Page 108 of Dirty Rock

“Something like that,” I said, looking around at the water on both sides of the road. Jules had told me how, when the tide rose around Mersea, this road became unusable, making it a temporary island until the water receded. Fortunately for us that night, the tide was low.

The Uber driver eventually pulled up to the address I’d given him. I was feeling chivalrous enough to jog around the car to open her door and help her out, acting like some 1940s movie star that dare not be anything other than perfect for his virginal beauty queen.

Jules looked around, confused. She obviously recognised the road. She recognised the area. She could hear the sea, and she could smell the fresh air I’d missed while being stuck in London.

“Why haven’t we stopped at my house?” she asked quietly.

“Because I thought I’d bring you to mine, instead.”

“What?” she scowled.

With a smug smile, I spun her around and held onto her from behind.

In front of us was a worn down, out of date, pale blue cottage with a thatched roof. The garden was overgrown, the fencing around it looked like it couldn’t hold up a squirrel, and the trees falling in around it were tired and scraggly.

But it was mine.

The first property I’d ever owned.

Leaning down, I kept my eyes on the house as I whispered in Julia’s ear. “Even when I walked out on you after you quit the band, I knew I’d found something here with you. Something I’d want to come back to one day. It felt a lot like peace, and I wanted more of it. You needed space, and I needed to figure things out, sure, but I still knew, Jules. Even then, I wanted more of it. So…”

She spun in my grip with surprise etched all over her face. “You bought this house? Here? Mersea Island?”

“Yeah.” I tucked hair that didn’t need moving behind her ear, just for an excuse to touch her. My fingertips grazed the side of her face before falling down the back of her neck. “I didn’t even care if we didn’t get to this point. I just wanted to have a reason to be close, even if we didn’t make it as lovers. I’d always need you as a friend.”

“When did you do this?”

“I asked Dicky to help me find a place not long after I left you.”

“But…” She glanced back over her shoulder at the house before she looked back at me and broke out into a breath-taking smile. “Rhett, this house is a shithole.” She laughed.

“It’s not that bad,” I said, looking up at it and cringing. “Is it?”

“You do know it’s been on the market forever.”

“I did not know that, no.”

“Nobody around here wanted it.”

“Really? Why the hell not? It’s blue!”

“Have you even looked inside it?”

I scratched the back of my neck, scrunching my eyes together. “Erm… no.”

“Have you had anyone you trust look inside it?”

I shook my head and pressed my lips into a thin line.

Julia laughed genuinely, and I became addicted to the sound of it. The way it echoed in the night air, stole my breath, and made me want to find the nearest hard surface to throw her down onto.

“Oh, Rhett.” She grabbed onto my arms and dropped her forehead to my chest. “How much did it cost you?”

“Erm…”

“Wait. I don’t want to know.” She shook her head against me. “You’re such an idiot.”

“I’m trying to be romantic here.”

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