And if there’s any bother at all, you know, anything, even if you’ve just lost your hairclip, you’ll be on the phone, right?’
‘Yes. I will. Thank you for everything.’ Heather drew Elsie in for a hug. ‘I’ll miss you. Both of you. All of you. The whole bay. I’ll miss all of it.’
‘That’s good then. If you miss us, that’ll mean you be back to visit soon enough. Take care of yourself, love.’ Elsie stepped back as Ian drew Heather in for a hug.
‘Safe trip, Heather. Elsie’s right, don’t be a stranger.’
‘I won’t.’ Taking a step back, she waved as they retreated out of the large airport doors. And that was it, her time at Penworth Bay over. She pulled a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. This was a good thing though, moving on. This was what she needed. She needed to put Gus behind her.
She checked the time. She had at least an hour and a half until she was had to check-in. although she was pretty sure she could check-in early, couldn’t she? She shrugged. She’d just wait a while. Sit down try to wrap her head around everything that had happened this morning. It had all happened so fast. When she’d rung Jordan from the bus stop she hadn’t expected him to sort out a flight for her for the same day. She was glad she didn’t have to go back home, but she would have been okay staying in Penworth Bay for a few more days.
It was probably better this way. At least she wouldn’t have anything to remind her of Gus. Pulling her mobile from her pocket, she sat down at an empty table. There was just one more thing to do. One more thing to completely erase Gus from her life. She scrolled to her photo album, pausing, her thumb hovering over the delete button as Gus looked back at her from her small screen, grinning from ear to ear.
Her phone rung, vibrating in her hand. It was Jordan. ‘Hi, I’m here. I’m at the airport.’
‘Brilliant. I’m so glad you made the right decision. I can’t wait to see you again after all this time.’
‘You’re sure about this? That I can come and stay with you?’
‘Of course I am. I’m looking forward to us building a future together here.’
‘Huh, what do you mean, building a future? You do know that we’re not getting back together, don’t you?’ She frowned.
‘I remember. We’re going with the flow, aren’t we? We’ll just see what happens. Oops, I’d better go. See you at the airport.’
Holding her phone away from her, she watched the screen revert back to the photo of Gus. She didn’t want to delete the photos of him. she didn’t want to delete the memories. Their relationship may have only been short, but it was still a part of her. She’d never felt as strongly as she did for him. Ever.
She listened as the tannoy burst into life. It was calling her flight. Calling her to check-in. Slipping her ticket from her inside her passport, she looked down at it. the words all swimming together. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to go back to Jordan, even if he promised they’d only be friends, she knew she’d be sucked into his apologies, and she didn’t want that. She did want him. If she couldn’t have Gus, then she didn’t want anyone.
Standing up, she winced as her necklace caught her collar. Putting down her mobile, her passport and her tickets, she undid the clasp. Why was she even still wearing it? it didn’t mean anything. It hadn’t meant anything since the moment she’d received that voicemail.
Throwing it to the table, she bundled up her things into her bag and headed towards the door outside. She’d ring Elsie and Ian; they probably hadn’t even got back to the bay yet. Reaching for her mobile, she rummaged in her bag. It wasn’t there. She spun around, trying to work out the way she’d come. She’d been sitting at a table, but they all looked the same. There were table to her left, to her right, tables everywhere.
The tannoy crackled to life again. ‘Could Heather Upton please report to the Lost and Found desk. That’s Heather Upton to Lost and Found. Thank you.’
