“I understand. Tom’s a lucky guy.” Adam laughed in spite of himself. “The spontaneous old me wouldn’t have cared about that and asked to kiss you.”
“The spontaneous old me might have let you.”
“It’s probably good we’re both older and wiser.”
With some reluctance, Carla nodded.
Before she left, she thought of one Logical Love question to ask him. “If you could relive one moment in time, what would it be?”
Adam didn’t hesitate. “When Romy was born. I wanted to look after her forever. I knew I’d give up my life for her and nothing has ever compared to that,” he said. “What would you choose?”
Carla ran through numerous occasions in her head. She hadn’t experienced anything as monumental as the birth of a child, and she didn’t want to think about her first wedding. When she recalled any big events in her life, her mum’s funeral came to mind. “There are so many options,” she said with a small shrug.
“That’s a good thing. I’m glad we had the chance to meet up, and I hope you find what you’re looking for.” Adam paused. “I’m free tomorrow afternoon, if you’d like to meet for coffee, no strings attached. Just two friends enjoying each other’s company again.” He pressed his fingers to his lips and blew a kiss from his fingertips.
It was a little cheesy and something he used to do at the end of his stage act when they were dating. Carla would catch the kiss and hold it in her hands. This time she didn’t.
“Please think about it.” Adam walked backward, holding her gaze, and they smiled a little goofily at each other until he gave her a final wave and vanished around a corner.
Carla stood for a while with her arms wrapped around her body in a hug. She and Adam still had a spark, but their meeting had been more about gaining some kind of closure for the past rather than reigniting something for the future.
So, surely, she could discount him from her search for her significant ex.
Couldn’t she?
Fourteen
Wool
Carla swam lap after lap in her hotel pool the next morning, all her senses tingling. The water was cold and sharp against her skin, and the smell of the chlorine was tangy. Seeing Adam again had left her feeling more alive, more special. For the first time in ages, she didn’t just feel like someone’s organized boss, or annoying sister, or reliable fiancée.
However, there was no way she was going to cancel her wedding for the sake of a couple of hours spent with an ex. Adam was right that she should be more honest with Tom about the extent of Myrtle’s prediction. But the longer Carla was away from her fiancé, the more she was beginning to believe there might be some truth to Myrtle’s words. She kept thinking about her mum and why she’d been delving into their family history.
Carla climbed out of the water and pulled on her beach dress, not caring if her hair would dry and frizz in the sunshine. The freckles that had appeared on her shoulders looked like scattered sand. She gathered all her things together and took a seat at the poolside café, where she ordered a coffee and egg on toast. A few late-night revelers lay sprawled on sun loungers around her, and many vacationers hadn’t yet made it out of bed. Her phone pinged and she read a message from Adam.
Morning! It was great seeing you last night. Want to meet for coffee at 2?
Carla knitted a hand into her hair, not sure what to do. She had only one day and night left in Portugal and did she really want to tempt fate by seeing Adam again?
She was still considering her response when her phone vibrated with an incoming Facetime call. She smiled when she saw Gran’s name on the screen, looking forward to giving her an update on her travels. Instead, she found Lucinda was accompanied by Jess, Mimi and Evelyn. They sat in a line, making Carla feel like she was auditioning for a talent show.
She carried her phone and belongings up to her room, making small talk as she went.
Mimi looked resplendent in a bouffant gray wig topped with pearls and feathers, and her cobalt satin dress pushed up her bosom as she fluttered a face fan. Carla observed that she’d adhered several beauty spots to her face and cleavage. “Bonjour, Carla,” she said.
Carla peered more closely at her phone screen. “Are you going to a fancy-dress party, Aunt Mimi?”
“Non, ma cherie. I’ve scooped the lead role in a new theater production, playing Marie Antoinette. The director says I’m a complete natural and can hardly believe I’m not a French royal. I’ve been living and breathing everything française.”
In comparison to Mimi, Jess looked like she was attending a business meeting, dressed in a white blouse with her russet curls tied back so tightly it pulled her eyebrows up her forehead. Her lips were thin and tight, as if she’d been forced onto the call, and Carla sensed there was still a fault line running between her and her sister. She didn’t know how to thaw the ice.
She opened her mouth, about to tell her gran, aunts and sister about the family tree Babs had given her, when a small man with a horseshoe of wiry black hair appeared beside them on the screen.
He wore a woolen sweater with red poppies and sheep on the front and held a plate piled high with slices of Victoria sponge. He handed out the cake and napkins to the others and took a seat next to Evelyn.
“Carla, this is Bertrand,” Evelyn said, peeping through her eyelashes at him.
Bertrand pretended to tug the peak of an invisible hat. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Carla. I promise I’m taking very good care of your aunt. She’s very special to me.”
Evelyn’s face flushed to her hairline, and a smile lit up her face.
Carla had never seen her aunt look so happy. “I’m really pleased to hear it,” she said. “How did you two meet?”
“We both reached for the same knitting pattern book in the library and Evelyn insisted that I should read it first.” Bertrand chuckled. “My friends had been teasing me about my newfound hobby, but Evelyn agrees there’s something about the clack of knitting needles that’s ever so soothing. I invited her for coffee and scones and we’ve been sharing knitting patterns ever since.”
They exchanged a coy, lingering look.
Mimi pressed her hands together into a prayer. “Love is truly in the air.” She paused for dramatic effect. “Because Jess has also found someone special.”
“Mimi.” Jess shot a look of horror at her aunt. “I’ve been on a couple of dates, that’s all.”
Carla angled her head in surprise. It hadn’t been long since they’d run Jess’s details through the Logical Love database, so her sister must have moved quickly. “You have?” she asked, speaking directly to Jess. “Did you match with someone through work?”
Jess bristled and she rearranged her ponytail. “I’ve been for a few drinks with Mr. Forty-Nine Percent.”
“I thought he was now sixty-two percent?”
“It doesn’t have the same ring and it’s not like we’re serious or anything.”
