AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I’m going home to Scotland.’
‘Why?’
‘To see my family and . . . well, my sister is getting married.’
‘When?’
‘Next month . . .’ Her voice trailed off.
‘I could come?’ he suggested brightly.
She didn’t reply.
‘Hold on.’ He scowled as the penny dropped. ‘Why are you just telling me this now?’
‘That’s because it’s quite a last-minute thing.’
He scratched his chin thoughtfully. ‘Well, let me see what I can do. It might be tricky but I’ll see if I can juggle things with work so I can come with you.’
‘It’s a small wedding,’ said Amy.
‘That sounds lovely. It will give me a chance to meet your family and get to know them all. I’m sure Caleb would love that too. Especially if he gets to see a real Highland cow.’
‘No!’ she shouted.
He was visibly taken aback. ‘No?’
‘What I mean,’ she said slowly, urging herself to remain calm, ‘is that I have to go alone.’ There, she had finally said it.
He looked at her, surprised. ‘Do you mean I’m not invited?’
Amy hesitated, almost tempted to use that as an excuse, but then her words started to tumble out. ‘No, Ross. What I mean is that I’m going on my own. I’m going home alone, and I am going to my sister’s wedding on my own. You’re not coming, and you’re not invited.’
‘You mean that you don’t want me there?’
She felt her cheeks redden and she fixed her eyes on his. ‘This is something I need to do on my own. I haven’t been back since Mum died and I need some time and space.’
‘I get it,’ he said, but he sounded hurt, as though he had no understanding at all of what she had just said. ‘You want some time to process it. That’s okay.’ His voice was now clipped which confirmed to Amy that he didn’t understand at all.
‘Actually, Ross, I need some space from everything. From us, from here and from you.’
He put his fork down suddenly and looked away, avoiding her gaze. ‘Is this about Lucinda?’
‘Lucinda?’ Amy was genuinely confused. Why would his ex-wife have anything to do with this?
He sighed. ‘I wasn’t going to say anything to you as there didn’t seem much point in upsetting you. It was a complete mistake, a one-off . . .’
Amy reached for the glass and took a gulp of wine.
‘It didn’t mean anything. It really didn’t. But you were away doing that yoga convention and she was lonely and . . . well, we do have history.’
Amy sighed, partly in relief. And it didn’t escape her that he’d tried to blame her being away for work for why it happened. As though somehow it was her fault that he had been unfaithful. ‘Look, Ross, there is no easy way to say this to you and I am genuinely sorry as I don’t like hurting anyone. But I need to go home to Scotland. I don’t want to be here anymore.’
‘But it meant nothing! I’m sorry.’ He shrugged. ‘I probably shouldn’t even have told you.’
‘I am glad you told me. We need to be honest which is what I am trying to be with you. I want to go home. Alone.’
‘Are you sure you actually know what you want, Amy?’ he persisted. ‘I mean you’ve seemed fairly happy to move in with me and live here for the past few months.’
