December
St Pierre in
the northwest corner of Beaumont Island, is the largest town on the island, in
fact it’s the only town on the island and the most densely populated area in
the Pepperstock Bay Islands.
It was the
place where the Lowe and Kent families lived next door to each other and the
families should have been tied by the marriage of Jane and Alan, but instead of
a joining of the two families they were split apart when Jane ran away, and two
years passed before the couple met again, on Boxing Day.
Neither knew
that the other would be on the Island on that day and they were both taken
aback when they bumped into each other at the Sword and Shield, he was on the
way up the steps and she on the way out, and they stood there as the snow fell
and minutes past before either spoke, but it was Alan who broke the silence.
“I’ve really
missed you.”
She seemed both
surprised and pleased by the revelation and he wondered if she had heard him
correctly or if it was just whatever she’d been drinking having an effect on
her processing ability,
“I’m sorry” she
replied.
“Why did you
go?” he asked “I never understood why you left”
“I had to” she
replied earnestly.
“But why??” he asked.
“Because I was
scared” Jane confessed.
“Scared?” he
asked aghast.
“Yes”
“Of what?” Alan
asked angrily.
“Marriage” She admitted.
“So, all you
had to say was no” he said and then there was an uncomfortable silence for a
few minutes as the snow began to fall faster but then she said.
“I thought it
was for the best.”
“It wasn’t the
best for me, or you” he said and turned and began to walk away and Jane
followed him.
“Let me
explain” Jane said as she trotted behind him, but he ignored her and pressed on
across the car park towards the road, but she caught up with him as he stopped
to allow a car to complete its maneuver.
“I made a
mistake” she said from behind him, and he span round on her.
“I realized
almost immediately” she continued.
“So why didn’t
you come back?”
“I didn’t know
how” she said and fell into his arms.
“So, you just
made us both unhappy” he said gently.
“Yes” she
replied, and Jane began to cry.
“Don’t cry
honey” he said.
When he
imagined them meeting again, he hadn’t expected to see that side of her,
vulnerable, that was a different girl to the one who had run away, she wasn’t
vulnerable or unsure of herself on that day.
So, when she
looked up at him through tear-filled eyes he kissed her, a kiss they had both
longed for, and dreamt of for two years.
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