Page 111 of Outback Secrets

Chapter Thirty-one

Henri blinked back tears as the door slammed behind Liam and Sheila, who’d scuttled off the bed after him as he’d fled the room.

What the hell just happened? One minute she’d been content in his arms after one of the best nights she’d had in forever, the next he’d been shoving her off as if she had some kind of contagious disease. All because she’d mentioned Christmas.

The tears broke forth and she swiped at them madly. Henri Forward did not cry over men. Not anymore, and especially not ones who were acting like wankers!

And Liam definitely had. Talk about overreacting. If he didn’t want to be her plus-one for lunch, so be it. He didn’t have to storm out like a toddler!

Sure, she’d been surprised at first, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t have come round if he’d given her a few moments to digest the news. She wasn’t unreasonable, she was simply tired, not to mention shocked by his aggressive reaction.

As she lay there wondering when he might come back, she tried to make sense of the way he’d behaved. Was he having second thoughts about their fling? Maybe he’d simply had enough of her and no longer wanted her in his space? Or maybe there was something deeper going on. Everything had been fine until she’d mentioned Christmas.

Oh my God. Of course.

She sat up quickly as everything clicked into place. Liam never put up Christmas decorations in the pub or played festive music. It was a local joke that he was a bit of a Grinch. She’d even heard people calling The Palace ‘Bar Humbug’.

The town didn’t know why he was like this, but maybe she did. Her heart felt heavy. What an insensitive fool she’d been.

Of course he wouldn’t want to spend Christmas Day with her family when he’d never see any of his own ever again. As much as the idea of anyone being alone at Christmas didn’t sit right with Henri, she did understand and the tears scrolling down her cheeks morphed from angry to melancholic.

She needed to talk to him. She needed to tell him she understood and that it was okay. If he didn’t want to do Christmas with her family, that was fine. If he wanted to be alone she’d respect that, but maybe she could suggest the two of them spend the day together instead? They could go for a drive and do some more geocaching. There were still four days until Christmas; surely her ankle would be better by then.

Her mother wouldn’t be pleased, but right now she was more concerned about Liam than anything else.

Already feeling a little better, she switched on the bedside lamp, threw back the sheet and swung into a sitting position, only to realise her problem.

Her crutches were still downstairs in the office.

She glanced around for something to use in lieu of them but found nothing. Using the bed for support, she pushed herself to a stand and then, slowly lifting her good foot off the ground, tested her weight on the bad one.

Pain shot from her ankle right up to her hip. Swear words spewing from her mouth, she flopped back onto the bed. She couldn’t help thinking that if her ankle was still this bad, maybe it wouldn’t be better by the time she had to leave the day after Boxing Day.

But she’d worry about that later. Right now, her only concern was checking on Liam. Making things right between them again.

Absentmindedly rubbing at her ankle, she eyed her mobile sitting on the bedside table. This wasn’t the kind of conversation she wanted to have over the phone, but what choice did she have? She could hardly hop all the way downstairs, and what if he wasn’t there? For all she knew, he could have gone into the studio or further afield.

She sighed and reached for the phone, her finger only hovering a few moments over his name before she pressed call.

Moments later, a ringing sounded from the floor on the other side of the bed.

‘Dammit!’ She threw her mobile down.

Of course he hadn’t taken his; people in a state like he’d been in didn’t think about stuff like that, but hopefully that meant he hadn’t gone far.

And, he’d have to come back eventually.

Predicting she wouldn’t be able to sleep until he did, Henri picked up her book and once again attempted to immerse herself in the pages.

* * *

Whiskey burning his mouth, Liam slammed his glass down onto the bar and stared into it as if it might have the answers to the mysteries of the universe. It didn’t. He knew that from experience, yet still he lifted it back up and took another sip.

Just in case.

Seconds later, repulsion washed through him as the liquid slithered down his throat. What a total asshole he’d been to Henri. She didn’t deserve the way he’d stormed out like a spoilt brat, simply because she’d made an assumption he’d join her family on Christmas Day. And it wasn’t a crazy assumption either. They were, after all, trying to fool her mother into thinking they had a future together. They’d come this far; would it have killed him to help her out one more day?

It was just a day after all. It might be the only day of the year he blocked out the rest of the world and let himself properly mourn his family, but did it have to be that day? He could always close the pub for two days in a row instead of the usual one and make Boxing Day the day in which he drank himself into a stupor.