Page 28 of The Player

“I am not,” he protests.

I nod. “Point proven.” I look at the shelves behind her. “And I’ll have a bag of the dried lavender and some of the honey, please.”

She hands me a bag and the honey, and after giving us our drinks, she promises to bring our food over.

We wander off. Dotted about the fields of lavender are old wooden benches, and I settle down at one, feeling the heat of the sun on my face. I take a big breath, smelling the lavender and feeling peace steal over me. When I look up, he’s watching me.

“This is my haven,” I say. “I love it here.”

“Do you come a lot?”

“When I’m feeling stressed. It has a very serene feel to it.”

He looks around as a breeze blows his golden-brown hair about his face. “I can see that.” He looks back at me, a crooked smile on his face. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

“Has it worked?” He nods. “Want to talk about it to me?”

He shakes his head immediately. “No, Ireallydon’t,” he says with a funny intensity that makes me frown.

“Okay,” I finally say and smile at the girl as she brings us our food.

“Just like that?” he says.

I shrug, opening my sandwich and taking a bite. “Just like that,” I say after swallowing. “You’ll talk when you’re ready.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I know you.” I reach over and tap his sandwich. “Eat your food. You’ll feel better after it.”

We eat our sandwiches, making idle conversation about work and watching the people moving about the fields.

When we’ve finished, we sit back and sip our drinks.

“That was good,” he says. “You were right.”

“I’m always right.”

“And usually irritating with it.”

I laugh. “You don’t mean that.”

He watches me, his eyes hidden by the sunglasses he slid on a few minutes ago. “No, I don’t.” A silence falls that’s not at all easy until he shifts and looks around. “How did you find this place? Did David bring you on a date?”

I snort tea out of my nose. “Shit,” I say, grabbing a serviette and glaring at him. “Stop being funny when I’m drinking.”

“I wasn’t aware I was being funny.”

“Can you imagine David bringing me here on a date? It’d be like John Mayer staying at a nunnery.” I pause to consider. “I don’t think I ever went on a date with David.”

He jerks. “What? Why not?”

I shrug. “We fell into bed within hours of meeting each other, and he married me after a month. I think he assumed he didn’t have to bother after that.”

He shakes his head. “I loved the man, but he could be an unmitigated twat.”

I laugh. “Sometimes.”

“No, really. He had you, and all he did was fuck you and then leave you here alone while he jetted off being the big I am. I could never understand that.”

---