by Len Webster
“Oh my God. I almost—”
“I know, Peyton. I know,” Graham said as he stroked the back of her head. “You’re not alone. I’m always here. You’re never alone.”
Peyton looked up to see the small smile that Graham offered. “Promise you won’t leave me.”
“I promise.”
Peyton opened the front door to find him there with a less-than-impressed expression on his face.
“He’s back?” Graham asked as he put his phone in his pocket.
“He’s back, Graham.” She took a step back and let him into the house.
Graham walked to the hallway table and put his ute keys on it before heading towards the living room. Peyton followed behind him after she shut the door.
She didn’t have to look to know that Graham was on her couch, scratching into the arm of the chair—something he did when he was frustrated. Peyton went to the fridge and grabbed a beer and can of Coke. After approaching the couch, she sat next to him, handing over the beer. Then she raised her legs and tucked them underneath her as she opened her can and took a sip.
“I was going to call you,” she said, staring at the red can.
“I’m sure you were, Peyton.” Graham let out a sigh before taking a long pull of his beer.
“Jay told you?”
“Yeah,” he replied as he placed the bottle on her coffee table.
“He told me to tell you. Why did he call you?” Peyton asked as she mirrored Graham and put her Coke down.
Graham lifted his feet and rested them on the glass table. “He’s worried about you.”
“He doesn’t have to be. Callum made his intentions clear. He just wants my forgiveness for not showing up to Mum and Dad’s funeral.”
Graham’s eyebrows shot up. When he turned his head to meet her eyes, his blue eyes had darkened. “Is that it? He’s not sorry that he left you or played with your feelings?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think he actually cares. He just wants my forgiveness and that’s it. I could just say that I do forgive him and make him leave, but he’ll be back for his best friend’s wedding.”
Graham took his feet off the coffee table and placed them on the carpet. His eyebrows furrowed. “Wedding?”
Peyton sighed. “That last-minute booking Aunt Brenda made was Marissa Reynolds’ wedding and Callum’s the best man,” she revealed.
“Wow,” Graham breathed.
“Yeah, wow,” she agreed and rested her head against the back of the couch. “I never expected this, Graham. I never thought he’d come back. Why did he have to?” she asked softly, staring at the couch cushion that separated them.
“Come here,” Graham said as he took her hand and brought her closer.
Peyton smiled as she settled her head in his lap, Graham’s hand stroking her head. It was too much for her. She hadn’t anticipated Callum’s return. She had only just got her life together since his departure and her parents’ deaths.
“I don’t think that I’ll be strong enough to face him again. I have to just ignore his being back. I didn’t go to the hotel today because I was scared I might run into him in town,” she said, staring at their beverages on the table.
“You don’t have to be scared, Peyton. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was him.”
Graham’s right. Callum’s the one who left me. I didn’t. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to be his.
Peyton turned her body until she was facing Graham. He gave her a sincere smile, his dimple deepening. She smiled back at him. If she’d ever loved someone unconditionally, it was Graham. Not Callum or Jay. Just Graham. They had a friendship no one could ever understand. They shared so much pain. If it hadn’t been for him, she would have lost herself right after the funeral. He had healed her.
“Sometimes…”
“Yeah?”
“Sometimes I wish I’d never fallen in love with him. Never kissed him. Never told him that I loved him. I wish it hadn’t been him,” Peyton confessed.
Graham wiped the tear off her cheek. “I sometimes wish that, too. Then I wouldn’t have seen you on that bench crying. But if it hadn’t been for him, I would have never been as close as I am with you. Never forget that I love you, Peyton.”
She blinked away her tears. Graham was never one to show his emotions around people. Peyton had been one of a few who Graham let close. But in this moment, Graham had shown a vulnerable side to himself.
Sitting up, Peyton placed her hand on Graham’s chest, leant forward, and kissed his cheek. “I love you, too, Graham.”
It wasn’t a love that had blossomed overnight. It was unconditional. It was a friendship bonded by an undeniable connection. He came first in her life. Not Callum. And not even the hotel mattered more than Graham Scott.
The morning sun hitting her eyelids caused Peyton to let out a soft groan. Slowly, she opened her eyes to find herself staring at Graham’s naked chest, his hand on her hip. Peyton watched him, the calm expression on his face as he slept. She smiled knowing that this was only one of the rare times where he wasn’t worrying over the family farm.
She looked down to see her palms on his chest. It wasn’t uncommon for them to fall asleep while watching a movie, but Graham’s partially naked chest was a first for her. She had spilt red wine on his shirt before they’d slept. So it wouldn’t stain, Peyton had placed it in the tub and let it soak in stain solution.
A knock on the door echoed through the quiet house. As silently as she could, Peyton slipped away from Graham’s hold. He stirred for a moment before his breathing evened. Peyton scratched her head and let out a yawn. The cold hardwood floors made her wince as she walked towards the front door. After unbolting the chain and the lock on the handle, Peyton opened the door and was startled.
“Callum,” she said, shocked.
His eyes stared at the pyjama shorts and tank she wore before meeting her startled glance. “Good morning, Peyton,” he said with a tight smile.
“Why are you on my doorstep so early in the morning? Can I help you with something?” Peyton asked.
“Marissa called me last—”
“Peyton, is someone at the door?” Graham asked, stopping Callum from continuing.
Peyton stilled at Graham’s question and watched Callum’s eyes widen in surprise. She heard Graham’s footsteps move closer until he stood next to her. Callum stared at Graham—no doubt taking in his naked chest and making assumptions—before he looked back at Peyton.
She ignored the way his jaw tensed and turned to Graham. Then she smiled before saying, “Morning.”
“Morning, Peyton,” he said sweetly before he placed a kiss on her cheek.
She felt Callum’s eyes on her, but she didn’t care. She knew what Graham was playing at. But she did, however, blush at him. If this was how Graham treated women, then they were lucky.
Callum let out a cough, interrupting them.
“Callum, I heard you were back in town. How are you?” Graham asked.
Peyton turned and met eyes with Callum. She couldn’t decipher the almost angry look in his eyes.
“I’m good, mate. How’s the farm?”
Their small talk just adds to the awkwardness of this morning.
“Good,” Graham said, placing an arm around Peyton’s waist. “Have you had breakfast, Callum? I’m just about to make us some. You’re welcome to join.”
Both Peyton and Callum flinched in surprise. Callum shifted uncomfortably in his place. Looking down, Peyton noticed that he was standing on the veranda rather than the doormat, and that made her smile for a moment.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass. Listen, Peyton, could I talk to you for a moment?” Callum asked.
“Okay. I’ll get breakfast ready before I grab a shower,” Graham said. Then he squeezed her waist and left her alone with Callum.
“So, it’s you and lavender boy,” Callum said blankly. It was a nickname Callum had given Graham when they were kids. It was a nickname Peyton had never really
liked.
“None of your business,” she stated firmly. Though there was nothing between Graham and her, Callum had no right to question it.
“You’re right. It isn’t.”
Peyton tucked her hair behind her ear and then crossed her arms, waiting for an explanation to his early morning visit. “Again, can I help you with something, Callum?” she asked with an irritated tone to her voice.
“Will you be at the hotel today? I stopped by yesterday but you weren’t there. Marissa called and sent over some drafts of the dance floor, some selections on silverware, and other ideas,” he said.
“Wait.” Peyton uncrossed her arms. “Why didn’t she just email them to me? Why is she going through you?” she asked, slightly offended.
“I almost lost them The Spencer-Dayle, so I owe it to them to make sure everything is ready. And Marissa wants constant updates and having Oscar up my ass will get her them. So, will you be at the hotel today?”
This time, it was Callum who folded his arms over his chest. She noticed that he was wearing a green, long-sleeved shirt. It was cool out, but she wasn’t sure if it really warranted a long top.
Peyton closed her eyes, knowing that what she said next would affect the next few weeks of her life. She would be working close with the man who had broken her heart and betrayed her trust.
“Yeah. I’ll be there at around eleven,” she answered.
Callum’s lips curved upwards. “Sure. I’ll see—”
“Peyton, where’d you put the bread?” Graham yelled, making Callum stop.
His smile faded. “I’ll see you at the hotel at eleven,” Callum said before she watched him walk down the steps towards the house across the road.
“See you then,” Peyton whispered to herself.
When Callum entered his house, Peyton closed her front door, her forehead pressing on the stained glass. She closed her eyes and reminded her heart to stop the achy throbs it was doing. It was business between them. But she couldn’t help but feel dejected by the events that had occurred over the past couple of days.
He’d said that he’d never let her fall in love with him, that love wasn’t on the table between them. The seventeen-year-old in her died inside. In a perfect world, Callum Reid wouldn’t have left her on that early Monday morning.
“He’s gone?” Graham’s voice had a layer of concern in it.
Peyton took a deep breath before she turned and smiled at him. He was still shirtless. “Quite the performance you gave there, Graham.”
Graham nodded with a victorious smile. “I could do a whole lot better. You tell me when I need to go another level and I’ll have you on a wall, kissing me.”
She burst out laughing.
“What? You don’t think we’d make him jealous if he saw us kissing?” Graham cocked a brow.
She chuckled at his confusion. “I don’t think we’d make him jealous, Graham. Not when he doesn’t care. This is all just for my forgiveness. He doesn’t want me. Now, did you actually make me breakfast or was that part of the performance, too?” Peyton took a step forward and gave him her best puppy-dog eyes.
His hands cradled her face. “Froot Loops are in a bowl, waiting for you, and your tea with lemon is there, too.” Then he kissed the top of her head.
“God, you are perfect! I’m going to marry you,” Peyton said once he let her go.
“You’d make me a really happy man, Peyton Spencer.”
“At least I’d make someone happy to be with me. We still on with that promise of ours?” She looked down at the promise ring on her left hand. A ring he’d given her a year after Callum had left town.
Graham took her left hand and bent down on one knee. “Peyton Spencer, do you still agree to marry me if we both go unwedded by the time we’re forty?”
She let out a laugh as the excitement twinkled in his blue eyes. Then she tilted her head and smiled at him. “You did put a ring on it…so I’m still kinda promised to be married to you.” He got up off his knee and wrapped his arms around her. The feeling of Graham’s solid and strong heartbeat against her ear was one that made her chest warm.
“No Jay and no Callum. It’s us, Peyton. You and me.”
She smiled because it was always just them. No one could ever out-love the love she had for Graham.
“Always.”
Peyton checked the time on her watch. She still had twenty minutes before she had to meet Callum at the hotel. She would get there before him and work through a game plan on how to deal with him. Life could not alter in any way since he had returned. This town was no longer his to call home and her heart was no longer his to claim. She shivered against the cold wind as she walked through the lane of trees and up the hill that led to the lake.
When she reached the top, she overlooked the entire lake and smiled at the hotel. She made it down the hill and towards the lake. Then she passed the bench and went down the path to the water’s edge. Just as she reached the old pier, she noticed someone sitting at the end with their legs dangling over the water.
Before she could stop herself, Peyton stepped on the wooden pier and continued towards him. She didn’t say anything while she observed him as he stared at the forest just near the hotel. Her chest constricted as she realised what spot he was looking at—the same spot they’d spent their last night together and the same part of the forest where she had given herself up to him. The part of the world where she had confessed that she loved him.
Peyton swallowed the large lump in her throat and started to walk off the pier, trying to stop the memories of that night from resurfacing in her consciousness.
“Peyton?” he called out.
She stopped. She was halfway off but halfway to him.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to face him. He gave her a tight smile—one she had seen many times since he had returned. Her chest heaved as she stared into those grey eyes.
“Want to sit with me for a bit? Before we go through Marissa’s plans?” Callum carefully scooted over and patted a spot for her.
She remembered the many summers they had spent sitting on the edge, watching the world go by. Simple times. Before everything in her life had changed. Inhaling a deep breath to settle her heart, Peyton treaded cautiously towards the end of the pier and sat down, her legs dangling over the edge.
They sat there in silence, staring at the lake and the people who pedalled their small boats across the water. Though Daylesford offered little in extravagance, it did offer simplicity and peace. Closing her eyes, Peyton let the feeling of the wind consume her. Peace. That was what she loved about this town.
“I always knew you’d marry lavender boy,” Callum said softly, almost in a whisper.
Peyton slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. “What?”
“Though it’s not on the right finger, I know an engagement ring when I see one. I thought it wasn’t, but seeing you with him this morning… It makes sense that you two got together,” Callum explained, still eyeing the trees behind her hotel.
“It’s a promise ring,” Peyton stated as she played with the white-gold ring on her middle finger. She wasn’t sure why she was clarifying herself to him, but she felt the need to.
Callum stared at his hands in his lap. “That you’ll marry him?”
Peyton moved the hair that blew in her face and tucked it behind her ear. As her eyes scanned over at the trees, her heart ached at the memory of them at seventeen. From the way Callum had looked at her in the lantern light, she’d believed he had loved her, too, in some way.
“I’m not here to discuss my relationship with—”
“Lavender boy,” Callum said, interrupting her. His eyes met hers.
“No. His name is Graham, not lavender boy. Don’t call him that!” she said, raising her voice.
“You love him, not Jay.”
Peyton shook her head in disbelief. Then she stood up and looked down at Callum. The dejected expression in his eyes caused her to flinch.
“I don’t lov
e Jay. Get that through your head. I love Graham.”
Truth.
“Like you loved me?” he asked.
Peyton didn’t blink. “More,” she said without reserve.
Callum stilled and looked like he had lost his breath for a moment. Then he stood up and glanced down at her almost as if he were relieved.
“Then marry him, Peyton.”
His answer surprised her. It wasn’t the answer that she had expected.
“How does loving someone more than I loved you warrant marriage?” she asked, bewildered.
Callum—for the first time—gave her an honest smile. “Because I know how much you loved me. And if you love him more than you loved me, it says something. Now, let’s go talk about my best friend’s wedding.” Callum stepped around her and began to walk off the pier.
Turning around, she watched him make his way towards the hotel. The emptiness inside her began to widen. Her heart had dropped at what he’d said. Until they were seventeen, she’d been his best friend. What she’d said hadn’t been a lie. She did love Graham more. He knew her pain and had been there, loved her through the weakest points in her life.
No one could ever come close to being as important as Graham was to her. But Callum…he was her first love, and she’d believed that he would be her last love. And for the last four years, she’d forgotten what it was like to love him. Somewhere deep inside, she feared that she would remember soon enough.
“Two dance floors on two different parts of the hotel? Is she insane?” Peyton looked at the sheets of paper and then at Callum. When she’d unfolded them, she hadn’t expected what she saw.
Callum laughed, took the papers out of her hand, and returned them to her desk. “She hasn’t been formally diagnosed, but I suspect she is.”
Peyton glared at him. “This is not a joke, Callum. I don’t have the resources for this. You’ve seen this hotel. It’s not in its prime. My parents were the ones who had the big ideas for it, not me.” She let out a sigh and covered her face with her hands. Then she noted that she would never allow last-minute wedding bookings ever again, no matter the price.