Page 25 of Just the Beginning

Liam groaned. ‘Bloody hell, I didn’t even think about that.’ He sighed. ‘Look, I don’t want to make it seem like this is all Caro’s fault, because it’s really not. She is right, I do make things awkward, but I just get so fed up of having to pretend I care about stuff I find boring.’

‘You’ve not been happy for a while.’ Rick made it a statement because there was no room for anything less than total honesty between them.

There was a long period of silence. ‘No, you’re right, and what’s worse is I’m making Caro miserable too. I still care about her but we’re not the people we were when we met at university.’ He sighed. ‘Or maybe we are but we were tooblinded by love to see the flaws in our relationship. She’s a good person?—’

‘You just have different priorities,’ Rick put in. He raised a hand to rub the ache in his chest. It didn’t matter what he thought about Caro; if this really was the end of the line for her and Liam, then it was a sad day.

‘Yeah. Yeah, that’s it.’ Liam made a strangled sound, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. ‘Christ, I’m going to have to bite the bullet and talk to her about it, aren’t I?’

‘I think you should, for both your sakes. But if I can offer one piece of advice?’

‘Please.’

‘Don’t do it today when you’re both hungover and upset. Take her out somewhere – not to a restaurant or anything like that. Go somewhere you both like – a park, maybe – so there’s enough privacy to be open with each other and space to walk away if things get heated.’

‘That’s good advice, thanks, and look, whatever happens I’ll make sure I’m back for Ma’s birthday party, okay? Just let me know the date when Mum’s finalised the booking with Harry.’

‘It’ll be good to see you. It’s been too long.’

‘Yeah, it has. Hey, how are things there, anyway? How’s Anya settling in?’

Rick was immediately on alert at the mention of her name. ‘Fine, as far as I know. She was on the beach with Freya yesterday and they seemed to be having a good time.’

‘You haven’t seen her since she got back?’ There was definitely a note of curiosity in the question.

‘I’ve seen her around a couple of times, and I sorted out a job for her helping Uncle Davy at the hotel.’

Liam snorted. ‘Way to bury the lead there, bro.’

Rick rolled his eyes even though Liam couldn’t see him. ‘I’vealready had a load of nonsense from Ed about this; don’t you start.’

‘I’m not starting anything! You’re the one acting like you barely know who I’m talking about and then the next second you drop the fact you’ve squared away a job with her – and with Uncle Davy of all people, who is notorious for rejecting anyone’s attempts to help. What happened? Did you bump into the devil at a crossroads and sell your soul?’

He couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Don’t be daft. I just found a way to kill two birds with one stone, that’s all.’

‘Sure, sure, you only helped her out of the goodness of your heart and not because it might make her look kindly upon you.’ Liam’s tone was gently mocking.

Rick gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Give over will you. Why does everyone keep going on about her like she’s the love of my life or something? It was just a stupid crush and I’m well over it.’

‘Isn’t she? Are you?’ Liam’s voice had grown serious. ‘Come on, Rick, this is me you’re talking to; you don’t have to pretend.’

That stopped him in his tracks. After Liam had opened his heart to him about Caro, didn’t Rick owe him at least the same level of honesty? ‘It doesn’t matter what I may or may not feel about her, I’m sure starting another relationship is the last thing Anya wants or needs.’

‘Has she told you that, or are you just assuming you know what’s best for her, just like you do with the rest of us?’

Rick shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going. ‘You make me sound like an arrogant idiot,’ he said, unable to keep the hurt from his voice.

‘Come on, don’t try and deflect, you know that’s not what I meant. There’s a reason everyone comes to you for help and it’s because they know they can rely on you to do your very best for them. I’m just pointing out that it’s been eighteen months sinceDrew died, and given the mess he left Anya in, do you honestly think she’s still mourning him?’

That made Rick sit up and think. ‘Well, no, I suppose not, but she’s still got Freya to consider…’

‘And that would put her off wanting to get involved with you because you’re the kind of unreliable guy who would mess around a woman with a kid, not a decent reliable one who would offer his stupidly big heart equally to a little girl as much in need of love and support as her mother?’

Rick laughed, awkwardly. ‘When this call is over, I’ll have to go and polish my saintly halo. Look, I’ll admit I still find her attractive, but we barely know each other.’

‘So get to know her! Bloody hell, Rick, it was always a mystery to me why you’ve been single all these years but now I realise it’s because you’re basically an idiot when it comes to women.’

‘All right, all right, Mr Domestic Bliss.’ Rick felt awful as soon as he’d said it, but he’d had enough of Liam’s teasing.

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