“I mean, have you decided to stay in Bristol?” He could almost hear her eyes rolling.
“I told you I’m coming home. I guess we’ll have a long-distance relationship.”
“Keira’s cool with that?”
“I think so. We haven’t really spoken about it.”
“Very mature.”
“She knows I’m leaving. There’s not a lot to say. We’ve just been enjoying spending time with each other while we only live ten minutes apart.”
There was a short pause before Seren spoke again. “Are you really coming home in two weeks?”
“Yes! The flight’s booked and everything.”
“I really thought you’d stay,” she said quietly. “I feel kind of bad now.”
He shifted his weight. “Why would you feel bad?”
“Because I was sure you’d end up staying and I was pre-emptively annoyed with you, but now I feel a bit sorry for Keira. I don’t know why I’d say this, but are you sure you don’t want to stay? Because as much as I’d like you back here, I also want you to be happy.”
“I’ll be happy at home,” he said, ignoring the way his stomach lurched.
“I can’t imagine you being content with a long-distance relationship.”
He sighed as he checked the time. “I’m supposed to be meeting Keira approximately now.”
“Sorry, I’m saying things you don’t want to hear. I’ll let you go. One thing though … I thought I could come to Bristol the weekend you leave. Help you move your stuff back. You could make use of my luggage allowance on the plane. What do you think?”
“Um …” He could definitely use the extra luggage allowance, but the thought of having Seren invading his space on his last weekend with Keira made him hesitate.
“I promise not to be in the way.” As usual she managed to read his mind. “You can still spend time with Keira, but if you’d rather I didn’t just say so.”
He’d spent most of his time in Bristol nagging Seren to visit, so he felt bad turning her down. “It’s fine … I mean, yes, please. That would be great.”
“Perfect. A few days away from this place will make a nice change.”
With the phone at his ear, he walked to the door. “I’ve really got to go. Keira will be waiting.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Keira couldn’t manage to hide her surprise as she stared at her parents and suspected her annoyance was evident too. “What are you doing here?” she asked bluntly.
“Nice to see you too!” Her dad’s voice was filled with mirth as he embraced her.
“We tried calling,” her mum said. “We were worried about you when you didn’t answer.”
“I told you I’d come over on Sunday.”
“When did you tell us that?” her dad asked.
“In the message I sent you this afternoon!” She knew Noah might turn up at any minute and her blood was pumping furiously at the thought of them still being here when he arrived.
Her dad rubbed at the stubble on his jaw. “I didn’t get any message. When you didn’t answer your phone either we got worried.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. I’m fine.” She didn’t believe for a minute that he hadn’t seen her message but didn’t have time to get into it. “I’d have called you back tomorrow,” she said, glancing nervously along the road.
Her dad gave her a mock stern look. “You should never put off until tomorrow what you can do today!”