Page 119 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

Skye looked into Marta’s eyes, so kind and full of warmth. She’d thought earlier that her feelings for Marta were confusing, but they weren’t at all. The spark that had been missing between her and Jesse was here, now, arcing between the two of them.

Skye turned her face into Marta’s palm and kissed it. ‘Thank you.’

Marta leaned across the table and grazed Skye’s lips softly with hers. ‘You’re welcome.’

There was a sharp knock on the glass, making them both jump. Skye sprang back from Marta and looked through the window. Her face burned as she saw Jesse staring at her, his eyes unblinking. He looked devastated.

‘Jesse!’ Skye stumbled to her feet, her chair making an angry screech across the floor. ‘Shit-shit-shit. I’m sorry, I have to go. The bill—’

‘Hey, it’s fine, you go, don’t worry.’ Marta grabbed her hand, forcing her to make eye contact. ‘Good luck. Text me when you can.’

‘Thanks. I will.’ Skye nodded, scooped her bag from the floor and flew out of the café.

Jesse was waiting for her outside, his face taut with shock. ‘What the hell, Skye? I don’t even know what to say to you right now.’

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts and walked away towards the harbour, head hanging low.

‘Wait,’ Skye cried, following him. ‘Let me explain.’

‘I just saw you kissing a woman.’ He held his arms out in defeat. ‘I don’t think that needs much explanation.’

‘Jesse.’ Skye put her hands on his arms – strong, tanned arms which had held her a thousand times. ‘I feel terrible about this, please can we talk?’

‘You feel terrible?’ He gave a humourless laugh. ‘What about me? I came back hoping my girlfriend had decided to marry me. But instead I found she’s got a girlfriend of her own.’

‘It’s not like that,’ she said, dry-mouthed and conscious of the interest of passers-by.

‘Is this the real reason why you came back? To be with her?’ His eyes were stony and Skye hated herself for what she was doing to him. ‘Nothing to do with me – with us – all along?’

She shook her head. ‘No. I promise. This – what you just saw – this is brand new to me. I haven’t lied to you, I wouldn’t. I love you too much for that.’

‘You love me, huh?’ he said flatly. ‘That’s strange, because I arrived to find no one knows about us, you’ve avoided touching me, even talking to me, and then this morning, rather than cancel your plans, you tried to leave the house before I woke up. Forgive me if I find it hard to believe that’s love.’

Skye’s whole body flamed with shame. ‘I’m so sorry.’

They were standing in the middle of the street and a car was heading their way. She looped her arm through his and tugged him to the pavement.

‘I came back because being with you all the time made it hard for me to think straight. I loved working with you. I loved being at the Hope Foundation; my life was good. That all changed when you asked me to be your wife.’

His shoulders slumped. ‘It changed for me too. I thought our life was going to be even better.’

‘You’d had time to think about it. The proposal came totally out of the blue for me. I had to press pause before giving you my answer, because before I committed my whole life to you, I needed to know I was doing the right thing – for both of us.’

Jesse hung his head. ‘I suppose I knew you didn’t want to marry me as soon as I held out that ring. I could see the panic in your eyes, like you wanted to run. I’m sorry I pushed you this far. But I thought love would be enough.’

Skye took a step closer to him, he leaned down and touched his forehead to hers. ‘You’re a lovely guy, Jesse. I’ve had the most amazing time with you, you’ve taught me how to love, how to be a family, even when none of us actually were. You deserve someone far better than me, and I have absolutely no doubt you’ll find her.’

‘I thought I had’ He shut his eyes and groaned. ‘I feel like such a fool.’

‘No, I’m the fool,’ she insisted. ‘I’ve let you down and I can’t forgive myself for that. But honesty is important too. I love you as a friend and I always will.’

‘And what about her?’ He nodded back towards the café. ‘You’ve never looked at me like you looked at her.’

It was true, Skye realised, and it was all down to the elusive spark. But Jesse was hurting enough, she didn’t want to make it worse by admitting it. Skye thought about Marta, about what she’d be doing right now and felt guilty about her too; dashing out and leaving her like that.

‘I wasn’t expecting to feel that way about a woman,’ she murmured, forcing herself to look him in the eye. ‘I don’t know if this is the new me or whether it’s temporary, but right now, it feels … it feels like something I want to explore.’

Jesse gave her a half-smile and pulled her into a hug. ‘Whatever life holds for you next, I hope you’ll be happy. Maybe we can stay in touch, as friends?’