Page 153 of The Love Position

Tears threatening to fall, Sophia gave it one final whack.

The remains split in two and a small plastic bag fell to the ground.

Hands trembling, she lifted it up. Inside was a set of keys on a ring with a sterling silver letter ‘S’ and a note.

Sophia, my heart will always be yours and I’ll wait as long as you need. Isaac xxx

He’d given her a set of keys to his house.

She took a shaky breath. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.

Isaac had said he wanted her to stay with him forever and this showed her he meant it. But did this also mean he was back from India?

Sophia’s hand went unconsciously to her face, her hair. She needed a shower. Should she pack a bag? Was he really back? What was she going to tell her mum?

She ran towards the house. The only way to find out if Isaac had indeed returned was to go to his house and see for herself.

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Parking in the area outside the five-bar gate into Isaac’s property, Sophia left her overnight bag in the boot.

What if he wasn’t there? What if she was being presumptuous by bringing her pyjamas, clothes and toiletries? No matter how explicit Isaac’s invitation had been, Sophia was still a reserved Englishwoman down to her core and a tiny part of her was braced for disappointment.

She gazed at the lighter coloured areas of wood on the gate. The aggressive signs telling people to keep out of his private property had been removed.

Butterflies danced in her tummy to the rapid beat of her heart as she went through the gate, the metal latch clicking into place behind her.

Standing for a moment, she took it all in. The rustling leaves above her were changing colour with the fading of summer, but the warmth from the day still lingered. Birds noisily went about their business, with no awareness of just how much had changed since her last visit. Clutching the keys Isaac had given her, Sophia took a deep breath and set off down the path.

Every step forward was a meditation and a commitment to a future with Isaac. She’d never been so aware of her own agency as she moved through the world. This was the beginning of a brand-new chapter in her life, and she was consciously choosing her own destiny.

Her feet crunched softly on the track as it curved to the right, Isaac’s house still obscured from view by the thicket of evergreens. Despite her nervousness, Sophia’s pace didn’t slow, and her breathing was steady and controlled. Squaring her shoulders, she rounded the bend and looked for her dream man inside his dream house.

She couldn’t see him, but the bi-fold glass doors separating the living space from the deck were open, and the sight pushed her pulse higher. He was here.

Going to the front door, she knocked.

Nothing.

Even though she could have walked through the glass doors a few yards to her left, Sophia took the keys Isaac had given her, slid the top one effortlessly into place, and entered the house.

‘Isaac?’

No reply.

On the wall to her right were two hooks. One had a set of keys hanging from it and the letter ‘I’ above it. The other was empty with the letter ‘S’ above. Heart jumping with excitement, Sophia hung up her keys, then continued into the house.

It was just as she’d remembered; clean, tidy, and so beautiful. Like walking into an upmarket interiors magazine. On the kitchen island was a woven willow trug, filled with salad leaves and fresh vegetables. Was Isaac in the garden?

Making her way through the silent house, Sophia pushed open the back door, stopping dead as she spotted Isaac in the distance.

He hadn’t noticed her, his attention on picking flowers from a bed of wild colour, his movements graceful and measured. Dressed in a plain t-shirt and loose linen trousers, Sophia half expected a photographer to appear, shooting the next Ralph Lauren advertising campaign.

Her gaze ranged over his tanned arms as he moved, the tips of his tousled brown hair bleached lighter by the Caribbean sun. He was the most beautiful man she’d ever known. And he’d given her the keys to his heart and home.

Sophia didn’t want to move, held in a liminal space between the end of something and the beginning of everything. She just stood, revelling in the perfect moment of stillness, knowing that the man before her was the one she would spend the rest of her life loving.

Then Isaac straightened, noticed her and froze, his shocked expression easing into a tentative smile.

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