Felicity
Ifinished feeding and watering the tomatoes and was just about to go and check the strawberry plants when someone barged into my greenhouse. The last person I expected to see was Marcus. He had a face like thunder. I held up my trowel in front of me.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was in the area and needed to see you. I’ve just spoken to Luke on the phone and had to set things straight. You need to apologise to him.”
I didn’t like where this was heading. My cheeks heated and my stomach rolled. Had I got the wrong end of the stick? I placed the trowel down and turned to face him with my hands on my hips.
“Why should I apologise?”
He muttered about frustrating women under his breath. “You shouldn’t listen to other people’s conversations and then make up your own version of the call. It was me who had the paternity test. Not him. Jesus, Felicity. You didn’t even stop to speak to him about it.”
My shoulders slumped and tears fell down my cheeks. My stomach churned even more in fear that I may have lost a good guy because I ran before asking him about the call. “I know I should have, but I was so afraid of getting hurt again.”
“Did he tell you about Leanne?”
I nodded, unable to speak because I was sobbing.
“I’m glad he did. Then you should know he’d never treat a woman like that. I’m the guy who loves them and leaves them. That’s not Luke’s MO. You need to make this right.”
There was no chance for me to respond. He left my greenhouse and hurried away. The news was devastating and I berated myself for behaving like such a bitch. Grabbing my tools, I took them back to my shed. I picked up my discarded spade, dragging it behind me, and someone grabbed my arm. I thought it was Marcus again, so I pushed the person and heard a grunt as they fell to the ground. Right on my freshly weeded strawberry plants.
When I turned, I saw Luke sitting there with an exasperated expression on his face. Shit.
“What the hell did you do that for?”
“I thought you were Marcus.”
He got swiftly to his feet and grabbed me by the shoulders. “What did that asshole do? Did he make a pass at you?” His eyes were wild, and he gritted his teeth.
“No.” I shrugged out of his grasp, bending down to check my plants. “He told me what a bitch I’ve been,” I mumbled as more tears tumbled from my eyes. I headed for the safety of the shed.
“Fliss, we need to talk about this.”
I stood on the other side of the poles with runner beans climbing up them. I wanted to put a barrier between us. Cowardly, I know.
“What? About me being a nosy bitch, assuming you were the one taking the test, or not being brave enough to talk to you about what I’d heard?”
I heard him inhale and breathe out sharply.
“All three.” He started to come to my side of the runner beans.
I couldn’t look at him and focused on the earth where the roots to my beans were. He tilted my chin upwards, so I had to look into his eyes.
“Oh, Red,” he sighed. “Why didn’t you talk to me instead of running away?”
I put my hands on my chest and tried not to cry. “I… I don’t know. I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have behaved like that, but I was scared and confused.”
“What were you scared of?” he whispered.
“Scared that I told you too much about myself. Afraid that my heart was going to break all over again.”
He pulled me to him, and I was enveloped in a warm hug and his unique scent.
I cried and cried until my head ached, pushing away from him. “I guess this is the part where you walk away, huh?”
“What? No. Sure, you should’ve talked to me. But I like you. A lot.”