ROMANCE: Romantic Comedy: Love in 30 Days - The Best Plans Don't Always Work! (Plus 19 FREE Books Book 13) (11 page)

              “Sure Ali. You go. I want to stay and work.”

              “Great!” said Tristan, “that’s settled then. Well, we’ll see you later Harold. But I’d love the chance to catch up with you at some stage. It’s been years. There’s so much to say.”

Alison noticed that Harold wasn’t looking at them. He just nodded. “Sure.”

Alison grabbed her bag, threw in a small jacket in case the weather changed and headed out with Tristan. She glanced over at Harold but he had already gotten up and gone back to the room.

Chapter Three

              “Listen, I’m sorry about last night. I had no idea you were coming! I’m sure you know that Harold and I don’t speak very often. But anyway, it was a wonderful surprise. I know Harold isn’t a huge fan of this place so it’s nice to see a friendly face. So, how long have the two of you been together?”

Alison and Tristan were down the road and were walking towards the beach. She stopped and looked at him. “What do you mean? We’re married. But surely you know that?”

It was Tristan’s turn to look surprised. “Married? Whoa. You’d think Harold would have told me something as big as that. Nope. I knew nothing.” The look of surprise on his face had turned to hurt.

              “But you were invited to the wedding. You said you couldn’t come.”

              “What? Who told you that? No, I didn’t know about the wedding. Like I said, I didn’t know about you at all.”

              “That’s… that’s what Harold told me.” Alison’s voice was starting to tremble and she suddenly felt as if she was going to fall.

              “Hey, listen, I’m sure he had his reasons. We haven’t been in touch much and he never did like it here. So maybe he just didn’t want his past coming back to him. I’m sure he only did it because he wanted a new life with you. You can see he loves you.”

              “But why? I mean, what was so bad about this place? I know I’ve only just arrived, but it looks beautiful.” And she wasn’t lying. The town had a certain feeling about it that was hard to ignore – a feeling of freedom and warmth. Perhaps it was the sound of the ocean that seemed to follow you wherever you went, but Alison felt more relaxed than she had been in a very long time.

              “It is beautiful Alison. But I guess Harold just never felt like he belonged here. I think he always resented this place. Always resented my father and I for holding him back. We tried to keep him here. Begged him to stay. But he had big ambitions. He wanted to do the things that you see in the movies that we watched and he knew that he would never be able to do them here. Look, I don’t blame him. Not everyone is cut out for this type of lifestyle. Personally, I love it. I tried moving out before. Went to live in London actually for a few months. I loved the culture. I loved the city. I loved meeting new people and seeing new things. But it took only a few months for me to want to come back here. This is where I belong. I want space and sand and sea. I want simplicity. Harold wants adventure and money – and there is nothing wrong with that. This was just not the place for him. It never has been. And well, you’ll discover yourself whether or not you agree with him. Trust me, within a week you will know if you want to stay here or whether you want to rush back to your old life. Come now. Let’s not get too bogged down with it all. I have so much to show you!”

Alison considered everything he said, and wondered how she would feel about the place when it was time to leave. She thought about Harold, cooped up in his room on his computer and not wanting to experience the wind on his back and the sand in his feet. She couldn’t understand it. But then again, this was only day one. He had experienced a whole childhood of this. She was going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. But soon, she was going to speak to him and find out why he had felt the need to lie to her.

Spending time with Tristan was easy and by the end of the day Alison felt completely relaxed in his presence. He had a very comforting way about him and it was easy to see how content he was with his life. Alison couldn’t quite fathom the idea of simply being happy. She was always striving for the next best thing, a trait she had learnt from Harold – and up until now she had always assumed this to be a good thing.

              “You seem so happy here,” she said while the two them had sat on the pier, their legs dangling off the side.

              “But I am.” He said. “Aren’t you happy?”

              “Oh. No. I mean, Yes of course I’m happy. I’m just not used to a life like this. Slow paced. It just makes me wonder, that’s all.”

              “We have our fair share of stresses and worries, as much as the next person. But there is definitely a sense of slowing things down here – the idea that life is too rushed and that each minute should be enjoyed. But hey, I’m sure you do that too, just in a different way.”

She thought about that for a while, “Uh… yeah, maybe.” Things were getting a bit too deep for her, and she didn’t like the doubt that was starting to creep up in her mind. So she quickly changed the subject.

              “So, what exactly do you do for a living?”

              “I actually run a café in the main part of town. I took the day off today but it’s where you’d normally find me. It had always been my dream – to own a little shop of my own. I’m a big coffee snob, and if there was one thing that this place was missing was a good coffee shop. So I learnt as much as I could, got some amazing equipment and trained up a friend to become a barista, and I found myself a gorgeous spot in the middle of town. Lucky for me, it’s one of the only cafes around so business is always good, at any time of the year. I can hardly call it work to be honest. I pretty much spend my day socializing.”

              “I bet you know everyone’s business.”

              “Oh don’t you know it! I feel like people see me as a counselor. They all come into the shop and tell me what’s happening in their lives.”

Alison giggled, “Well you’re lucky it’s a café and not a bar. There’s one thing hearing about people’s lives, but it’s another thing when drunk people are telling you.”

              “Yeah! I actually considered a bar, but the thought of staying up sober until the early hours of the night surrounded by drunk people did not seem pleasing to me.”

              “Uh… can I see your café?”

              “Of course! That’s actually where I’m taking you next! For some of the finest coffee around and the best carrot cake you’ve ever tasted.”

              “Oh but I’m from the city – a place that is known for its coffee. The cake, well, that part I’m sure I’ll enjoy. I don’t eat a lot of cake to be honest. Got to watch the figure.”

Tristan looked at her and shook his head, “Crazy girl. Look at you. I could feed you cake for ten days solid and you’d still be tiny. Also, life is far too short not to enjoy a good slice every now and again. But as for the coffee – well, you’ll see, you’ll see.”

Tristan hadn’t been lying. The coffee was one of the best she had tasted. She didn’t want to admit it to him but she knew the look on her face had said otherwise. He had also dished her up the biggest slice of cake she had ever seen which she surprised herself by finishing. If she was by herself she would’ve licked her lips – it was that good.

Tristan’s café was gorgeous. When she had first arrived she was surprised by the name. The Island. “The Island?” she asked him. “Yeah, it’s what Harold calls this place. I kind of like it though. I know he didn’t mean it in a good way but I love the idea of being secluded at an island. I wanted to take something negative and turn it into a positive.”

              “Does Harold know about this place?” she had asked, admiring how much effort had gone into it. The décor was all brick wall and dimmed red lights – a small romantic spot that made you feel like you were in another place altogether.

              “No, he doesn’t. But I’m definitely going to show him while you are both here. I think he’ll like it. We didn’t have anything like this when we were growing up and I think it’s done the place a lot of good. It’s a tough thing to juggle really – you don’t want to change the place too much but you also want to stay ahead with the times.”

              “I think it’s beautiful.” And she meant it.

Alison met a few of the locals who were all surprised and excited to find out that she was Harold’s wife. “Well aren’t you a pretty one,” one of the older woman had said to her, practically pulling at her cheeks, “I’m so glad that Harold has met someone as nice as you. He was always a grumpy one that, never satisfied with what was right in front of him. I hope he treats you well my dear. I can see you have a heart of gold.”

Alison wasn’t sure how she felt about it all. Everyone had been incredibly nice to her but not all that nice about Harold – and it was hard to hear anything negative about him. She was so used to everyone always being in awe of him, jealous of everything he had.

When she got back she felt a pang of guilt knowing that she had experienced such a great day out without Harold – and also that she had barely thought of him at all. When she got home she found him sitting at the kitchen table, a glass of whiskey at hand and his laptop open. This was a surprise to her because although he enjoyed drinking he wasn’t much of a whiskey drinker normally.

              “Harold! Hope you didn’t work too hard.” She went up and gave him a kiss, but he stiffened when she got near.

              “You were out long.” He said, barely looking up. She instantly felt guilty but tried not to let it show in her voice. “Oh yes, there is so much to see. For a small place there sure is a lot to do. Oh you must see where Tristan works. He made me the best cup of coffee I think I’ve ever had in my life. Let’s go tomorrow. And you just have to have some cake! It’s seriously to die for.”

              “Right well I’m off to bed.”

              “Bed? Oh well, okay then. I guess I’m also exhausted. That’s fine. We can chat more tomorrow.”

              “Uh… Harold,” said Tristan who had been standing in the corner watching them the whole time. “Do you mind if we talk a bit?”

              “Yes, you should,” Alison said. “I’m going to head up to bed, but the two of you should definitely talk.” She kissed Harold and walked off. When she got to the room she could hear the two of them speaking and she wondered what they were saying. She tried desperately to listen to their conversation but it was so muffled that she could only get out a few words. She was glad that they were finally talking, no matter how hard it was going to be for Harold. They needed to speak about their father and about all the years that they had not seen each other. She still wanted to talk to Harold about why he had lied about the wedding, but she was going to wait until he was in a better mood. Tristan had uplifted her all day so she hoped that he would be able to do the same for Harold. Harold had always been quite temperamental and somewhat grumpy but it seemed even worse now that he was back home. She wasn’t sure if it was the place that was making him that way or whether he was always like that and she was only noticing it now.

Chapter Four

Alison had fallen asleep before Harold got to bed and when she awoke in the morning he surprised her by telling her that the three of them were going out to spend the morning together. She was dying to know what the two of them had spoken about last night but she didn’t dare ask. When she walked into the kitchen she was surprised by the jolt she got when she saw Tristan. He was a hard person to ignore, and not simply because of how good looking he was, but by the way he made her feel about herself. He grinned when he saw her.

              “You look beautiful.” He said it so matter-of-factly that she wasn’t quite sure what to do with the compliment.

Tristan took the two of them to the café, and she could see how excited he was to show it off to Harold. “The Island?” Harold said the moment they arrived and wrinkled his nose, “Interesting name.” He seemed neither impressed nor upset and Tristan looked immediately deflated.

              “Isn’t this place just beautiful,” she said to Harold, making sure that Tristan could hear her. “And just wait until you try the coffee.”

Tristan arrived with cappuccino’s and three big slices of cake and he sat with them to eat.

              “Cake for breakfast?” Harold asked, moving the piece around with his fork while barely touching it.

              “Oh for sure! You’re on holiday! Why not! If you were ever going to have cake for breakfast now would be the time.”

              “Are you really going to eat that whole thing?” Harold said, looking at Alison.

              “Uh, no, maybe not the whole thing.”

              “Good.”

Alison was aware of Tristan’s eyes on her the whole time. Harold was always telling her what she should or shouldn’t eat. And up until now she hadn’t taken much notice of it. She was suddenly aware of how controlling it must seem to an outsider.

              “Harold! Harold is that you?!” A man was walking up to their table and Alison watched with interest as he enveloped Harold into his arms.