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‘So apparently they are at the champagne bar. We’ve got to meet them there.’
‘The champagne bar?’ Holly looked down at her wrist. ‘But it’s just gone ten. They can’t be drinking already, can they?’
A quizzical expression clouded Caroline’s face.
‘It’s the airport…’ she said, as if it were obvious.
‘And…?’ Holly said, unsure what difference that made.
‘So it doesn’t matter what time it is. You can always have a drink at the airport.’
‘You can?’
‘Definitely. It’s a universal rule. I thought everyone knew that.’
Still doubting the validity of Caroline’s comment, Holly considered the implications of heading to a champagne bar. It didn’t matter what time of day it was; it was still going to be expensive, even if she had a soft drink. Perhaps, she hoped, she would be able to get away with a glass of tap water. Besides, drinking at this time didn’t seem a good idea, particularly as she hadn’t had breakfast yet.
As they weaved their way through the duty-free perfumes and oversized boxes of chocolates, Holly’s mind wandered back to what she had said to Caroline about being fine. It was true. Despite everything that had happened, she had reached a level of independence she would never have dreamed of three years ago. She was no longer stuck waiting for a future that wouldn’t exist, in a relationship with a man who didn’t appreciate her or in a job that sucked her soul dry and left her with no energy to enjoy life.
That didn’t mean it wouldn’t be nice to share her future with someone, but if she did meet someone now, they would have to fit in around her life, and not the other way round.
As she rounded the corner, she caught sight of the group sitting together on the stools next to the bar.
‘Over here!’ Jamie was on her feet waving at them, with Fin by her side. But Holly’s attention didn’t stay with them for long. Her eyes were drawn to the man topping up Sandra’s glass with a bottle of bubbles. And once she’d seen him, she couldn’t take her eyes away.
‘Damn.’ Caroline’s gaze was trained on the exact spot as Holly’s. They were staring, but it was impossible to draw her eyes away. If it hadn’t been for the fact he was talking to Sandra, Holly wouldn’t have believed he was with their group, but there he was.
‘Damn indeed,’ she said eventually.
6
‘We need to stop staring,’ Caroline whispered, aware that Holly was as mesmerised by the figure next to Jamie as she was.
‘I’m not staring. I’m just not able to move right now, that’s all.’
Given her speech only moments before, Holly was more than a little embarrassed by her opened-mouth ogling, yet thankfully, Caroline was in the same position. In all her life, Holly couldn’t remember gawking at a man the way she was now. She’d seen attractive men before, of course. The office in London was full of sharply dressed Henry Cavill wannabes, with their slick hair and tailored waistcoats. There were the joggers who went running around the village, headphones on and entirely topless, knowing their perfect six – or sometimes eight – pack was on display. But that was the difference. Those men were trying to be noticed. This one… this one didn’t have to try.
In a plain grey T-shirt and pair of jeans, he looked like he belonged on the cover of a magazine rather than here in an airport lounge topping up Sandra’s drink. His sharp cheekbones and square jaw were unfeasibly symmetrical, and while his thick eyebrows would have swamped some people’s features, on him they just highlighted the bright blue of his eyes. Saying that this man was attractive was like saying an Irish Wolfhound was a big dog: an understatement of the greatest proportion.
‘See, Mum, you owe me a tenner.’ Jamie patted her mother on the back, before grinning at Holly. ‘Mum said you wouldn’t come. She made me bet that you’d get cold feet about leaving Hope. But I had faith in you.’
At the realisation of how much she’d been staring, a hot blush coloured Holly’s cheeks. She crossed the bar quickly and embraced her old housemate.
‘No cold feet here,’ Holly said, to which Caroline quirked an eyebrow. ‘Okay, maybe slightly cold feet, but I pushed past them. You know I wouldn’t miss this. I’m excited.’
‘I think we’re all pretty excited.’ The voice was a deep, American drawl that resonated right into Holly’s chest. With her heart beating unfeasibly fast, she turned her head towards the speaker.
‘Holly, Caroline. This is Evan Roth. Evan, this is Caroline and Holly.’
‘Glad to meet you. Here.’ He gestured to a bottle in his hand. ‘I assume you two are drinking?’
Holly scanned the group. While Fin was nursing a luminous green smoothie, both Jamie and Sandra were sipping away at drinks from tall champagne glasses, and they weren’t the only ones. The bar was packed full of people drinking everything from cocktails to bottled beers.
‘See.’ Caroline read Holly’s expression of disbelief perfectly. ‘Any time is drinking time in an airport.’
‘I’ll take it that’s a yes.’ Evan promptly filled up two glasses with prosecco, though Holly hesitated before taking one. Until now, her nerves about Hope had been enough to supersede her worry about flying. But the closer they got to boarding, the harder it was to ignore just how anxious she was. Looking down at the glass, she decided that perhaps a drink to take the edge off things wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe that was why airport bars were so popular.
‘Cheers.’ Evan lifted his glass, prompting the others to do the same. A collective clinking followed before Holly took a sip.
