by Holly Martin
Lyra stared at her in shock.
‘Absolutely,’ Frankie nodded.
‘Hear, hear,’ Michelle said, which surprised Lyra. Her sister had been so frosty with her when she’d arrived. Michelle got up and moved closer to her. ‘I’m sorry I gave you a hard time about going away. You’ve given us so much and we’ve come to rely on you probably a lot more than we should. I guess I got scared because, without you here, I felt like I was in charge and I didn’t like that. You’ve taken on so much responsibility for us and I hate that that has made you feel like you can’t live your life.’
Frankie nodded. ‘You made sure we were always happy; you took care of us. Now it’s time to take care of yourself.’
Lyra looked down at the floor, embarrassed. When she was a child she’d always thought her mum was amazing because of her carefree attitude and love of adventure. Lyra had wanted to grow up and be just like her. Until she’d grown up and realised that her mum was actually a bit of a dick. Lyra had spent the rest of her life fearful she would one day turn out that the same. Had those worries really been completely unfounded? Her determination to ensure her siblings were loved would ensure she’d never let them down, regardless of her lifestyle choices. Maybe it was time to let go of the reins just a little bit.
Kitty gave her a friendly nudge. ‘Anyway, I want to hear more about your soul mate. What does he look like?’
‘He’s tall, has dark messy hair. He has beautiful, amber-coloured eyes and that gorgeous Mediterranean skin tone.’
Kitty’s eyes slid to the door behind Lyra. ‘Wearing a pale blue shirt with a sea-green tie?’
Lyra whirled around and then stumbled to her feet because Nix was there and she had no idea how to react to that.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lyra ushered Nix down the corridor and round the corner away from her family, who were all very interested in the new arrival. She had no idea what to say to him. Sorry might be a good place to start. I love you might be even better. She couldn’t believe he was here – she had pushed him away and he was here. She wanted to wrap herself around him and hold him tight.
‘Nix—’
‘Lyra, listen, I’m not here for us. We can talk about that another time,’ he said.
He wasn’t here to get back together? Her heart crashed into her stomach. She’d pushed him too far. She looked down at the floor, afraid she might now finally succumb to the tears that had been threatening to spill over for the last few hours.
He cupped her face gently, tilting her head to look at him. ‘I’m here for you. Regardless of whatever else is going on between us, I’m still your friend and I think you could really do with a friend right now.’
And that was it, that was all it took to push her over the edge. Tears filled her eyes and fell down her cheeks.
He gently wiped them away and kissed her on the forehead, before enveloping her in a big hug. She couldn’t help but sob against his chest as he stroked the back of her head, crying for Ethan, the relationship with Nix that seemed to be damaged beyond repair, and the fact that, despite that, he was here. He really was the loveliest man in the world.
He held her there for the longest time, not saying anything, just holding her until she was all cried out.
Eventually she stepped back. ‘I have things I have to say.’
He shook his head. ‘I do too, but let’s do all that later once we know that Ethan is going to be OK.’
She nodded. There was too much to think about right now. Her head was a complete mess.
‘Let me introduce you to my family.’
He smiled slightly. ‘I’m looking forward to meeting them.’
She took his hand and went back down to the waiting area. She knew that having Nix here was going to be a huge help in getting through the next few hours. She had no idea what would happen after that.
It was a few hours later when the doctor came to talk to them to say that Ethan had come out of a successful surgery, but that it would be a few more hours before they’d be happy that he was out of the woods. It was another few hours before the doctor said that Ethan was awake and responding well but that the next few days would reveal how much he would fully recover.
It was very late that night when they were finally allowed to see him for a few minutes, which was upsetting as much as it was a relief. He was attached to so many machines and tubes that it made Lyra want to cry, but he was alive and even managed a smile when he saw them, his fingers curling weakly around Naomi’s as she sat next to him, almost afraid to touch him. Lyra told him he looked like shit and he smiled at that too before the nurse eventually ushered them all out.
The next few days passed in a blur of dozing in hospital chairs, eating crappy hospital food and alternating shifts, a few of them taking turns to go back to Ethan’s house to catch a few hours’ sleep on the sofa. Max had arrived, which was wonderful, despite the circumstances. There were meetings with the doctors and fleeting visits with Ethan, who was looking brighter and better each time they saw him.
The one constant in all of this was Nix, steadfastly by Lyra’s side no matter what. There was no suggestion of him going back to work or going home. In fact, on the first day when she’d told him he should go because of Dexter, Nix told her his brother had collected him and was going to look after him until Nix got back. Lyra and Nix had phoned Clover a few times, but she’d made it categorically clear that they should take as long as they needed and there was no rush to come back. Nix made sure that Lyra had eaten, he asked questions of the doctors that Lyra simply hadn’t thought of, and, when she did sleep, in the tiny single bed at Ethan’s house, Nix curled himself around her, holding her while she slept.
There had been no talk about them, of getting back together, and she didn’t have the headspace for it. If she let herself think about the possibility that she had permanently ruined things between them, and lost him for good, the last strands of hope she was desperately clinging to would be gone. It would break her.
It wasn’t until Thursday, when Ethan was sitting up in bed laughing and chatting and asking if anyone could smuggle him in some beer, that it became apparent her little brother was going to be absolutely fine. He had surpassed even the highest hopes the doctors had had for him after he’d come out of surgery. Kitty and Frankie decided they were going to go home and, although Max said he would stay on for a few days as he’d only arrived from Australia on Tuesday, Lyra decided she would go home too.
Nix was in the car with her rather than catching the train home, but although they spoke on the journey back, it wasn’t of anything significant. She got the sense he was giving her space until she was ready to talk but she was too scared to even broach the subject now. What if they got back to her house and he waved her goodbye and from then on they’d just be friends? She couldn’t bear the thought of that. When she pulled up outside her house she wanted to prolong his departure even more.
‘Do you want to come inside? I can cook us some dinner.’
He hesitated before he spoke and her stomach lurched.
‘Actually, I thought I might check on George,’ he paused. ‘Do you want to come with me?’
Lyra nodded. She had to say something to him – she needed to apologise, she needed to tell him how she really felt for him, that she couldn’t let him go.
Her heart was hammering against her chest as they climbed over the fence onto his land and then made their way down the hill towards where he’d parked Judy the first night they’d met. What if he didn’t want to give her a second chance? What if this was it?
Nix stopped her under the tree where they’d sat that night, eating sausages and talking until the sun had set before he’d introduced her to George.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. Her mouth was dry.
‘Lyra. I love you. I think I fell in love with you right here, that first night, but I know, spending time with you last week, and last weekend, I fell in love with you even more.’
<
br /> She stared at him, tears filling her eyes. She hadn’t been expecting that.
‘You are the most incredible, amazing woman I have ever met. Your love for your siblings, your kindness, your spirit of adventure, even if you like to keep it hidden – I fell in love with all of it. We share a connection that is rare and beautiful and I don’t ever want to lose it. I get that you’re scared, and that your parents let you down so spectacularly you’re scared to put your trust in someone again for fear of getting hurt. But you can trust in me. And you can also trust in yourself. I know your worst fear is turning out to be like your mum so you shy away from spontaneity and adventure, but you don’t ever need to worry about that. You are kind, thoughtful and completely selfless – there’s no way you could ever be anything but. And I fell in love with you because of all of those things.’
Her breath left her mouth in a shudder. ‘Nix, I love you too, but I have so much baggage.’
A smile lit up his whole face. ‘Say that again.’
‘I have baggage.’
He grinned. ‘The other, slightly more important thing.’
‘Oh.’ She cursed herself. ‘I love you. God I love you so much. You have changed my life so utterly and completely and I want to spend the rest of my life going on adventures with you.’
‘We are going to have so many adventures, Lyra Thomas, and your baggage doesn’t scare me one little bit, just like my baggage doesn’t scare you.’
‘It doesn’t. I love you, unequivocally.’
‘Then I assure you I can cope with you freaking out now and again when you get a little scared. And although I want to spend every weekend or every holiday exploring the world with you, for the first time in a long time, I want to put down roots, get a house here, make the most out of this job. I don’t want to keep moving on any more.’
She smiled. ‘I like the sound of that. Dexter needs a garden.’
His mouth twitched into a smirk. ‘He does.’
‘And a big comfy sofa to sleep on.’
‘Yes.’
‘And I have both of those.’
‘Well, your garden is quite small, and Dexter is a big dog, but we could take the fence down between your garden and my land and then we’d have a much larger garden.’
‘This sounds like a great idea.’
He smiled and kissed her on the forehead. ‘Life is an adventure, Lyra, but it’s far better to have someone by your side to navigate it with.’
She nodded. ‘Through stormy seas and calm waters.’
He smiled and leaned forward to kiss her.
His lips felt so good against hers and she knew, right here in his arms, this was where she was supposed to be.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Six weeks later
Nix looked around the gardens of the Sapphire Bay Hotel with a smile. The last few families were finishing off their treasure hunt which, if they solved all the clues correctly, would lead them to getting their free ice cream courtesy of Skye and Jesse. Many families and couples had already completed it and were sitting around the gardens on benches and blankets eating their ice creams and tucking into burgers from the barbeque. The treasure hunt had gone without a hitch – between him and Lyra they had struck the exact right balance between making it accessible for all ages, without it being too easy. They had trialled it a few days before with the three sisters, their husbands and Bea and Orla, and they all had enjoyed it thoroughly.
In fact, the whole of the hotel’s birthday celebrations seemed to be going well. The casino and horse-racing night the evening before had been brilliant fun. Everyone had enjoyed getting glammed up for a special evening and placing bets. Although they were yet to have the fireworks later that night, everything for the party had been planned meticulously so Nix wasn’t worried about anything going wrong.
He glanced across at Lyra, who was sitting down eating a pink ice cream as she chatted happily with Skye. To be fair to her, she had been running around all morning to make sure everything was running smoothly, they both had. This was the first time she’d taken a break all day. Her clipboard was close to hand but she looked happy and relaxed.
Lyra had blossomed in the last few weeks. She was now much more like the spirited, freewheeling woman he’d fallen in love with the first night they’d met. Most weekends, at Lyra’s suggestion, they would set sail in Serendipity and explore the coast and the little islands that surrounded it. She was no longer afraid of letting go and having fun. It wasn’t that she had changed, because this spirit of adventure had always been there, though buried deep. But now she was letting it out. Nix didn’t think he could take any credit for her letting her hair down, it was probably more to do with Ethan’s accident making her realise that life was short, or perhaps it’d been what her sisters had said to her at the hospital, which she’d told him about. But, either way, it was nice to think he’d helped her out in some small way.
She kept the gold key to the treasure chest on a chain around her neck as a reminder of that wonderful weekend and the adventurous side of herself she had rediscovered. Doing that treasure hunt with him had given her the key to unlock that life, but she’d had to choose whether to open the lid or keep it slammed closed. Fortunately, she no longer saw spontaneity and a carefree life as something negative or to be scared of. She would always be there for her family and having a bit of fun wouldn’t change that.
Lyra saw him watching her and, as Skye, heavily pregnant now, got back up to carry on serving ice creams, she came over to Nix, sliding an arm around his waist and giving him a quick kiss. He smiled against her lips. God, he loved her so much.
That was another thing that had changed. Lyra had been adamant that no one should know they had got together, that they would remain professional while at the hotel, but after he had left the presentation to be with her at the hospital, there was no point pretending that nothing was going on between them. To his surprise, Clover and Aria hadn’t been bothered at all. As they said, neither of them could judge anyone for getting involved with someone at work when both of them had met their husbands through working at the hotel. And though Skye had met Jesse before he came to the hotel, they worked alongside each other every day now. As it had turned out so well for them, all three of the sisters were champions of mixing professional and private lives. Nix couldn’t agree more; he and Lyra made a brilliant team in the hotel. And out of it.
‘It’s gone really well, hasn’t it,’ Lyra said. ‘Thanks to you.’
He shook his head. ‘You’ve planned this down to the tiniest detail.’
‘This was all inspired by the brilliant treasure hunt you did for me. It was your idea.’
‘This was a joint effort, we’re a team,’ Nix said.
‘And a great team at that,’ said a voice behind them.
Nix turned around to see Clover coming towards them. She looked tanned from having been in Dubai for the last week. She’d flown back for the party but he knew she and Angel were going off to New Zealand the following week to make the most of their time before their baby arrived.
‘This party is brilliant, everyone says so,’ Clover went on. ‘We couldn’t have asked for two better events managers.’
Nix smiled. When they’d returned to work after being at the hospital, Clover and Aria had made it clear that they were impressed with their unity and that they loved their ideas for the birthday party. Clover had still wanted it spread across two days rather than one, but that had been an easy fix.
‘We knew when we interviewed you that you would both bring something special to the hotel, but together you have shone,’ Clover said. ‘Thank you for arranging such a wonderful party for us and for involving everyone on the island too.’
‘We’ve enjoyed doing it,’ Lyra said, giving Nix a warm smile.
Clover smiled and left them to it.
‘I have loved working with you over the last few weeks,’ Nix said. ‘I have never had so much fun at work before, but you make getting up every day an abso
lute joy.’
Lyra grinned ‘And the early-morning sex certainly helps with that.’
He laughed. He’d loved the freedom he’d given himself over the last few years so much that he had wondered if moving into Lyra’s cottage and settling down would be a life he could truly embrace. He needn’t have worried. They just fitted together perfectly. They shared the cooking, they walked Dexter together, they laughed and talked together, and he loved spending time with her. She had very quickly become one of his best friends. The sex was definitely a bonus, too – they were still in the honeymoon stage of not being able to keep their hands off each other. He didn’t think that would ever end. With Lyra he had found a place to call home.
‘I love you,’ Nix said. ‘You have changed my life so completely.’
She smiled. ‘I love you too. You have given me my life back after I spent so long hiding away from it.’
Just then Sylvia came up to them. She hadn’t been at the hotel for the last few weeks but she’d returned for the birthday party.
‘I knew you two had a connection,’ she said, without any preamble. ‘Even when you hated each other, I could see the chemistry between you.’
‘I never hated her,’ Nix said. ‘I was hurt when I thought she’d left but I could never hate her.’