Page 137 of Valentine Nook
Miles tips his head back to look at the ceiling, which I’ll admit raises a small smile. “You don’t honestly believe in all that, do you, Agatha? C’mon, isn’t it all a little far-fetched?”
“Only to the unenlightened, Miles,” she replies, haughtily. “If you opened up your heart a bit more, then you’d be able to accept the love you crave so deeply.”
“I get plenty of love, thank you very much.”
It’s clear exactly the version of “love” Miles is talking about, to which Agatha raises a withering eyebrow in response.
Thankfully, Clementine arrives before the pair of them get into an argument, and squeezes into the booth next to me. She almost looks as sad as I feel. I’m tempted to ask her if she’s heard from Holiday about this West End business. But I don’t want to know the answer because if she has when I haven’t, I know it’ll make me feel doubly shitty.
“Oh hey, Agatha, how’s it going?” she asks, almost absentmindedly, before thumbing behind her. “D’you two know who that woman is at the bar? I’m sure I just heard her asking for directions to Burlington. I think she had an American accent.”
Miles and I turn around to see a woman with dark blond hair and a tiny baby strapped to her chest talking to one of Eddie’s bar staff. She’s not very tall, and she’s pretty, if a little tired looking, which would be understandable if she’s just become a mother.
The longer I stare, I’m certain there’s something oddly familiar about her, but I meet so many people it’s hard to remember them all.
“Maybe. I’m not sure. I’d need to get closer to know.”
“Same. I swear I’ve seen her before. She’s definitely hot, so it’s possible . . .” Miles begins, before his face drops in panic. “Shit, I hope that’s not my child.”
Agatha’s also staring hard at the woman now talking to Eddie. “It’s not. That child is Alex’s.”
“Oh, thank god,” Miles replies, before his head jerks back in Agatha’s direction. “Wait, what did you just say?”
“That child is Alex’s,” she repeats calmly, not like she’s just dropped an atomic bomb of information. Then because she’s Agatha, and a law unto herself, she walks off as quickly as she arrived without another word.
Clementine’s intake of air is so sharp she splutters. Miles spins around again to stare harder, and then I realize where I’ve seen that girl. The last time was standing in the middle of a bakery in Aspen waiting for Alex to say his goodbyes.
The answer hits Miles at the same time. “It’s Haven.”
“Alex’s Haven?” whispers Clementine.
“Shit, what do we do?” I down the remains of my glass only for Miles to keep me from standing.
“We’redoing nothing.” He points hard at my chest. “You’re going to LA. Clementine and I will deal with Haven.”
I glance at my sister, who seems as shocked as I am by the turn of events.
“Milo, I can’t just fly to LA.”
“You can. The plane is fueled and waiting. James is outside in the car ready to take you, and I packed you an overnight bag, which is also in the car.”
What the hell is happening right now? An hour ago, I was nursing my sorrows and minding my own business. Now the girl Alex loves is standing in The One True Love, holding a baby, and I’m heading to get Holiday back.
The most shocking of all, however, is that Miles has volunteered to deal with whatever the situation is, without making a joke of the whole thing. He seems totally serious.
Clementine claps her hands far too enthusiastically. “It’s like a real-life movie ending.”
I frown at my sister. “I don’t know where she lives.”
Miles pulls out his phone and taps the screen, only for mine to buzz with a message. I look down to find a photo ofa package with an address label for Los Angeles. “Now you do.”
“How did you get it?”
“Holiday’s assistant was at Bluebell yesterday packing up boxes. I happened to pop by and say hello. While I was there, I saw the address label.”
“You really think I should go?”
“Yes,” Clementine and Miles insist in unison.
