Chapter Sixteen

C overing her eyes with her hands, Erin took a tentative step forward before turning in the direction of Tim, who was leading her. ‘Are you sure this is safe?'

‘Perfectly safe. And not much further now.' His voice was kind, reassuring.

‘Okay, I believe you.' She laughed as he steered her slightly to the left, his hand on the small of her back guiding her. She wasn't sure where he was taking her, only that once they'd exited the lift, they had gone through what had sounded like a heavy metal door. She could feel the evening's breeze blowing her hair back and cooling her after yet another hot day in the bay. It was quiet too. As though they'd somehow left the world behind, leaving only the two of them in their own little reality.

‘Just slightly to the right now.' He guided her gently.

She grinned. Since the day she'd kissed him and decided to join him in taking a leap of faith and jumping into this relationship, they'd shared dinner, romantic strolls across the beach and meeting at dawn for coffees on the promenade but this was their first proper date as Tim had called it. Something special. Something he'd wanted to do for her to show her how much he felt for her.

‘And we're here.'

‘Does that mean I can open my eyes now?' She felt him take his hand away from her back.

‘Just give me one second.'

Standing there, with her eyes still covered, she listened to Tim's footsteps as he moved away from her. ‘You're not just going to abandon me in the middle of nowhere, are you?'

She heard him chuckle, confirming he was no longer right next to her. ‘Would I do something like that?'

‘Well, no, but...' She grinned as she listened to what sounded like rummaging and a striking noise. The striking of a match, perhaps? She wasn't sure.

After a minute or two, he was right beside her again. ‘Okay, you can open your eyes now.'

Erin lowered her hands and gasped at the sight of a chequered picnic rug laid out in front of her, with candlelight illuminating an array of food and drink. She looked to her left and looked at the stars sparkling in the deep navy sky. They were high up. On a flat roof, perhaps. Just the two of them and the beautiful picnic. ‘Tim, you did all of this for me?'

Grinning, he took her hand and led the way to the picnic rug, before lowering himself to sitting and taking containers from a wicker picnic basket sitting to the side. ‘I even have Ollie's famous mac and cheese you so loved.'

Biting down on her bottom lip, Erin told herself she wasn't going to cry, only she could already feel the tears flowing down her cheeks. She held her arms out, taking in the scenery, the picnic, all of it. ‘This is amazing. How? How did you do all of this?'

‘I've been working on this roof terrace this week and the owner of the house is away tonight.' He shrugged. ‘I asked him if I could borrow it and told him my plans and he was more than happy for me to set this up.'

‘No one's ever gone to such trouble to do something like this for me. Not even close.'

Jumping up, Tim held his hand out towards her. ‘Come and take a look.'

Slipping her hand in his, Erin let him lead her towards the edge of the roof terrace.

‘Look, right there in the distance you can see the beach and the bay.' Wrapping one hand around her middle, he used the other to point to the far distance. ‘Do you see the light from the lighthouse?'

She looked where he was indicating and sure enough, she could make out the lighthouse, its light shining out across the ocean, dancing on the water's surface as the waves rose and fell around it. ‘I see it.'

Moving behind her, Tim wrapped his arms around her waist, and they stood, her leaning into him, her head against his chest, and watched the dappling light on the ocean.

‘Thank you,' she whispered, afraid to break the magic.

‘You're very welcome.'

‘Not just for this beautiful evening and the picnic, but for having the strength to tell me how you felt, for taking that chance.' She felt him kiss the top of her head and closed her eyes revelling in the closeness between them.

‘Thank you for taking a chance on me too.'

She twisted in his arms and leaned forward, their lips touching as he wiped her happy tears away with the pads of his thumbs. Leaning back once more, she met his gaze and suddenly she felt a surge of sadness through her body as her lips quivered.

‘What's the matter?' His words were quiet as he looked at her, his eyes full of concern.

‘I was just thinking that I wish we'd been honest with each other and with our own feelings months ago. At least we'd have had longer together before I've got to leave.'

Closing his eyes, he took a deep shuddering breath before wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close to him. ‘I wish that too.'

‘You know I only have a couple more weeks until I go to America, don't you?' Her voice was almost lost in the fabric of his t-shirt.

‘I know.' His breath tickled her hair. ‘But we can make the most of the little time we have together.'

‘Yes, yes.' Leaning back, she forced a smile. ‘You're right. We need to enjoy the time we have left.'

‘Absolutely.' He grinned as he tucked her hair behind her ears and leaned towards her, his lips touching hers once more.

WITH HER HEAD IN HIS lap, Erin watched the stars shining brighter in the sky as the clouds meandered in front of the moon. This was perfect. This evening. The food, the drink. Everything. She closed her eyes, feeling the breeze against her face and Tim's fingers stroking her hair. The most perfect thing about this evening was the company. Was Tim. And not for the first time since she'd kissed him outside the party shop, she felt the tug of fear in the pit of her stomach. The fear that what they had today, what they had shared for the past few days and would share for the next two weeks, would soon be over.

She had her job, her promotion, her transfer waiting for her. It was a huge step along on her five-year plan and this, what she now had with Tim, hadn't featured at all. When she'd written her plan, heck, when she'd turned up in Penworth Bay, she hadn't even had an inkling about what had been waiting for her. And yet now, as she shared this evening with Tim, she suddenly realised that getting on that plane was going to be the toughest trip she'd ever have to take.