Page 33 of The Perfect Summer Wedding

‘Served him right,’ Sophie smirked, chancing a glance from beneath her lashes at Noah before asking the question that hadbeen on her mind for a while. ‘Have you been pruning the rose bush we planted for Mum and Dad?’

Noah nodded, staring through the darkness towards the plot where Sophie’s parents were laid to rest.

‘Thanks.’

‘We loved them, too, Sophie. Seb, Dominic, me. It was the least I could do whilst you were… away.’

‘I should have come back more often. I should have spent more time with Aunt Claire before she…’

Noah lifted Sophie up onto the moss-covered stone wall and jumped up next to her, studying his fingernails.

‘I told her it was my fault. If she had to blame anyone then it had to be me.’

‘It wasn’t your fault, Noah. If anything, it was me who jumped to hasty conclusions. Always reacting before thinking, that’s what Aunt Claire used to say. She was right. Why do things have to be so difficult?’ she said softly, tears sliding down her cheeks.

‘They don’t have to be, Soph. You could come back home, run Gingerberry…’

‘I can’t. I love my life in London. I adore the buzz, the nightlife, the people, even the traffic! And I love my boutique. It’s the culmination of all my dreams from as far back as I can remember, you know that, Noah. You were there. But now I’m back here… well, it feels like this is where my heart truly is.’

Sophie couldn’t look at Noah but she knew he was staring at her. It felt like the last four years had slipped into oblivion; that they had simply been apart for the weekend and were now back together. They had so much shared history, so many mutual friends and experiences.

‘A girl can’t have everything, though.’

Noah nodded. ‘Even when I’m on stage playing to thousands of fans, all screaming my name, asking for one more song, you know what I’m thinking? When can I jump on that plane and fly back home to Somersby? Mum and Dad despair of ever getting rid of me. They’ve even taken to leaving estate agents’ sales particulars lying around the house where I can find them. But do you know what? Every one of those glossy brochures is for houses within a ten-mile radius of home.

‘This is where my heart is, Soph, where it will always be. No matter how far I travel, or how successful the band becomes, I will always come back home. And I think you feel the same way. You’ve just been in denial these last four years.’

Sophie met Noah’s eyes at last and almost fell from her perch on the wall. Her breath quickened and longing flashed through her veins and spiralled out to her fingertips. This was her Noah, the man she had given her heart to when she was a teenager and who had refused to let her have it back. He was the first boy she’d kissed and, she realised with a smile, his picture was still sellotaped on that ridiculous wedding scrap box she and Nessa had made all those years ago. She still had it, hidden under her bed in London. She wondered if Nessa had kept hers and whether Seb’s picture was still pasted on the lid, or whether a new photo had taken its place.

‘Look…’ Noah jumped down from the wall and turned to look Sophie in the eyes. He reached into the inside pocket of his black denim jacket and produced a pair of tickets. ‘I’ve brought you these. They’re tickets for a gig The Razorclaws are doing in London. It’s the last one before Finn’s wedding reception over at Somersby Manor Hotel so it’s more of a rehearsal, really. Just a few members of the official fan club, and friends and family members of the band and our management team. Come, please. Bring a friend?’

Noah’s silver eyes held a question but she looked away.

‘We’re expecting about two hundred people. Tickets are like gold dust. I want you there this time, Sophie. I want to see your face in the audience. I need to hear your feedback on one of the songs I’ve written. It’s actually the forerunner of the song I’ve composed for Finn and Lilac’s wedding celebrations and it’ll be the first time it’s been performed in public, even though I wrote the lyrics years ago. I think you’ll like it.’

Noah pressed the tickets into her palm and curled his fingers around hers. She looked down at their entwined hands. It felt so easy and natural to be this close to Noah. She knew every contour of his handsome face, every curve of his muscular, slender body. She had to fight the urge to run her fingers through his spiky sandy hair. Her nostrils prickled as a whiff of his familiar cologne rose up and sent her emotions zooming back to her past.

‘Did you ever wonder what would have happened if you hadn’t run out that night?’

‘I had to get away, Noah,’ she whispered. ‘The image of you with that girl draped across your lap, her arms wound round your neck like a lioness protecting her cub, has remained branded on my soul ever since.’

Noah looked like he was going to say something straight back but he refrained.

‘You’ve done so well. Sophie-Louise is a fabulous success. I’m proud of you, Soph. I’m sorry that this happened to us. If I could turn back the clock…’

‘I know.’

Noah’s mouth was inches away now, his eyes locked on hers.

‘Can’t we…’

He lowered his head, his breath warm on her cheek. Ripples of desire flooded her veins and heat surged through her body as his lips brushed hers and then touched at her ear lobe. She closed her eyes, allowing every one of her senses to sparkle with pleasure. His mouth moved back towards hers and their lips almost joined.

‘No, sorry, Noah, I can’t do this!’

Sophie leapt down from the wall, grazing her knuckles on the stone. What on earth was she doing? Nothing had changed. Noah was still the lead singer in one of the most famous bands of the moment and she had a boutique to run in London. Why was she even considering opening up old wounds that had taken so long to heal, if indeed they ever had? Hadn’t she been hurt enough? Did she really want to put herself through that agony for a second time?

She stepped away but held his eyes, pausing long enough to see the confusion and hurt reflected deep within. Then she ran, ran as if her life depended on it, tears flowing down her cheeks, her heart breaking in two all over again.

---