‘Helen?’ His voice was gentle and he stepped around her so that he could see her face. ‘I’m not intending to jump on you, sweetheart. I just wanted to point out that it’s there.’
Her eyes locked on his, her expression almost puzzled. ‘Two weeks ago I was marrying David.’
‘Three weeks,’ he corrected her firmly. ‘It was three weeks ago, Helen.’
She shook her head and gave a little shrug. ‘Three weeks. It still doesn’t change the fact that I was marrying another man.’
‘But you didn’t love him.’
She frowned and shook her head. ‘I did. I mean, I do.’ She bit her lip, her expression troubled. ‘I thought I did—now I don’t know any more.’
‘All right.’ Oliver put both hands on her shoulders and forced her to look at him. ‘Let’s try something. Tell me what you loved about David.’
‘That isn’t exactly a fair question.’
‘Why not?’
She looked at him helplessly. ‘Because right now I’m so angry with him I’m finding it hard to remember.’
Oliver gave a slow smile. ‘All right, let’s try something different. When did you first realise that you were in love with David?’
‘I don’t know.’ She frowned. ‘You make it sound as though it’s a light-bulb moment. One minute you’re not in love and the next minute you are.’
That’s exactly how it had been for him. A light-bulb moment.
The moment he’d seen her in the church he’d known.
Oliver looked at her thoughtfully. ‘And it wasn’t like that for you?’
‘I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it.’ She chewed her lip. ‘I started going out with David when I was nineteen—he was my first proper boyfriend, so I suppose I just grew to love him over time.’
Oliver’s hands dropped from her shoulders. ‘You’ve been going out with him since you were nineteen?’
She stared at him. ‘Why is that so shocking?’
Oliver let out a long breath. ‘Because that means you must have been with him for years.’
‘Six years.’ She nodded. ‘What’s wrong with that?’
‘So when did you decide to marry him?’
‘I don’t know. It just seemed like the logical next step.’
Oliver looked at her searchingly, wondering if she realised what she was saying.
There didn’t seem to have been a single grain of romance in her relationship with David.
‘What about you?’ She looked at him almost defiantly. ‘You’re not married so you’re obviously not exactly dedicated to commitment.’
‘It is precisely my dedication to commitment that has stopped me from marrying the wrong person,’ Oliver said calmly. ‘I’ve been waiting for Miss Right.’
Helen smiled. ‘But you’ve never found her?’
‘I found her a week ago.’
There was a long silence and a mixture of shock and excitement flickered across her blue eyes. ‘Oliver, you don’t—’
‘If you’re about to tell me that I’ve only known you for a week, then I should probably remind you that I’m a very decisive person. Always have been. I know what I want, and once I know what I want I make a point of making sure that I get it.’