Christmas at Bay Tree Cottage by Linn B. Halton

Author:Linn B. Halton
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008261306
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2017-07-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Luke

Making an Effort

Hey, Lisa, I was working and couldn’t get back to you. Busy day. How was yours?

I press send and leave my phone on the worktop as I push a load of washing into the machine. I’m trying to get everything sorted ready to pack a small bag to take to Mum’s for the weekend. I left Elana’s early, passing on dinner as there are chores I need to do here and I made good progress today at Bay Tree. Ping.

Hey, Luke. Assumed that was the case. Okay day for me. Didn’t mean to pull you away, but wanted to make contact just to check out that you’re happy to meet up.

Fair enough, I’d probably be thinking the same thing if I’d given her my number and never received a call. I begin typing and then think, what the heck, texting is too restricted. As I press the call button my throat goes dry and I swallow hard as she picks up.

‘Luke?’

‘Yep. Thought it was easier to chat than type.’

‘Lovely! It’s nice to speak to you. I was a bit worried Cheryl might have made Greg talk you into this. They certainly seem to be getting on very well.’ She sounds genuinely pleased that I called. I thought it was easier to get the tricky stuff said and see how she takes it.

‘So it seems. I’m a bit rusty when it comes to the dating thing, to be honest. It’s been a while.’

‘Same here. Awful, isn’t it? I’ve pretty much dated the same guy off and on since school. Then one day he made it clear it wasn’t going anywhere. It’s just easier to keep doing the same thing, without giving it too much thought, isn’t it? So here I am, six months on, and still trying to let go of the past.’

I like the fact that she’s prepared to be up front. That’s why I made the call.

‘Has Greg mentioned my situation?’

‘No, he just said you were a great guy,’ she laughs.

‘That was helpful, then.’

‘Well, he was hardly going to admit that he probably had to call in a big favour to please Cheryl, who is determined to get us together.’

Straight to the point, I like that.

‘My situation isn’t straightforward. I have an eighteen-month-old son and an ex-partner who are still very much a part of my life.’

‘Oh, I see. That makes sense now. I was a little hurt when you didn’t call me, to be honest. I mean, I’m not that bad and it was only a coffee I was proposing.’

Now it’s my turn to laugh. She has a sense of humour.

‘I just don’t know if I’m good company at the moment. Even a year after the break-up it’s tricky still. I have to put them first, of course, but with having to work extra to make the maintenance payments, it doesn’t give me much time, or money, for things like socialising. I wanted you to be aware of my situation because I don’t think it’s fair to try to hide it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.