“So? I know I want to be with you. If things were different I’d stay here, but I really need to be back on St Mary’s for a while.”
“I can’t,” she said again. “I have a life in Bristol. I have a job … and there’s my family … and Mel.”
“I know.” He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “I just don’t like the thought of leaving you. And you loved Scilly.”
“As a holiday destination. Not as a place to live.” She stared at him. “Are you being serious?”
“Yes.” His eyes glimmered with what she could swear was a spark of hope. “It’s the perfect solution.”
“Noah!” she snapped, needing to stamp out his crazy idea before he ran away with it. “I’m not moving.”
“Why?”
“For a start, what would I do for a job?”
“I don’t know.” The brightness left his eyes. “We’d figure something out.”
“I can’t.” She shook her head, annoyed with him for disrupting their time together with crazy, unrealistic plans. And for the notion that she should give up everything for him when he wasn’t willing to stay in Bristol for her.
He looked forlornly at their entwined fingers. “I’m worried long distance isn’t going to work for us.”
“Really?” She pulled away from him. “So I should up and move to Scilly for a relationship that you don’t think is strong enough to survive long distance?”
“No.” He rubbed at his forehead. “I didn’t mean it like that. Seren said I’m not cut out for a long-distance relationship and she’s probably right. I’ll miss you too much.”
Keira ignored the fact that Seren always seemed to have to weigh in on their relationship and focused on how sincere Noah looked when he’d told her he’d miss her.
“I’ll miss you too,” she said. “But this is what we need to do for now.” Hopefully, he’d eventually realise that he didn’t need to be back home and would come back to her.
“Maybe you could come for a while over the summer,” he suggested gently. “Take some time off work and come for a long holiday. You’ll love the buzz on the island when it’s full of tourists.”
“Maybe. I’m not promising though. I don’t know how much holiday time I’d be able to take.”
“I’ll come back here as often as possible,” he said, pushing her hair behind her ear. “You come to me whenever you can. We’ll barely be apart.”
Not wanting to dull his enthusiasm, she chose not to point out that he was being slightly unrealistic. Instead, she kissed him hard, and didn’t stop kissing him until it was time for him to leave.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
After a year living in Bristol, Noah had expected that life on St Mary’s would feel different somehow. Quickly, he found that absolutely nothing had changed. Except maybe for him. He’d felt restless a year ago, but now he was so full of resentment that even the things he thought he’d missed annoyed him. Like working with Seren. She’d been one of the reasons he’d wanted to move back, but a week and a half after his return, all he could think was he’d chosen Seren and his family over Keira, and that might have been a huge mistake.
His mum didn’t seem to need him around either. All his offers to help her were turned down. Annoyingly, it seemed that Kit and Seren helped so much with the running of the rental cottages that he was completely redundant. Previously, he’d done a lot of gardening for his mum, but apparently Kit had that under control. His mum’s social life was also active enough that she’d already turned him down for lunch twice. He’d had dinner with her at the weekend, but it certainly didn’t seem as though he was needed for emotional support any more.
So why the hell was he even back there?
“Will you cheer up?” Seren punched his arm, bringing his thoughts back to the quiet pub. The usual regulars sat along the bar and a few tourists occupied the tables, but it was nothing like the bustle of the Flute and Fiddle. “You’re like the world’s most depressing ornament.”
He muttered about how annoying she was, then apologised when he caught the hurt in her expression. It wasn’t as though he’d never said it before, but his usual humorous tone had been replaced with a venom that even he hadn’t expected.
“I’m fairly sure you’re the annoying one around here,” she said with a bite to her words. “You may as well go home. I don’t think it’s going to get any busier.”
He walked over to her and put a hand on her elbow. “I’m sorry,” he said emphatically.
“I know you miss Keira, but there’s no need to take it out on me. If you remember, I told you coming back here was a bad move.”
“Maybe I should have listened.” His eyes swept the room, but there was nothing to do so he leaned onto the counter behind him.
“Do you really hate being back here so much?” Seren asked, stepping closer to him.