Chapter Twenty One

‘ T hank you so so much. All of you.' Erin looked around the kitchen. Diane, Brooke, Wendy, Molly, Teresa and Ian had gathered to say goodbye to her. ‘I'll miss each and every one of you.'

‘We'll miss you, too. We really will.' Diane pulled her in for a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around her. ‘You'd best visit when you come back to see Tim.'

‘I will. I promise.' Erin wiped her eyes at the mention of Tim.

‘Take this, love.' Ian pushed a tissue into her hand. ‘Have a wonderful life in America, but don't forget your pals in little old Penworth Bay.'

Erin smiled. ‘I won't.'

‘Now go and say your most important goodbye, love.' Ian indicated to the back door leading out of the kitchen to the small courtyard at the back of the bakery.

‘Yep.' Erin nodded slowly. She wasn't sure how she was going to do this. How was she supposed to say goodbye to the man she loved? The man who she'd grown up with beside her, who had always been in her corner? The man who, over the past few weeks, she'd grown to love romantically. Her The One?

‘Go on then, love. Elsie is waiting in the car when you're ready.' Ian rubbed her back, guiding her towards the back door.

Taking a deep breath, Erin glanced back at the group of friends standing around the table before pulling the door open and stepping outside.

‘Hey.' Standing up from the metal garden chair he'd been sitting at, Erin's holdall at his feet, Tim held his arms out towards her.

‘Hi.' Sinking into his embrace, she hugged him tightly. ‘I can't believe this day has come round so quickly.'

‘Nor can I.'

‘I just...' Erin sniffed. ‘You understand why I have to go, don't you?'

She felt him shake his head, ever so slightly before answering, his voice a whisper against her ear. ‘I do.'

Leaning back, she took his hands in hers and looked at him. ‘I have to prove myself. I have to show him, Kyle, all of them. I have to show all of the people who agreed to this promotion that I'm capable of the position, that I can do the job and that I should have been promoted without Kyle's intervention.'

‘I understand you need to go to show him you're capable.' Tim nodded before fixing his eyes on the ground.

‘No... I...' It sounded so shallow when someone else said it. ‘We'll be okay, won't we?'

Meeting her gaze, Tim smiled. ‘Of course we will.'

‘Good.'

‘I think Elsie is waiting for you.' Tim nodded towards the gate before taking his hands gently from hers and picking up her holdall.

‘Right, yes. She is.' She held out her hand, taking her holdall.

‘I'm not going to wave goodbye. I don't think I can.'

‘No, it's probably for the best.' Erin set her jaw.

‘I love you, Erin.'

‘I love you too.' Dropping the holdall between them, Erin stepped forward again, and resting her hand on the back of his neck, drew him towards her. As their lips touched, she realised that this should be the happiest moment of her life - hearing those three words from Tim for the first time - but it wasn't. She thought it might even possibly be one of the saddest moments.

Taking a step back, she straightened her back and retrieved her holdall from the ground before turning and walking towards the gate.

As she opened the gate, she glanced around. Tim was still there, standing and watching her. She walked through and shut it quietly behind her.

‘All right, love?' Elsie opened the car boot, letting Erin place her holdall inside before she closed it again. ‘All ready for your next adventure?'

With a slight nod of her head, Erin opened the passenger door and slipped inside. Was she ready? This had been all she'd been working towards after all, and even if she had been given the promotion to make room for Vicki, she'd still worked towards it. She'd still dedicated her life to the company.

‘Okay, let's get going. We'll miss the traffic if we're lucky.' Elsie started the car and drove slowly down the narrow lane leading behind the shops.

‘That will be good.' Erin spoke quietly.

At the end of the lane, Elsie indicated left, the rhythmic click-click-click of the indicator filling the silence before she pulled out onto the cobbles and cleared her throat. ‘You don't have to do this, you know.'

Erin turned to her. ‘Do what?'

‘Leave the bay, leave Tim. Even if this job is all you've been working towards your whole career, life changes, our priorities shift.'

‘But I need to prove to Kyle, to everyone who knows he's just given me a promotion so he can move his girlfriend into the office.' She looked out of the window.

‘And will he know?'

‘Know what?'

‘Will Kyle know when you've proven yourself?'

She watched as they left the village. The shops, the hustle and bustle of the thriving seaside village being replaced by fields and trees, hedgerows. ‘No, I don't suppose he will. But I will.'

‘Okay.' Elsie kept her eyes on the road ahead.

‘What am I doing?' Erin looked down at her hands. ‘I'm throwing away the best thing that's ever happened to me because it's not in my five-year plan, aren't I?'

‘You know what's best for you.'

‘No, I don't, though, do I? The best thing for me is to stay in Penworth Bay, make a life with Tim. And I'm throwing all of that away to, what? Prove a point to my ex-husband? Because of a list I wrote years ago?' She couldn't breathe. She tried to suck in the air, but the car was suddenly too stuffy, she couldn't get any oxygen.

‘Erin, love?'

She took breath after breath. This wasn't right. This wasn't what she wanted. ‘I can't breathe.'

‘Hold on.' Elsie served the car to the side of the road and pulled the handbrake up.

Opening the car door, Erin stepped outside. The air was cooler, fresher. She steadied her breathing.

Running around to her, Elsie placed her hand on Erin's back, rubbing it gently. ‘Are you okay now, love?'

‘Yes, sorry. I...' She bent over, sinking to the grass verge. ‘I can't do this. I don't want to go. I want to stay with Tim.'

‘I know.' Elsie smiled. ‘Let's get you back home, back to the bay.'

Erin smiled. The way Elsie had said ‘home'. It had sounded so real. So normal. And it was then Erin knew she wanted to be able to call it her home, too. Turning, she walked the few short steps back to the car, pausing as another car pulled up behind them. It was Tim.

Throwing his car door open, Tim ran toward her, meeting her between the two cars. ‘I'm coming with you.'

Falling into his arms, Erin laid her cheek against his chest, breathing in his familiar aftershave. ‘No, you're not. I'm not going anywhere.'