Broken Silence (Silence, #2)(24)

“I took a day’s holiday, actually.”

“You took a day off work so you could come with me?”

I’m not sure if I should be a little insulted that she was surprised. Of course I took the day off to go with her.

“Yeah,” I replied

“Thank you.”

“Any time. Now let’s go get some ice cream.” I grabbed her hand instinctively and led her towards my car. Her hand in mine felt so natural. When we were together like this, it felt like we’d never been apart.

Oakley scrunched her nose up. “I don’t like the new place. They should change it back.”

“Yeah I know. They won’t though. I already requested.”

“Really? They wouldn’t rip out all the new stuff and replace it with the old?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

“You’re so sarcastic now. Australia was a bad influence on you.”

She shook her head.

“It’s not Australia. You just make it easy.”

Before I could react she pulled her hand out of mine and shot around to the passenger side of my car, laughing her beautiful head off. Seeing her smile and hearing her laugh was completely worth her teasing the crap out of me.

“Shut up and get in the car,” I said, repeating my words from earlier.

“Shut up and unlock the car,” she countered.

I tried not to grin as I unlocked the door. As soon as her hand reached out to grab the handle I locked it again.

“How old are you, Cole?”

Chuckling to myself, I unlocked it again and got in.



“You missed the turning,” Oakley pointed out as I purposefully drove past ice cream parlour.

“I know. We’re going somewhere else.”

“I knew it! Gay club, right?”

“You’re insulting yourself there, Oaks.”

She mumbled something under her breath that I couldn’t understand. Messing around with her was fun before, but now she had the confidence to properly give it back I loved it.

I parked in my drive and suddenly felt nervous. What if she thought I was some sort of weird creep? “We’re having ice cream at your house?”

“Yeah. Come on.”

Oakley followed me to the kitchen, where I made two milkshakes and two bowls of ice cream.

“Okay, follow me,” I mumbled.

She looked at me like I was crazy as I got her to hold the tray while I opened the garage door.

“We’re having ice cream in your garage?”

“Trust me.”

I took the tray off her and led her around the old wardrobes, car parts, and cardboard boxes. Taking a shaky breath, I walked around the clothes rail and stopped as I saw it. She gasped, and I knew she’d seen it too.

“What…” Oakley trailed off.

I didn’t turn around. I was scared to see whatever look she had on her face right now.

“Why is this here?”

Finding some courage, I turned to face her.

“I bought it.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You bought our booth?”

At the back of the garage, tucked away in the corner, was our booth. They were selling the old booths, tables, and chairs when they did the remodelling, and I bought the one we spent so much time in. It was kind of stupid, but it felt like the last little bit of her left to me, and I couldn’t let it go.

“Yeah, I bought it.”

She nodded, staring at me dumbfounded. Okay, this was bad. I shouldn’t have brought her here. I should have just kept it to myself.

Finally, after a few of the longest minutes of my life she smiled.

“I can’t believe you did that.”

She walked past me and sat down on her usual side, and I sighed. She was sitting and not running.

I had not been that scared in a while, not since Mia’s waters broke when we were home alone.

“Well I didn’t want someone else having their smelly arse on our booth.”

“Why would they have a smelly…” She shook her head. “Actually never mind. Gimme the ice cream!”

Chuckling, I set her milkshake and ice cream down in front of her, doing a little bow.

“You’re dismissed,” she said, playing along and waving her hand at me.

“What am I? Your bitch?”

Her silence and smug smile said it all.

“So, how much did you pay for it?”

Dilemma. Do I tell her the truth and make her think I was unstable, and a bit of an obsessive stalker, or lie, so I didn’t look too bad. I sighed, not really having a choice. I couldn’t lie to her.

“I paid two hundred.”

“Pounds?” she blurted out, her eyes widening in disbelief.

“No Euros,” I replied sarcastically.

She stared blankly and dug her spoon into the ice cream.

“Wow, two hundred pounds. They saw you coming. It’s barely worth fifty!”

“I changed my mind, I didn’t miss you.”

Oakley grinned and shook her head. “Liar.”

Every single time I looked at her I wanted to beg her to give us another chance. We could make it work. I would give up everything and move to Australia if she still wanted to live there. Something stopped me bringing up the subject, and that was the thought of her saying no. It hurt so much the first time. I couldn’t do it again. She loved me, but that wasn’t enough four years ago, so why would it be enough now?