Summer of Love Read Free Page B

things. She liked that Edward was the steady one. His steady job meant that she could pursue her dream career. Having Edward as a calm centre in her life made it easier for her to resist the flights of fancy and impulsive ideas she’d been so prone to as a teen. And when she was having a panic about the shop, or her mum, or life in general, Edward was the one to sit her down, stroke her back and remind her that everything was going to be okay. That she could cope.
    Edward made her a grown up, and that was a good thing.
    ‘And did he give you this ring?’ Alex asked, interrupting her thoughts.
    The ring, however, was still a sore spot.
    ‘Unfortunately.’ He frowned at her answer, and she felt compelled to explain, ‘I’m a jewellery designer.’
    Alex winced. ‘Ah. He didn’t think you’d want to design your own?’
    ‘No.’ She really needed to stop sounding so bitter about that. She shook her head. ‘It’s okay. I understand. He wanted to have a ring to give me when I said yes, and wanted to choose it himself. It’s romantic.’
    ‘If you say so. Anyway, that aside, and this is the crucial bit: when he asked, and when he gave you this ring – did you say yes?’
    No real way out of that one. ‘Yes. But…’
    ‘No buts. What, are you going to be one of those couples who get engaged but never get around to getting married?’
    What would be so wrong with that? Why not just carry on the way things are, happy and content. Why does it have to be a big thing?
    But then Lily thought about the way her mother was already planning the perfect day in her head, and the catalogues of invitation samples Edward had started leaving around the flat. It
was
a big thing to them. ‘Apparently not.’
    ‘Why would you want to be?’ Alex’s eyes were wide and disbelieving.
    Oh, honestly. Talk about a double standard. ‘Don’t tell me you wouldn’t be sprinting the other way if someone told you that you had to get married this summer. The way Cora tells it, you’ve been running around with every single woman in the Greater London area for the last decade.’
    ‘Maybe I’m ready to settle down.’ The words were casual, but Alex’s eyes were serious.
    ‘Really? That’s why you moved home?’ Of course it was. Why else would he leave the bright lights and bonuses of the City? God, she was an idiot. Lily bit the inside of her lip. The way Cora talked about Alex’s life in London, it would be a pretty huge lifestyle change for him. She wondered if he’d make it stick. ‘Sorry, then. I’m just… I look at Cora, and how happy she is to be marrying Rhys, and I think… maybe I’m not cut out for marriage.’
    ‘Maybe you’re not marrying the right man.’
    It wasn’t as if she hadn’t had the thought herself once or twice, in the dark of the night when the bad thoughts come, but hearing it in Alex’s calm, unconcerned voice made something sharp stick in Lily’s lungs. ‘That’s not it. He’s… Edward and I have been together since I was nineteen. He’s everything I ever wanted. I love him. And we’re
happy
. I just don’t see why that has to change.’
    Alex threw up his hands in mock self-defence. ‘Sorry. What do I know? Back in town permanently less than a week, remember? I’m sure you know what you’re doing.’
    But while his words sounded good, his eyes still said,
Who are you trying to kid?
‘So, where is he today?’
    ‘He had to work.’ Jerking up off the bed, Lily headed for the door. ‘Sorry, I think I hear Cora calling me.’ Never mind that Cora was probably still having her ear bent by Evelyn; Alex didn’t know that. And Lily needed to be somewhere else, quite desperately. Somewhere where people wanted her to marry Edward. Not with someone who just made the restlessness rise up and try to break free. ‘Good to see you again, Alex.’
    She didn’t look back as she shut the door behind her.
    * * * *
    Alex leant back on his elbows as he watched Lily’s blonde head disappear behind