Page 41 of The Next Chapter

He laughs. ‘I forgot how much of a pull it is up. Worth it once you’re here, though. It’s one of my favourite spots,’ he says.

‘It really is lovely… and a bit humbling.’ God, I can’t get emotional now, Noah will think I’m certifiable.

He nods, still looking out. ‘That’s what I like too. The world is so big, nothing we do really matters when you think about it.’

I agree with the sentiment, I just don’t like to confront the reality that what we do doesn’t count.

‘Have you always been a travel writer?’ I ask him.

‘Pretty much. I was never very good at staying in one place. How about you?’

‘Oh, I love staying in one place. I hate the thought of having no roots. It’s a big deal for me, to leave home.’

Noah looks my way and then laughs, his head between his arms where they’re resting on his knees.

‘I meant about being a memoirs writer.’

‘Right, course you did, not the roots thing.’ I can feel my face heating up. ‘But yes, I’ve always worked at Your Life. I love it, actually. I find people so interesting.’

‘I find them a bit scary. Prefer a good tree.’

I burst out laughing at that, but seriously, just when he couldn’t get any sexier, he throws out there that he’s a bit shy.

After that, we sit quietly for a while, enjoying being the only people up here, while I process all the things I’ve learned about Noah.

I mean, even without the lying thing, he is absolutely awful for me. In every way. Which makes the pull I feel towards him even more inexplicable.

That’s not why I’m here, though. I think of my Google search last night.

‘Have you known Lola a long time?’ I ask, venturing into dangerous territory.

Noah nods. ‘Since I was eighteen. I, er, got into a bit of trouble and she helped me get sorted. She’s really special.’

Oh.

‘And how old are you?’ I ask, as casually as I can muster.

‘Thirty, why?’

‘No reason.’ I shrug while really, my mind is whirling. Lola was being all nice to Noah around the time she called Dad to ask to talk to me, then. I don’t know how to process that information, or to reconcile Noah saying that Lola is amazing when she’s been anything but to me.

Anger lights up inside of me.

‘Between you and me—’ Noah leans towards me ‘—I’ve got a bit of an ulterior motive for staying the whole summer.’

‘You do?’ I ask, thinking that Skye must be synonymous with ulterior motives.

‘Yeah, you’ve probably noticed that the hotel is a little… er…’

I presume Noah is digging around for a polite way to say dump.

‘It has a sort of charm to it,’ I answer.

‘Aye, it does that. But Lola, she won’t ask for any help. Tries to do it all on her own and I thought I’d try to fix the place up, without telling her, like. She’s so stubborn.’

Noah laughs like this is a good thing.

‘That’s really kind, Noah,’ I tell him, meaning it.