She looked at him and for a moment there were only the two of them in the room. ‘I remember. You raved about it. It was one of the reasons I went there.’
Because going somewhere that he’d been had somehow maintained a link. And she didn’t want to remember how desperately she’d needed that link. Anything that reminded her of Tom. Anywhere that Tom had been, as if he’d imprinted part of himself on the places that he’d visited.
Suddenly realizing that she’d revealed too much, she dropped her eyes to her plate. ‘After Ama Dablam, I travelled. I met a friend and we went mountain biking around Nepal—that was great. We had a good time.’
‘A friend?’ Bryony’s eyes teased her from across the table. ‘We want to hear more about this friend.’
Everyone laughed except Tom, who gazed at her face in brooding silence.
‘You went mountain biking in the Himalayas?’ Helen looked at her in awe. ‘You make me feel exhausted just thinking about it. Didn’t you relax at all?’
Sally fiddled with her food and gave a half-smile. ‘I find climbing relaxing.’
It required all her concentration and that left no room for other thoughts to intrude. Thoughts of Tom. She’d run so that the pain couldn’t catch her and she’d continued to run until she’d finally been sure that she’d left the worst of the agony behind.
‘Well, it certainly doesn’t sound relaxing to me.’ Helen gave a little shudder and Oliver laughed and took her hand.
‘My wife is a townie at heart,’ he teased gently, ‘but we’re trying to convert her. If she doesn’t wear high heels for a few days she has serious withdrawal symptoms.’
Helen’s eyes mocked him. ‘You’re always so derogatory about my choice of footwear, but I don’t hear you complaining when we go out.’
‘I admit it.’ Oliver grinned at her. ‘My fatal weakness. A woman in high heels.’
‘Enough of your strange fetishes.’ Bryony frowned at her brother and turned back to Sally. ‘I had your letter from the Karakorum.’
Helen looked confused. ‘Where—or what—is the Karakorum?’
Tom stirred. ‘It’s a range of mountains in Pakistan.’ He looked at Sally. ‘You went to K2?’
‘I worked as base camp manager for one of the expeditions,’ she told him, ‘and in one of the clinics there. And when that finished one of them persuaded me to travel to Australia so I did and I got a job as a midwife.’
The conversation switched to obstetrics and Sally concentrated on her meal, wondering why she couldn’t relax.
She’d grown up with these people. They were the closest thing to family she had, and yet the only person she was aware of was Tom.
Despite the fact that his chair was several inches from hers, she was supremely conscious of him. The hard muscle of his thigh was tantalizingly close to hers and suddenly she wished she could flick a switch in her body that would delete for ever her awareness of this man.
And he was tense.
She could feel it.
He lounged in his chair, listening to the conversation, his long fingers tapping the table.
‘All right, pay attention. We have some news.’ Bryony tucked her hand into Jack’s and beamed at everyone.
Sally looked at her friend with interest, glad of a distraction from Tom. ‘What news?’
‘I’m pregnant.’ Bryony spoke softly, her gaze slightly shy as she looked at Jack. ‘Two months gone. Not very much really, so we haven’t told anyone except Mum. And now you.’
Helen gave a squeal of delight and dashed round the table to hug Bryony. Oliver shot Jack an amused glance.
‘No need to ask what you were doing on your honeymoon. Congratulations.’
‘Yes, congratulations.’ Genuinely pleased for her friend, Sally smiled across the table. ‘It looks as though I came home at the right time. I’ve got seven months to get used to the idea of answering to “Aunty Sally”.’
Tom’s gaze was fixed on her face. ‘Why did you decide to come home?’
Sally reached for her wine, her hand perfectly steady. ‘Because it was time,’ she said softly, still smiling at Bryony. ‘I realized I was missing out on the lives of people who matter to me.’