Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor

Author:Hazel Gaynor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2024-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29

Olive

London, August 1945

Jack left before sunrise. He dressed in the dark, muttered something about getting home, and awkwardly offered to make me toast before he left.

“It’s fine, Jack,” I whispered. “You don’t have to.”

“I’m sorry, Olive. I really shouldn’t have stayed. I shouldn’t have . . .”

“Jack. It’s fine. I’m fine. Just go, before Rosie hears you.”

I listened as he crept downstairs, like a thief making his escape.

I lay in bed, my stomach churning at the memory of the night we’d spent together, the way he’d touched me, the way I’d responded. We should never have let it go so far, and yet how delicious it had been. I curled into a ball and squeezed my eyes shut, wincing at the thought of seeing Andrea, Peter, everyone. Would they know? Would they be able to tell? Somewhere in the middle of the night, we’d agreed it was a one-off. A mistake. Jack was with Andrea. I was with Peter.

So why had it felt so right to be with each other?

We couldn’t avoid each other for long. The next week was Rosie’s birthday and the whole group was meeting for a celebration. I couldn’t stop thinking about the night we’d spent together. Things hadn’t gone that far yet with Peter, despite him making several attempts, so it was Jack’s touch I thought about, Jack’s kisses I remembered on my lips, even when it was Peter’s arm draped around my shoulders.

I tried to push it from my mind as the night went on, but when I was coming back from the ladies’ and Jack was on his way to the gents’, it was impossible to avoid each other.

We smiled a little shyly.

“Olive,” he said. “Listen. I wanted you to know that Andrea and I had a heart-to-heart, and, well, we are officially a couple now. I wasn’t sure where things stood between us the other night when you and me—and, well I wouldn’t have, you know, if things had been clearer then. I’m not that kind of guy . . .” He shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. “What I’m trying to say is, I had a great time with you, but—”

I forced a smile. “It’s all right, Jack. There’s no need to explain. We agreed it was a one-off. A mistake.”

He smiled, showing the dimple in his cheek where I’d kissed him. “You’re so great, Olive. Peter’s a fool if he doesn’t see what he’s got in front of him. If things had been different, before, well . . . Anyway, I’ll leave it there.”

I laughed to cover my disappointment. “Go to the loo, will you? I’d better get back to the others. And Jack?”

“Yes?”

“Even if the timing was all wrong, I’m not sorry. About what happened.”

He smiled and touched my arm. “How could anyone be sorry about that?”

We never talked about it again. I didn’t even tell Rosie. It was a one-time thing. And although I wished it wasn’t, Jack was with Andrea, and they were happy together, good together although I hated to admit it.

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