Chapter 19

The Littles' Market was far worse than Isla could ever have prepared herself for. It was minute after minute of talking, talking, talking, with this fake-ass smile plastered across her face that made her cheeks ache.

Susie had looked slightly alarmed when she'd seen it, but she really didn't have the time to check in with Isla, as she was beset with enquiries herself. The stall was super popular, with people coming over for the cute stuffies, and staying when they saw the other services they provided.

When she looked up, taking a breath, she met Rachel's eyes.

"Hey," her girl mouthed.

"Hey," she mouthed back.

"Are you okay?"

Isla's eyebrows raised all the way up into her hairline and she considered lying for a moment, then gave up and shrugged.

Rachel slipped through the crowd until she could make her way behind the stall. Susie snuck a look at her in surprise, but when she realized who it was, she smiled instead and turned back to the Little boy she was talking to.

"I've got someone who can help."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," said her darling girlfriend, and she reached into her pocket and pulled out the kitty that Isla had placed into her princess tent, that first night in Rachel's new flat. "I've got kitty with me, and she fits perfectly in a pocket. You should put her in yours and then, when it all feels a little too much, you can stroke her head and know that you have her and you have me."

Isla stared at Rachel, the brunette's face flushed and animated. How had she gotten so lucky? Meeting that tearful woman in the supermarket all those years ago… if she'd just walked on by, or not needed some tomatoes, she'd have missed this. She'd have missed her.

She'd have missed the love of her life.

"I love you," she said, and kissed Rachel. Her lips were cool, and she made an adorable squeak that had Isla wanting to carry her off into some dark corner of this big hall and ravish her right then and there.

When she pulled back, Rachel had gone bright red, and the people around them were ahhing.

"Isla," she said, her eyes all embarrassed. "In public?"

"I'm sorry," she said. "I know you're working, I just couldn't help it. Come on, hand over kitty. She'll be the perfect companion for me until you're done for the day."

That made Rachel's sunshine smile blink back into existence again, and Isla basked in the warmth of it.

"Here you go. She likes to have her head peeking out of the top of the pocket, so that she can see everything."

"I can do that," said Isla, and she carefully placed the stuffie in her jeans pocket, so she could look out across the market. "It's going really well though, the event. Everyone seems super enthused about it. You did good, babygirl."

Rachel flushed pink again. "Yeah, it seems to be going really well, and everyone is so nice and so kind. It's exactly the space I would have wanted for myself, ten years ago. Maybe then I wouldn't have ended up in some of the situations I did." But she reached out and squeezed Isla's hand. "But then perhaps I wouldn't have met you, and not meeting you would have been the worst mistake the universe could ever have made for me." And going on tiptoes she whispered in Isla's ear, "I love you, Daddy," before heading back out to oversee the market.

After that, the smile Isla's face felt less forced, and when she spoke to all the potential customers and clients, she felt herself unwinding slightly. It wasn't too bad once you got into it.

At one point, when it got super busy around the lunchtime hour, Daniel appeared from somewhere, Mossie, Rubie and Anna in tow, and offered to cover the stall whilst she and Susie ate. She accepted gratefully, and grabbing the food that had been delivered, headed out into the foyer to find Tel.

"I don't suppose there's a quiet corner somewhere that I can eat in?" she asked. "I think the noise in the main hall is overwhelming me somewhat, and I could really do with a break."

"Absolutely," said Tel, and took them into what looked like a smaller conference room. "This is the designated quiet room for today, so you should be able to destress in here."

"I genuinely cannot thank you enough," Isla said, and breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't feel bad about leaving Susie to eat on her own, because she'd spotted Briana gathering up the Stuffie Hospital London boss, and forcing her to sit down in a corner and take a break.

And so Isla got some much-needed quiet time.

She could have gone and found Rachel, because Rachel never felt like work, but instead she decided to take the half hour she had, to sit by herself and think.

Days like today were proving to her that the support she wanted to give, and the support she wanted for herself, was available. But it was here. In Brighton.

London had been her home for forever. She'd never lived anywhere else—even as a child, even at uni—and the idea of leaving it all behind was terrifying. Isla was a creature of habit. She liked things just so, and she didn't mind saying so, but this would mean a huge amount of change, and Isla didn't yet know what Rachel would think about it.

Because she would be moving for Rachel, she knew that. If she had her way, she'd live in London forever, but Rach couldn't; Rach needed something else. She needed a different pace of life, with friendlier people, in a town that didn't threaten to gobble up your very soul.

It wasn't a decision she could make on her own. She'd have to talk to work, talk to Susie, see if there was some way for her to have a flexible working arrangement. Two days a week in the office, three days a week from home—something like that.

Sipping her water, she paused. Was she moving too fast? Would she freak Rachel out? She'd need to get her own place—Rachel had already signed a one-year contract—but it would certainly be a huge change for the both of them.

Isla placed her knife and fork on her plate, leaned back and sighed. Too many decisions to make, and she knew Rachel, Rach wouldn't want to influence her in any way, so she was going to have to go in with a fairly good idea of what she wanted in the first place.

Oh, to be less indecisive.