Page 68 of Lime Tree Hill
Shaking her head, Tayla struggled for composure. When she’d told Ruby and Tim, the process had been different, like narrating a movie trailer for a life she’d never lived. Now she felt as if her heart were slowly being torn open and stuffed with cotton balls. She didn’t want to continue. Didn’t want to tell Mitch the worst part—about the dappled light in the chapel, the forced smile of the photographer as he’d told her how amazing she looked, and the minutes ticking by as she held an anxious breath.
Tayla rose from the sofa and moved to the window, her focus on the farm gate store. She couldn’t see the Cherry Grove homestead or Norman’s cottage from the office, which was just as well. Mitch stayed at his desk, saying nothing.
Overwhelmed and choked with emotion, she didn’t look at him as she continued, “He proposed last Christmas, in the Blue Mountains, and suggested we elope sooner rather than later.” She stopped and took a breath, hot tears threatening to fall. “Turns out, on the day of our wedding, his wife went into early labor. I caughta flight to Auckland to be with Dad the following day. You know the rest.”
“Are you saying he called off the wedding on the day?”
Tayla turned from the window. “He didn’t call it off.” She moved to the chair in front of his desk and sat, her hands trembling in her lap. “He didn’t turn up…didn’t call or send a message. He just left me waiting…all dressed up with nowhere to go. Fairytale over.”
“He left you at the altar?”
She nodded. “When I found out about the baby, I understood why he couldn’t contact me. Anna was in bad shape; they had to operate afterward. I’m not an uncaring person but finding out he’d lived a double life was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with.”
“Do you think he still loves you?”
“Who knows. When I returned to Sydney that weekend, I went to his house while he was at work, to collect some things. The moment I placed my engagement ring on his kitchen counter, a weight lifted. He was furious when he realized I’d been there and hadn’t made contact. But what was the point? He’s a very persuasive man. I didn’t trust myself to be around him.”
“So how did you feel when you saw him today?”
Tayla fixed her gaze on his. The air in the office was warm and slightly stuffy and she needed a drink of water. “Okay…once you came home.” She caught his expression, wondering if he understood that her feelings for him were changing by the day. “I feel grounded here, does that make sense?”
“Not trapped?”
She shook her head.
30
VIRGIN BRIDE
The house seemedempty without her, almost desolate. Mitch closed his magazine, put it on the nightstand, and clicked off the bedside lamp. He lay back, his fingers interlaced behind his head as he imagined the scene at the chapel in Sydney. Tayla, sitting in her wedding dress, waiting for a man who would never show.
His mind raced, the unease nothing to do with their contract, but rather, his growing feelings for her. That chemistry between them. Because, as much as she’d kept her distance with that air of indifference, Hayden’s visit meant the pieces of the puzzle had slipped into place. He’d left Tayla at the altar, the jerk. How could he do that to her? And what about his ‘virgin bride’ comment? Surely Tayla wasn’t still a virgin?
Slow things down.
Just as Mitch picked up his phone to check his texts, the bottom door opened and shut. He closed his eyes, feeling a release of tension as Tayla climbed the stairs. She went to her room without a word, and a few minutes later, the shower turned on. By the time she’d finished in the bathroom, he’d almost dozed off.
He rolled over to face her when she knocked on his door, the dim light from the hall washing her from behind. Dressed in a tankand skimpy sleep shorts, she carried a small pack of tissues in her hand. “Can I come in?”
“Sure. Are you okay?”
“I’m a bit fragile, to be honest.”
Tayla moved to the bed and sat cross-legged on top of the duvet. His heart raced at the sight of her, and as she draped the throw around her shoulders, he sat up and rested his back on the headboard, so they were face-to-face.
He inhaled, struggling to focus. “Have you been at yoga all this time?”
“No. It finished about an hour ago, but I went for a walk along the boardwalk.”
“I don’t like you walking by yourself at night.”
“I needed to clear my head. It was full of what-ifs and maybes.” She fiddled with the hem of the throw, twisting a snagged thread with her fingers. “Anna called me this morning.”
“Who, the wife? Did you talk to her?”
“Not for long. Well, she talked, I listened, then hung up on her. She’s…loud and brash. Hayden’s such a gentle man—traditional and articulate. They don’t seem to fit somehow. It was weird; even weirder when she said that monogamy threatened her independence.”
“She’s in favor of his extended family suggestion?”
