Summer Fling (21 page)

“Can you take me home?” Tears ran down her
cheeks.

He stared at her for a moment. Then,
without another word, he got his keys and walked out.

He locked the door behind her and they got
in the car, and he started the engine and reversed until he faced up the drive.
There he stopped and turned to face her. “Chloe…”

“Just drive.” She looked out of the window,
pressing the back of her fingers to her trembling lips.

They didn’t speak again as he drove to
Paihia. He pulled up outside her house and left the car idling. He didn’t look
at her, but studied the steering wheel, jaw knotted.

“Thank you for a lovely evening.” Her voice
sounded weak and insincere. It annoyed her, so she cleared her throat and tried
again. “Thank you Garth. I had a nice time.”

He nodded.

She got out and ran into the house.

Thursday and Friday were possibly the two
most miserable days of Chloe’s life. Part of her longed for Garth to call. The
other part dreaded hearing the sound of his voice, because she knew if she did,
she completely fold and tell him how much she missed him.

“Oh Chloe, please go and see him,” Stella
begged on Thursday evening, kneeling by her side where she lay on the sofa.
“You look awful.”

Chloe smiled weakly. “It’s all right, Stel,
I’m okay.”

“You’re not okay. Your eyes are red and
you’re white as a ghost. You look so unhappy.”

“I’ll be fine. I just need…” Her voice gave
out and her face crumpled.

Stella threw her arms around her. “Your
fucking mother. She’s completely screwed you up.”

“It’s not her fault…”

“It
is
her fault, because Garth’s
the best thing that ever happened to you. You met this guy, and he’s gorgeous
and single and absolutely loaded, and he asked you home, and he’s great in bed,
and then he even asked you to marry him, and because of your mother, you say
no!”

Chloe rested her head on Stella’s shoulder
and wailed.

When she eventually quieted, Stella got her
a drink and curled up on the sofa beside her. “Maybe he was a bit hasty,”
Stella admitted, “but I don’t think that’s necessarily a sign it would all go
tits up.”

Chloe sighed and ran a hair through her
hair. “I know. I do know that. I must seem crazy to you, and to him. But it’s
just so hard to explain. Even to you, and you know a lot of what I’ve been
through. But I’ve literally lost count of the number of times my mother’s done
this to me.”

She sipped her wine and rested her head on
the back of the sofa, looking up at the ceiling. “The first time I can
remember, I was eight. Dad had left three years before. Mum brought a guy
called Callum home. I don’t remember much about him, but I do remember what she
was like with him, all starry-eyed. They were draped over each other, kissing
all the time, giggling. Every night for about two weeks, when he came around,
she’d sit me in front of the TV with some coloring-in, and then they’d disappear
into her room for ages. She started planning the wedding. We discussed what
color my bridesmaid’s dress would be, and I got so excited. Then, the following
week, they broke up.”

“Oh Chloe…”

“That was just the first time. By the time
I reached my teens, I’d grown wiser, and every time she brought a guy home, I’d
think oh yeah, we’ll see. But every time, she said, ‘this is the one, Chloe.’
And it never was.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Chloe wiped her tears away tiredly.

“But the thing is, you’re not your mother.”
Stella’s earnest face pleaded for Chloe to believe her. “Most people who get
married fall in love on their first date. And surely it’s better to fall madly
in love and have some passion in your relationship than to end up with someone
like Ethan? And I’m not talking about the money thing here, I mean the fact
that you thought he was safe, because what you felt for him was affection and
fondness, not love.”

“I did love him…” The angel in her head
frowned at that, though. She’d never felt for Ethan in years what she already
felt for Garth after only a few weeks.

Stella sat forward on the sofa and took
Chloe’s hands in hers. “You know whatever I say here, I say because I love you,
sweetie. I’m your biggest fan, I really am. But I’m telling you now, I don’t
think you loved Ethan. Or, I don’t think you were
in
love with him. And
that may have felt safe to you, because love can be scary, but
not
being
in love with the man you’re with is far more dangerous. Because when you love
someone, you’re willing to fight for them, to brave the bad times. If you don’t
love your partner, you’re going to run into trouble as soon as the going gets
tough.”

Fresh tears fell onto Chloe’s cheeks. “I’m
so scared,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be like her.”

“I know.”

“Every time she broke up with a guy, she
fell into the pit of despair. I can’t tell you the number of times she told me
she felt like taking her own life.”

“I know, sweetie, and that sucks, it really
does. But you’re not like that. You’re not bipolar, and you’re more aware of your
emotions than Nina is. You’ve got to start learning to trust though.”

“Trust what?”

“Garth, for one thing. I really think he
has deep feelings for you. He’s obviously got his own problems, what with being
held captive, and what happened to his wife. The poor guy’s gone to hell and
back, but in spite of all that he’s really opened up to you. Mat said he’s
crazy about you—and that he’s never seen Garth like that with anyone, not even
Jess.”

Chloe bit her lip to stop a sob escaping.

“And also,” Stella continued, squeezing her
fingers, “you’ve got to trust in love too. Not every relationship ends badly. I
know they say one in three marriages ends in divorce, but that means two in
three couples stay married. We all know people whose relationships have ended unhappily,
but I also know plenty who’ve stayed together, and who still love each other,
even after twenty years of marriage. And I know for a fact that a few of those
couples started off with a one-night stand.”

“But surely, if things start so intense,
they can’t continue like that?” Chloe wanted to believe her, but the years of
cynicism were hard to shake off.

“I don’t know. The longest I’ve been out
with anyone is six months. From what I understand, passion develops over time
into something deeper, into true love. But I don’t think it happens the other
way around. I don’t think affection develops into passion. I think it’s either
there or it’s not. And do you really want to be married to someone and not have
that passion?”

Fresh tears ran down Chloe’s face. “I don’t
know. I’m so confused.”

Stella hugged her again. “Come on. It’s not
all over. You’ve had an argument, is all.”

“I don’t know… I think I hurt him, Stel.”
The memory of the pain on his face speared her heart. “He’s been through so
much. I don’t know if he’ll be able to forgive me.”

“He will. It’s amazing what we can forgive
when we love someone.”

Chloe wasn’t so sure. She rested her cheek
on Stella’s shoulder. “I think I’ve blown it.”

“Why don’t you ring him now and talk to
him?”

“I still don’t have his number.”

“Then get in the car and drive over there.”

Chloe lifted her head and wiped her face.
“No. I’ll wait until tomorrow. I’m going to see Nick. I’m thinking of asking
Mum if she’ll put the house down as collateral for the business. But I want to
make sure Nick’s happy to sell before I go that far. When I know it’s all going
ahead, I’ll visit Garth. I want to tell him about Cocoa Heaven, put all my
cards on the table, you know? I’ll talk to him properly, I promise.”

Realizing Chloe wasn’t going to change her
mind, Stella gave in, seemingly relieved that her friend had at least decided
the relationship hadn’t finished. Chloe went to bed, but lay awake for hours,
her mind whirling. Stella had spoken the truth—Chloe knew deep down her
problems were all due to her mother and her fear of turning into her. Women
would kill to be in her position, to have a man like Garth after them. Poor
Garth. After everything he’d been through. He’d laid his heart on the line,
given her everything, and she’d thrown it back in his face.

She turned and buried her face in the
pillow. She wanted to see him so badly, it physically hurt. Could she love him
already? Was it really possible they could be in love in such a short space of
time?

Her tangled thoughts went around and around
in her head, until eventually she fell asleep. But she dreamed of Garth, and of
him holding her in his arms. And she awoke with tears on her cheeks. 

On Friday morning, in her tea break, she
rang Cocoa Heaven. The girl in the shop told her Nick was in a meeting, so she
arranged an appointment with him for 5.30pm, after she returned from work.

She couldn’t concentrate at all that day,
what with her nerves about talking to Nick and the thought of going around to
see Garth afterward. But eventually the clock turned 4.30pm and she drove home.
She went straight around to Cocoa Heaven.

The shop was shut, but one of the shop
girls let her in and showed her through to his office.

“Hey.” He sat at his desk, but when Chloe
appeared at the door, he stood and came around to give her a brief kiss on the
cheek. “It’s nice to see you, Chloe.”

“Hi Nick. How are you doing?”

“Okay.” He sat back behind his desk and
gestured for her to take the seat in front of him.

She did so, a strange mixture of emotions
swirling inside her, excitement and nerves at the thought of implementing her
new business plan, plus a strange sick feeling at the realization that this was
the first time she’d seen him since Garth had told her about Nick’s affair with
Jess. This man had almost destroyed Garth, and although she sensed it hadn’t
been done with any vindictiveness, still he’d obviously known about Jess’s
husband being incarcerated when he started the affair. What kind of man did
that make him?

“How’s things?” she asked, trying to relax.

 “Not bad.” He ran his hand through his
hair. He looked tired. “Relieved to sell the business at last, even if I’ve
made a huge loss.”

Chloe stared at him. For a moment, she
thought stupidly that he’d heard about her bank loan and was referring in a
roundabout way to her proposal. Then she understood. “You’ve sold the
business?”

Oh for fuck’s sake…
The devil stood with hands on hips, exasperated.

“Yes.” He sighed. “It was one of the
hardest things I’ve ever had to do, to sign it away. The bastard struck a hard
bargain. I nearly told him to get lost. But better the shop stays open—part of
me would have died inside if it had closed…” His voice trailed off and he
stared at her, obviously seeing the blank look on her face. “Wait, you don’t
know?”

“I…” Her head spun. “Why would I know?”

He frowned. “Because I sold it to Rowland.
I assumed he bought it for you. Shit, have I spoiled the surprise?”

She blinked. For a brief second she
entertained the thought that Garth had bought the business for her. And then
she remembered what he’d said to her that day in the car. “I’ve got things I
have to sort out, things to do with the past, and I don’t want you caught up in
them.” The man was too caught up in pain and anger to think straight.

“What’s the matter?” Nick asked.

“Garth didn’t buy the shop for me. I came
here to offer to buy it myself. Oh Nick, I hate to tell you this, but Garth
Rowland isn’t his real name.”

“What are you talking about?”

“His real name is Richard—Rick, Taylor.”

Nick stared at her blankly.

“Jess’s husband,” Chloe added softly.

Nick stared at her. “What?”

“I know about your affair with her. And
about the accident. I’m sorry, Nick.” Even though the woman had been married to
somebody else, presumably he was distraught that she’d died.

He frowned. “No, you’ve got the wrong man. She
was married to this journalist who got captured in the Middle East somewhere.
He was away for ages.”

She felt numb inside and slightly sick.
“Yes, it’s him. He told me. He came back to New Zealand a year ago.”

Nick’s face registered complete shock. “Garth
was Jess’s husband?”

“Yes.”

“But... I don’t understand. Why would he
want to buy Cocoa Heaven?”

 “To destroy it.” The voice came from the
doorway, and their heads snapped around to see Garth standing there, leaning
against the doorjamb.

He looked calm, thought Chloe, his hands
tucked in the pockets of his jeans, but his eyes were flat and hard. He didn’t
even look at her. He focused his gaze on Nick.

Nick pushed himself slowly to his feet, and
Chloe followed.

“You’re Jess’s husband,” Nick said flatly.