Confetti Hearts (Confetti Hitched, #1)(85)

“That’s lovely,” I say stonily.

She frowns. “What’s up? Is it Lachlan?”

I hesitate. “I’m just thinking about getting back to normality.”

There’s a pause. “And what will that look like for you?” she says gently.

I shrug. “Same as usual. Weddings, weddings, and the odd engagement.”

“And what about your own marriage?”

I force a hand through my hair. “I think that might be over.”

“Oh no.” Some of her shiny happiness departs. “You’re so perfect together.”

“You know we’re not.”

She checks looking suddenly cautious. “What do you mean?”

I sigh. “Lachlan told me everything. You knew all along we were getting divorced.”

“Oh.”

“Why would you do this, Erica?” I burst out. “Why let him come here? When I got the wrong end of the stick and pretended that Lachlan and I were still together why did you just go along with it?”

“Because you were sad.” I stop dead at the passion in her voice. “It was always obvious underneath your sunniness that you were miserable. And he was the same.” I look up and she runs an agitated hand through her hair. “Rafferty brought him to see me, and I admit I was doubtful at first. He’s so assured and confident and I didn’t like the idea of ambushing you. And then he started to talk about you and—” She pauses.

“And?” I whisper, my heart starting to pound.

“And it was everything, Joe,” she says earnestly. “The way he spoke about you, how sad he was, how desperate to see you one last time. And I thought it over and I realised that if this was me and Ryan in that situation, I would like someone to help us too. And then you decided to pretend to be together and I’d read a lovely book where the couple got together like that, so I just went along with it. And I don’t regret it either,” she says determinedly. “You love each other, and you’re made to be together. This was your chance to find that out.”

I lick my lips nervously. “This isn’t a romance novel. Lachlan doesn’t love me. He’s never said one word of love in all this time. Our marriage was a drunken mistake.”

“I notice you didn’t deny your feelings.”

I spread my hands. “How can I? Of course, I love him.”

“And does he know that?”

“No, and he isn’t going to. I have my pride.”

She gapes at me. “Why on earth would you need that?”

“To keep me warm. Didn’t you get the memo?”

She smiles but it vanishes quickly. “How can you say that he doesn’t love you?”

“Because we met and fucked at a wedding, fucked at another wedding, and then not-dated and fucked until we got drunk-married. It’s not exactly Romeo and Juliet.”

“Well, that’s good, because it’d be shockingly easy to poison you. You’ll eat anything.” She takes my hand. “Lachlan loves you, Joe. He loves you in a way I envy because it’s so big. So huge.”

My heart races. Her expression is so serious.

“How do you know?” I whisper.

She smiles. “Because he shows it every single time he looks at you. There’s passion and adoration in every glance.”

“But he lied.”

“So?” I stare at her, and she grimaces. “Obviously lying isn’t good, but he did it because he loves you. I gave my consent to him coming here because I want you to have the chance again, Joe. I want you to have that love because you bloody deserve it.”

My head spins. “I need to sit down.”

“No, you don’t. You need to listen and then take a long, hard look at your relationship. Think, Joe. Here’s this man who could have anyone, and he wants you back so bloody badly that he’s prepared to lie and manoeuvre everyone to get himself here for another chance.”

I collapse onto a bench and then immediately leap up. “Fuck, that’s cold.” I shake my head. “He actually got you to playact on your own wedding day.”

“He’s very persuasive.”

“Don’t I know it. I was married by a man wearing flares bigger than my head.”

She looks thoughtful. “Maybe this split wasn’t actually a bad thing. Maybe you both needed to mess up and have this time apart to understand how much you mean to each other so you’ll never be apart again.”

I stand for a few seconds, letting that thought fill me. She’s not wrong. Being without Lachlan in the past was so awful that it’s paralysed me in the present with the thought of losing him again. But now that fear is easing a little. Yes, Lachlan lied and schemed to be able to see me. I don’t like the lying but now I’m thinking more clearly, I can see why he did it and it’s so out of character for him. He hates dishonesty but he still came here. He flew to Scotland abandoning the work that means everything to him and while here he’s cooked, chopped wood, and dealt with Frances, the demon twins, and a bad ABBA tribute band and it was all for me. Surely that must mean he loves me.

A smile slowly dawns on my face, my heart filling with hope and suddenly I can’t bear to be away from him for another second.

“I need to go. See you later,” I shout, grabbing Erica and twirling her around. She shrieks and then collapses into giggles as I kiss her. “Thank you,” I say fiercely. “Thank you so much. You’re going to be a brilliant mum.”