‘And he gave me his jacket and it had his phone in and now he’s coming here to collect it. It could be any time.’
‘And you’re in a state because…?’
‘Because I don’t want to see him again.’
‘Or rather you do want to see him again.’
‘I’m not myself when he’s around,’ Emma tried to explain.
‘You mean you’re the you you were when you were with him, not the you you are with Chris.’
‘Ally, please, don’t start this again.’
‘Well, it’s the excitement and the adventure, isn’t it? This Gallic hunk’s come back out of the woodwork to woo you and boy, does he have all the moves. He’s gorgeous, he’s rich and successful. I can see your dilemma I really can.’
‘No. I don’t think you can. I don’t think you can at all,’ Emma spoke, drinking the coffee.
‘Tell me then. Tell me what’s going on,’ Ally suggested.
‘It’s nothing to do with his fame or his money. It’s to do with me. I did something stupid all those years ago, something I’ve had to live with ever since. He cheated on me and I hated him for it but I was seventeen. He was eighteen. We were too young to make proper decisions. Maybe I made two mistakes that day. I never stopped to listen,’ Emma told her.
‘You’re thinking if you’d hung around to let him explain, you’d be living a loved-up life with him in France? What exactly happened back then? What did he do?’ Ally asked.
Emma let out a sigh. She didn’t want to explain. It still hurt. Yes, she’d been seventeen but she’d been in love… for the first time. She’d had plans. They both had. And he’d ruined everything.
‘He cheated on me. I found him in bed with another girl.’
She hurried the words out. It didn’t make it sound any better and it still made her wince with the recollection.
‘Scumbag,’ Ally stated.
‘But was he? There could have been an explanation. And if there was I didn’t let him explain it. There were lots of things going on back then, with him, his family. I was missing my mum, my dad was starting a relationship with Marilyn and—’
‘You’re making excuses for him.’
‘I’m not. Not really. I’m just saying perhaps he isn’t the person I ended up thinking he was. Maybe I broke my own heart by not giving him a chance to tell me what happened,’ Emma concluded.
‘And why does it matter what happened? You said it yourself. You were seventeen, he was a holiday romance. You’ve grown up and moved on, so has he. This shouldn’t be about what happened then. This should be about now. Take the past out of the equation. Forget the French Riviera. If you hadn’t known him before he walked into the fitness centre would we be having this conversation?’ Ally asked. She raised an eyebrow.
‘No, but—’
‘Because you’re happy with Chris. Because you’re making a life with Chris. As gorgeous as Guy is, you might have checked out his arse like any normal red-blooded woman, but that’s where it would’ve stopped.’
‘But you can’t look at things like that. I know him. I knew him. What am I supposed to do? Wipe everything from my memory?’ Emma questioned.
‘You need to decide what you want now, not based on anything from 2005,’ Ally told her.
‘How do I do that?’
‘Don’t ask me! I can’t manage my own love life, let alone anyone else’s!’
Emma put her hands to her head and tried to soothe the ache that was beginning to tighten.
‘But I will listen, Em. Whatever you decide, whatever you want to do, I’m there, here, whatever,’ Ally assured her.
‘Thank you,’ she mouthed.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
He’d called the school earlier to check what time lunch was. He didn’t want to disturb Emma’s day by barging into a class or causing her any inconvenience. He could see the children coming out of the main building. Some were walking towards a smaller building across the yard, others were sat down on benches eating from lunchboxes and a dozen or so boys had started a football game.
He ran his hands through his hair and looked in the rear-view mirror of the Range Rover. He was nervous. This wasn’t just about picking up his jacket and phone. He wanted it to be so much more. But what happened next was really up to Emma. She needed to decide if they still had a chance. And he would respect her decision no matter what it was. Even if it killed