Total pages in book: 176
Estimated words: 164533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 823(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 823(@200wpm)___ 658(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
“You okay, Charli?” Derek asked, putting his phone down to take me in. I was visibly flustered, my pulse still pounding after interacting with Rhys.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I just …”
“You weren’t expecting Rhys,” Derek finished as though reading my mind.
“No,” I said before blowing out a breath. “I wasn’t.”
“You two couldn’t keep your hands off each other that summer,” he went on, a hint of a smile curving his mouth. “Don’t think I don’t remember. Poor bastard was like a depressed puppy after you left.”
“He was?” My heart gave a single hard thump.
I’d been pretty depressed myself during that period. Missing Rhys had soured those first few weeks of college for me. I’d spent most of the time daydreaming about being back in Ireland, resting in the warm comfort of his arms. With all I’d been going through, learning the truth of my past, I’d needed him. Then I got angry, childishly resenting him for not keeping in touch. Thinking back on it, I’d been silly thinking our little emails could turn into a lasting relationship. We’d lived in different parts of the world. It never would’ve worked out even if he hadn’t stopped emailing.
I glanced at Derek. “Did Rhys ever … um, did he ever mention why he went radio silent that time when he first joined the legion? I just … I always wondered.”
“You should ask him about that. It’s not my place to say, but I know it was a dark time for him.”
A dark time? What did that mean?
“Speaking of which,” Derek said with a sigh, running a hand over his face. “It’s not been a great year for him so far, you know. Rhys broke up with his fiancée only a couple weeks ago.”
Hearing he’d had a fiancée had my chest seizing in a strange way. Oh man, was I jealous? I had to reprimand myself for being so ridiculous.
“Really? Why did they break up?” I was unable to disguise my curiosity.
Derek blew out another sigh. “Rhys says it was mutual, that they decided they weren’t compatible or some shite. I’ve a feeling there’s more to it, but he’s never been the sort to tell you outright what’s going on with him. You have to pull the feckin’ information out of him with a bloody pair of pliers.”
“Right,” I said, a long ago memory hitting me of Rhys avoiding discussing his asshole father and all the stuff with his mom. But I understood so much better now what he’d gone through, the fear, anxiety, and shame of others finding out the reality of his home life.
I’d lived through an eerily similar situation.
“I think I’ll go to bed. It was great seeing you, Derek.”
He nodded. “Don’t be a stranger, Charli.”
The next two days passed uneventfully. I spent my time unpacking and organising a few things before my first day at the hotel. I’d already had a couple phone calls with Maeve, who would be working alongside me in accounts, and she seemed super nice. By the time Monday rolled around, I hadn’t found time to figure out the public transport route to the hotel, so I hitched a ride into the city with Uncle Padraig.
I’d planned on finding a second hand car, and Aunt Jo had said I could drive for at least a year on my US licence before I had to go through the process of applying for an Irish permit. But all that could wait. I wasn’t in a big rush to start driving on the left hand side of the road anyway. It was going to take some easing into.
Padraig walked me to the accounts office, a spacious room with three desks and a large window overlooking the garden courtyard for guests. I’d be overseeing Maeve and another accountant named Barry, neither of whom had arrived yet.
I settled in at my own desk, unpacking a couple of the personal items I’d brought to make the place more my own, including a potted cactus plant and a framed picture of Mom and me, taken at her and her husband Michael’s house over Christmas. My divorce had just come through the week beforehand, and there was a new light in my eyes that hadn’t been there for years. The same light was there in Mom’s eyes, too, to finally have me free of Jesse’s iron grip.
It was almost time for my colleagues to arrive, so I paid a quick visit to the bathroom. On my way there, I spotted a door near the accounts office. Rhys’ name adorned the thin metal plaque, and my heartbeat picked up just seeing it. The urge to poke my head in and look around was strong, but I managed to keep the urge at bay. For all I knew, he was already in there.
In the bathroom, I stood in front of the full-length mirror to check my outfit. I’d chosen a plain white button-up shirt, a baby pink cardigan, pale grey cigarette pants, and flat brown shoes. It was the kind of ensemble I’d worn countless times during my professional career, but it felt a little constricting after my extended period of unemployment. I’d spent a lot of that time in PJs and slouchy loungewear.