Page 97 of The Summer That Changed Us

‘Sorry,’ Robyn whispered to Claudia. ‘I didn’t notice.’

‘Too busy flirting with your own husband,’ Claudia replied, arching a bemused eyebrow. ‘I remember those days. There we go, poppet.’ She kissed Betty’s head and stood back.

Hannah was staring at the end of her finger. ‘Where does snot come from?’

‘That’s not snot,’ William said scornfully. ‘That’s part of your brain. Your brain is falling out.’

‘Kids, eh?’ Finn murmured to Robyn with a grin.

As if on command, Betty chose that moment to arch her back and let out a stream of vomit all over Finn’s shirt.

‘Oh.’ Finn stared in horror at his shirt. ‘That is gross.’

‘Maybe I could do some candid shots next?’ the poor photographer said.

But no one was paying any attention. Claudia was handing Hannah a tissue and making her wipe her nose, Callum was having stern words with William, and Robyn was holding Betty at arm’s length wondering if it would be really awful if she passed her to someone else. She loved her nieces and nephew dearly. But this wasn’t for her. Did it make her a bad person because she wasn’t maternal? She hoped not. It was just the way she was.

‘Jeez. We’ve dodged a bullet here,’ Finn muttered under his breath, peeling his wet shirt away from his chest. ‘Every cloud and all that.’

Robyn blinked rapidly. He’d echoed her thoughts completely. Everything she had been through health-wise had been traumatic and painful and life-changing, but it had given her a legitimate excuse not to have a baby. She’d felt as if she’d dodged a bullet. Was that what Finn was referring to or was he talking about something else entirely? Finn caught her expression and his eyes rounded guiltily. ‘Shit. Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.’

‘It’s OK.’ She pressed a hand to his arm, feeling the heat of his skin. ‘If that’s how you feel, you should say it.’

William gasped with glee. ‘Dad, Uncle Finn just swore!’

Callum mumbled something that Robyn didn’t catch. All she cared about was her and Finn. This was important.

‘No, it was insensitive.’ He kissed her temple, taking care not to brush against her dress with his soiled shirt. ‘Forget I said it. Please.’

Her stomach felt jittery. Had she got it all wrong all this time? Did he feel the same as her? Or was this a throwaway comment, a reaction to the circumstances? She felt an urgent need to find out now, because this could change everything.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Around her, everyone continued to laugh and chat as the photographer did his best to corral people into position. But Robyn’s attention was solely fixed on Finn, her heart thumping.

‘But you meant it?’ she whispered. ‘Finn? Is that how you feel? I need to know. Please tell me the truth.’

He rubbed a hand over his eyes and sighed with resignation. ‘I suppose … yes, it is.’ He scuffed the toe of his shoe in the ground. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t apologise.’ Robyn felt a bubble of hope rise up inside her. ‘My thoughts exactly.’

Finn’s brow furrowed. ‘Really? But I thought—’

‘Really,’ she repeated. ‘I feel the same.’

His dark eyes held hers and her heart pounded with the weight of her words.

‘Oh petal! Come to Granny.’ Claudia’s mum held her arms out for Betty and Robyn relinquished her willingly.

Robyn smiled at him, her heart so full of love and relief that it was all she could do not to leap into his arms. ‘Can we talk later? I mean properly?’

He looked down at his shirt. ‘How about now?’

‘But we can’t leave the christening,’ she said, only half meaning it. Her breath caught in her throat as Finn’s lips twitched.

‘We can,’ he said. He took her hand and glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching. ‘There’s no way I can stay here with this amount of puke on me, let’s go home.’

He started to walk across the churchyard, picking up his pace so that she had to run to keep up with his long legs. They ran out through the gate and into the lane where the car was parked.