‘Always?’
‘Always. And I won’t give you any reason not to be able to trust me. Ever.’
‘Really?’
‘I promise.’
And just like that down she went, head over heels into a future with him. ‘All right,’ she whispered with her heart in her throat. ‘Let’s do it.’
TEN
‘You look happy.’
Lily dropped her bag on her desk, sat down in her chair and gave her sister a smile that was wide and bright and at the moment pretty much permanent. ‘I am.’
And she was. Because despite her misgivings, the last couple of months had been wonderful. Better than she could ever have imagined. And so much fun that every time she thought about the five years she and Kit had been apart she found herself shaking her head in amazement that she’d actually thought she’d been fine.
She hadn’t been fine, she could see now. She’d been coasting. Simply existing as the days rolled endlessly by, and living her life in black-and-white. And despite a great social life and her fabulous family, she’d been so very, very lonely.
In contrast, since they’d returned from the Indian Ocean she felt as if she were on fire. She woke up every morning raring to go, brimming with a fizzing sort of energy she could barely contain. The days now whizzed by in glorious Technicolor, the nights were hot and heavy with passion and she’d never felt less lonely or more convinced that choosing to give them a second shot had been the best decision she’d ever made.
Not that everyone thought so. Her parents, for example, had been extremely wary, not wanting to burst her bubble of happiness yet unable to refrain from suggesting proceeding with caution. But that was only natural given that they’d seen the wreck she’d been when she and Kit had parted.
And while most of her friends had been carefully congratulatory, others, who’d also witnessed her falling apart, told her she was mad and wanted to know how she was able to trust him, to which she would shrug and say she just did.
The only person who seemed genuinely delighted was Zoe, who was so loved-up at the moment and so wrapped up in wedding plans that she was delighted by pretty much everything these days.
‘Happier than usual, now I come to think of it,’ said Zoe, dragging Lily out of her musings and back to the office where she was supposed to be picking up information for her imminent meeting.
‘That’s entirely possible,’ said Lily, reaching for the folder she needed that was lying on her desk and putting it in her bag-cum-briefcase.
‘What’s happened?’
She zipped her bag. ‘Kit asked me to move in with him.’
‘And?’
‘I agreed.’
Zoe blew out a breath. ‘Wow.’
‘I know. Great, isn’t it? Although I suggested he move in with me. I mean, he lives in a hotel. I rattle round a four-bedroomed house.’
‘And he was all right with that?’
Lily nodded and swivelled to her computer to quickly check where she was going. ‘Seems to be,’ she said, pulling up the maps page and entering the postcode. ‘I mean, he has most of his stuff there already and it’s not like we haven’t done it before. I already know his bad habits and of course I don’t have any.’
Zoe grinned. ‘Of course you don’t. So when does he move in?’
‘Next weekend.’ And she couldn’t wait.
‘Things are going well, then?’
‘Yup.’
‘I’m glad. You know, I always liked him.’
‘Did you?’ asked Lily, glancing up at her sister and shooting her a quick smile. ‘Because I seem to remember you once saying that hanging, drawing and quartering was too good for him.’