Page 101 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

‘I’m fine,’ she replied. ‘He didn’t touch me. I’m just a little light-headed, I guess.’

‘You were incredible,’ said Jake, giving her hair an affectionate rub.

‘I know, right?’ said Ben in amazement. ‘My baby sister just turned into Wonder Woman and I can’t believe it.’

Jake laughed. ‘Yeah and we normally leave all the superhero stuff to Alex.’

‘Alex!’ she gasped. Hannah took a swift intake of breath at the memory of his hurt expression.

He had told her that he loved her and she hadn’t said anything. What must he think of her?

‘Do you love him?’ asked Ben.

She nodded. ‘Yes, I love him! I love him so much!’

‘Have you told him?’ asked Jake, looking concerned.

She shook her head.

‘He’s not Sean,’ Ben told her, taking her by the arms and looking into her eyes. ‘He’s a truly good guy.’

‘I know,’ replied Hannah. ‘I trust him, body and soul.’

As she spoke out loud, she realised that it was true. She’d trusted Alex with so many things that she’d never told anyone. And yet she had held back regarding her relationship with Sean. But now she knew that she could rely on him completely. He would never judge her or hurt her.

He was the love of her life. She knew that now. She just had to make him trust her in return. She just hoped it wasn’t too late.

‘Where is he?’ she asked, beginning to feel anxious.

Ben glanced across the water, scouring the edge with his eyes. ‘Over there,’ he told her, pointing to the other side of the lake.

Hannah took one last glance at Sean, as he floundered back to shore nearby before dismissing him from her mind. She no longer cared about him or what he thought of her.

Finally she was ready to move on with someone a million times better.

Then she rushed off the jetty and went to find Alex. She needed to tell him the truth about how she felt and she was desperately hoping that he would still want to listen to her.

55

It wasn’t until she was rushing out onto the lakeside track that Hannah realised that Tiny was running alongside her.

‘Find him, Tiny,’ she said to the dog, picking up speed. ‘Find Alex.’

Her mind ran with the possibility that he thought she had rejected him. That he didn’t think that she loved him when it was the complete opposite. What if he had given up on her already?

Tiny raced ahead of her, barking as he went. She hoped it was a good sign as she hurtled around a corner and, to her relief, found Alex standing on one of the small bridges, looking out across the lake.

Tiny barked in joy at seeing his master and ran up to Alex in a joyful mood.

Hannah found her steps faltering as she reached him and crashed to a halt. She realised it was the bridge where they had shared their first kiss. The first time she had told him how she truly felt about him.

‘Hey,’ she said, almost out of breath. ‘I’m so glad we found you.’

He nodded but didn’t reply, merely looking out across the lake.

She took a deep breath, still trying to reduce her rapid pulse and then went onto the bridge to stand next to him.

She looked out across the lake, just in time to see Sean stagger out of the water before being frogmarched off the beach by Ben and Jake. They led him around the hotel and presumably to the car park before disappearing out of sight. Good riddance, thought Hannah. She would never see him again.