Page 112 of The Wedding Pact
‘How’s your mum been over the weekend?’ she interrupted herself, remembering he’d said she wasn’t feeling great on Friday evening, and that he’d been out getting her some medication when they’d gone up the evening before.
‘She’s okay, better than Friday, sorry for cancelling.’ Abe smiled down at her and they began a descent of the hill. She felt his presence close to her, so magnetised that she had to stop herself from leaning her arm against him. She felt it from him too, like he wanted to touch her, like he was clasping his hands together in front of him to stop himself reaching out. ‘How’s Flynn? Did he have a good flight?’
‘Yep,’ she replied, noticing the strain in his voice.
She took a breath, wondering what this would mean for the two of them. What did she want it to mean? He was kind, they had a spark, but once the lie was set free and they could be together, would they actually want to?
Or were they just two lonely people looking for reassurance after all?
There was only one way to find out.
‘Listen. About Flynn.’
‘I don’t want to—’ he started.
‘Abe, wait. Do you remember that day of the open house, when you let Flynn and I in together?’
‘Of course.’
‘Well … We were never theretogether… ’ August opened up and told Abe the truth about the months she’d been living in Elizabeth Street, and about her relationship with Flynn, or, moreover, the lack of one. As she spoke, she watched his face for a sign that he was somehow happy because it meant she was single. They were free to date. But no such look came.
‘So what I’m saying is,’ she finished. ‘We both wanted to live here so much that we made a stupid mistake that we thought would land us the apartment. I made the mistake, mainly, it was my idea. I’m sorry for lying.’
Abe walked silently beside her, his eyes on the ground.
‘We’re going to tell your mum, and whatever she decides she wants us to do we’ll do, but I wanted to tell you first, because … ’
He stopped and faced her. They were on a quiet, deserted street, not far from her grandmother’s home, and shaded by trees. August’s instinct was to try and fill the silence with more babble, or apologies, but she kept her mouth shut. She let Abe, thoughtful, considered Abe, work through his thoughts.
He took a step closer to her.
‘So are you and Flynn … ’
‘There is no me and Flynn,’ August answered, although the admission caused an ache deep within her, and she wondered whether it was even true.
‘I don’t think I can do this,’ Abe said, his voice quiet, and he broke her gaze by looking down at the ground.
August touched Abe’s arm and like a spark igniting he looked up at her. And she thought about what it would be like to kiss him.
She imagined how it would feel if he grazed his fingers against her skin, if he pulled her into him. She remembered the longing they’d both felt over the past month. Part of her wanted, needed, the barrier to smash and for them to kiss, sweet and new and the most wonderful closure for the both of them.
But two lonely hearts don’t make a right. Instead of kissing, after a moment, they both stepped down and he said, ‘I’m glad I know the truth. But you know I need to back away.’
‘I know,’ August whispered back, trying to stop staring at his lips, because he was right, this was the right thing to do. But that didn’t stop him being quite yummy.
‘You’ve been lying to my mum, to everyone, for over half a year. Messing with their feelings. Callie adores you and calls you the ‘dream couple’. My mum trusted you with her house. I … I liked you and I felt awful for that, and for Flynn. And I do understand why you did it, but she’s still my mum. I know she can be stuck in her ways and old-fashioned, but she’sstillmy mum.’
August let his words sink in, agreeing with everything he said. Shewashis mum, of course he would be angry at anyone who wronged her.
‘Do you think if this had never happened you and I might have … ?’ They were still close, her hand on his arm, cherishing these soon-to-be-over moments.
He shook his head, and then swept his gaze over her lips, a parting ghost of a kiss in place of the real thing, before saying, ‘If that had never happened, then I wouldn’t have even known you, and I’m glad I do.’
August breathed him in, and finally let him go.
Stepping back, he transformed back into Abe Haverley, landlady’s son, though they let their fingertips linger against each other until the end.
Abe turned to walk the other way, and August began to make her way back to her home.
