I know, all that is true. Lois had Harvey put some of the lights on the upper beams days ago. I think that’s when the idea started churning around in his head, given how much Barney’s place means to both him and Melissa.’
‘I think it’s a moment she’ll remember forever.’
He explained how his brother had been waiting for the right time when Melissa still felt guilty about the man she’d left behind after realising she was still in love with Harvey. ‘He was holding out for the perfect moment and I guess tonight he found it.’ He gulped. There wasn’t going to be any perfect moment for the conversation they needed to have.
So he just had to come out with it.
‘I should’ve been honest with you from the start, Lucy,’ he said as they rounded the bend, the pub opposite pumping out a jolly beat for everyone still cosied up inside. The convenience store and Tilly’s Bits ’n’ Pieces were shut for the night, the tea rooms and bakery up ahead had closed their doors for the last time until after Boxing Day.
She made a sound much like an agreement but he wasn’t sure and they kept walking on, past the chapel and its nativity out front, past the track that led down to the water’s edge, past the ice-creamery.
He stopped her before they could reach her place. If he didn’t say all of this now, he’d chicken out, and perhaps a bit of Harvey’s bravery tonight might well be rubbing off on him. ‘Lucy, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything about me when we met. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about how much trouble I got in, the risks I took and the life I’d led after I left the village.’
‘If you had, I’d have run a mile,’ she smiled.
He hadn’t expected that and appreciated her trying to make him feel better. ‘Maybe. But I should’ve talked to you when we started to become friends, there’s no excuse for that.’
‘Do you remember that day in my workshop when you saw a picture of Julian and me?’
‘The one in the snow globe? I do.’
‘I told you he was my ex-husband, so why didn’t you tell me then about Giselle? It would’ve been the perfect time.’
‘I honestly – and I’m not lying when I say this – I didn’t think about it. We were talking about you and the pretence you had to go along with, that was all I had in my head. I guess over time I’ve blocked out talking about any of my past and maybe subconsciously I didn’t want to tell you and trigger more questions about my life before I’d come back to Heritage Cove.’
She waited a while to let his explanation settle. ‘You seem to be getting somewhere with Harvey.’
‘After you set us up, you mean? We’ve both said and done things we regret, and those actions and behaviours were ingrained in us for so long that we never moved past it. We’re doing all right at the moment – a long way to go, but it’s a start.’
‘I’m pleased for you. And I’m pleased for your mum too. You’re not angry with Melissa and me?’
He stopped her as they reached her place, his hand on her arm. ‘Lucy, I could never be angry with you. And both of us should be thanking you – we weren’t managing to get anywhere on our own. If you hadn’t stepped in then we might well have gone on for months, forever even, without either one of us backing down.’
‘Harvey is known for being stubborn.’
‘It runs in the family.’
She pulled a face. ‘Can we please keep walking? It’s freezing out here, and I left my gloves at home. Knew I’d lose them at the pub otherwise.’
Not only did she want to keep on walking rather than run up to her flat or flee into her workshop, she was talking to him. He hadn’t realised how tense he’d become until now.
They stood by the tree a moment, close enough to admire the decorations and the feel of the pine needles Lucy couldn’t resist touching, and they made their way up to the shack, all closed for the night.
They sat on the bench he’d put on the veranda for the lucky customers who got there first with their hot waffles to sit and admire the tree that everyone in the village was sure to miss when it came down in the new year.
‘This is a wonderful location.’ Lucy