Three Minutes to Happiness (17 page)

“I want to go.” Val gripped Nick’s arm. “Nick can take me to the taxi-rank.” She gazed into Nick’s confused face, willing him to agree, not to leave her here with Finn. “Please, Finn, just let me go.”

Nick bent low, and spoke softly. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go, Val. But I think you should talk to Finn first. If you still want to go after that, I’ll be right outside.” He smiled. “Okay?”

Nick must be an excellent vet. He had the knack of calming anyone or anything with his softly spoken words.

She didn’t want to face Finn. Didn’t want to spend any time with him, but there was no getting away until she had so she straightened her spine, and nodded.

“Just outside,” Nick said again, pushing open the front door and sitting on a wooden rocker in the porch.

“Val.”

She looked up. There was an expression on Finn’s face. One she’d never seen before. Confusion, regret—no, more than that—devastation.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you to hear, I didn’t mean to make you feel pressured. Steven asked me, and the words just…” He shrugged. “They just came out.” He stroked her hair. “I meant them. I can’t call them back.”

She couldn’t answer. Couldn’t give him what he so clearly wanted. Couldn’t give her heart to someone, risk her heart, not again.

“Just say something,” Finn said. “Anything.”

“I don’t love you.” She saw his eyes change. The light in them dimmed.

Finn’s jaw clenched and his hand dropped from her hair. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do mean it. I don’t want to hurt you. I care about you, but…” She had to convince him, had to be clear. “I don’t love you, Finn. I will never love you. We were only ever going to be temporary, were never going to be more.”

He grasped her arms. “I’m not going to let you just walk away—”

The ache in her heart was almost more than she could bear. “You have to.” She pressed her lips together. “There’s nothing more. I can’t see you any more, Finn. It’s over.”

“Let me drive you home, you’re upset, we can talk in the car.”

“No.” Val took a step back, feeling the invisible thread that tied her to him grow taut, then break. “Nick will take me.” Words weren’t enough, would never convey the overwhelming emotions inside. “I’m sorry.”

One last look. Then she turned and walked away from him. Every step almost impossible, but vital to her survival. Without him.

Chapter Eighteen

Val was so exhausted, she slept on the plane. Nick had insisted on driving her all the way home the previous night, and to her never ending gratitude, hadn’t questioned her about Finn. Instead, he steered the conversation into calmer waters, telling her stories about his patients and their owners that normally would have had her in stitches.

She’d been barely able to summon a smile, and was sure by the time he pulled up outside her house he was delighted to see the back of her.

She’d emailed the promised files and quotes to April before starting to pack. She’d said she would photograph the wedding, and couldn’t—wouldn’t—let her personal feelings get in the way of that. April had left securing a photographer late, and with Christmas just around the corner it wouldn’t be fair to pull out now. Whether April and Matthew still wanted her was another matter.

As Val stepped out of the aircraft, the heat of Gran Canaria surrounded her instantly. She breathed in the balmy air, and blinked in the sunlight, then crossed the tarmac to the terminal building to collect her bags. She plastered a smile on her face as she came out of arrivals, determined to hide her misery from her hosts.

“Val!” Her mother’s voice rang out.

Val looked around, and saw Belle dipping under the barrier and rushing toward her.

“Darling, I’m so glad you’re here.” Belle enfolded her in a hug, so warm and welcoming that Val had to blink back the tears that pricked her eyes. “Let me look at you!” Belle pulled back, and stared at Val.

She looked wonderful, way younger than her forty-seven years. She’d let her hair grow since Val had seen her last, into a longer sun-bleached style that flattered her. She wore a casual cotton top and tight jeans. A pretty pink pearl necklace hung around her neck, and a large diamond glittered in the ring on her finger.

A tiny frown creased between her eyebrows. “You look…” Her head tilted to the side, considering. “Are you alright, darling?”

Val nodded. “Just tired.”

Belle looked as though she didn’t believe Val’s explanation for a minute, but didn’t push. Instead, she looked behind her to the man who had stepped around the barrier and walked up to them.

“Darling, this is Raoul.” Her smile lit her up from the inside.

The man who’d proposed to her mother was not as Val had expected. He was younger than Belle, but not the drop dead gorgeous type Belle normally went for. Instead, he looked serious, studious, and nervous.

“I’m pleased to meet you, Val,” he said. “Let me take your bag.”

With a smile, she handed it over.

Belle chatted non-stop on the way to the shiny new Range Rover pulled up outside. Raoul drove expertly as Belle talked. “Raoul has to go into work, so he’s just going to drop us home and head straight out.”

Raoul worked?
“What do you do, Raoul?”

“I run an export business. We are very busy with orders this time of year. I wanted to be here to greet you, but unfortunately business can’t wait.”

“Raoul’s company are the major pearl exporters on the island,” Belle said. “Wait until you see them, darling. They’re gorgeous. I’ll show you some when we get home.”

“You should let her rest.”

“I’ve sorted my jewelry box especially for Val’s visit.” Belle laughed. “She always loved poking around in my shiny things. Didn’t you, Val?”

Belle’s words sparked a memory. Dressing up in her mother’s costume jewelry, staggering around in sky-high heels. The two of them swathed in brightly colored feather boas, acting like kids. She’d forgotten the fun they used to have.

“We’re here.”

The car pulled up outside a large, white villa covered in hot-pink bougainvillea, facing the azure ocean. The house was so beautiful Val just stood and stared.

“Raoul bought it a couple of years ago,” Belle said, as they walked to the house. “He says it was a good investment, but I suspect he just loved it on sight.”

Raoul draped an arm around Belle’s shoulders. Gazed deep into her eyes, with a look of passion that couldn’t be faked. “It was empty, then. Now that I have someone to share it with, it is truly perfect.”

He placed Val’s bag inside the front door, “I have to go. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

He kissed Belle, squeezed her hand, and strode away.

“Come on in.”

As they entered, a dark haired lady dressed in an apron, rushed in. “I’m sorry, I was baking.”

“Maria, this is my daughter, Val.”

The woman grasped Val’s hand. “Belle has spoken of you often,” The warmth in her voice was matched by her smile. “Your room is ready.” She turned her attention to Belle. “Shall I take Val’s bag?”

“Leave it.” Belle said. “We’ll take it up later. Right now, I want to show my daughter around.”

“I’ll bring tea.” Maria brushed her hands over her apron. “And something to eat. Some pastries, maybe?”

“Perfect.”

There was no way Belle had the finances to support this lifestyle. The car, the villa, the staff—all of them must be paid for by Raoul. Instead of the gold-digger Val had thought him, it was obvious that he was a wealthy man whose love for her mother must be real.

Shame skittered along Val’s spine as she followed her mother into an elegant room with floor length glass windows facing the ocean. She’d misjudged him. Purely because he was younger. Hadn’t considered for a moment that perhaps Belle had found that most elusive of things, love.

“He’s not what you expected,” Belle said as they sat opposite each other on rich cream sofas.

“No, he’s not.”

“I knew that.” Belle’s fingers played with tassels of a cushion she’d placed on her lap. “Raoul is thirty-five. The fact that he’s younger is just one aspect to him, but I knew it would be difficult for you to get over.”

There was no point in denying it. She had jumped to a conclusion about him based purely on the one thing she knew about him. His age. “I thought he might be, you know…”

“After my money?” Belle didn’t look remotely disturbed by the thought. “At the beginning, I doubted him. Until I got to really know him, to understand him. Raoul says age is just a number, and he’s proved that to me. We’re very happy together, and have a great group of friends. We wanted to hold a little party to celebrate you being here, just a small gathering of our closest friends. I’d like you to know them.”

“I’d like that.”

“There’s something else I want to talk to you about.” Belle bit her lip. “Something serious.”

What could be more serious than Belle’s upcoming wedding?
Val waited.

“When we are married, neither of us will be coming back to Ireland,” she said. “I want to put the house on the market, but I didn’t want to do that before talking to you about it. I’m settled here. I love our home, and our life, and when the house is sold I can give you some money—”

Val’s response was instant. “I don’t need anything, Mum.”

Belle nodded. “I knew you’d say that, but I want to give you some seed capital to set up on your own. Consider it a business venture on my part, if you won’t take it with no strings attached. You worked so hard while you were married. I want to do this for you.”

Maria came in with a laden tray, and Belle took it from her and set it on the coffee table between the two sofas. “Now, enough of that. Tell me about you. Any love interest on the horizon?”

*****

Mid-way through the week, good news visited the offices of Logan & O’Donoghue. They’d been selected to take part in
Wonderful Houses.
Finn should be ecstatically happy. Connor and Anna sure were.

“They want to start filming before we’ve even broken ground,” Connor said. “With our first meeting discussing the budget and the details of the build.”

“Great.” Finn tried for delighted, but missed it by a mile. He rubbed the back of his neck, and shoved another espresso pod into the coffee machine.

“That’s three.” Connor frowned. “Triple espressos are going to have you wired, Pal.”

Finn shrugged. Nothing seemed to shift his mood nowadays. Since Val left, he’d been in a funk that was impossible to shake. Her leaving the party with his brother had been bad, but walking back into the room where all his family waited had been way worse.

His mother had been full of questions, and the rest of his family had gazed at him with pity in their eyes. He’d been well and truly smacked down for the sin of telling her he loved her. She’d left the country without so much as a phone call.

“What the hell is the matter?” Connor perched on the corner of Finn’s desk. “I thought you’d be happy that we’ve got the contract, but you’re not.” He frowned. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Val.”

Connor’s frown disappeared. “She wants more, huh?” He looked sympathetic. “I know you’re used to casual, but maybe if she’s worth it, you have to reconsider.”

The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Finn. He’d always been the one to run from commitment. Now, for the first time ever, he wanted more, and Val was the one heading for the distant hills. “That’s not the way it went down.” He swallowed the strong coffee. “I…” God, Connor would think he was a total idiot. “I told her I loved her, and she ran.”

Connor’s eyes widened. “Okay, so you just backtrack, make a joke out of it, and work on her.” He grinned. “The sex is hot, right?”

Finn nodded.

“And she likes your company. You have fun, don’t you?”

Finn nodded again, feeling rather like one of those bobble-heads in the back window of a car. “It’s not quite that simple. She’s divorced, and pretty phobic about getting involved with someone again. I took her home.”

“Yikes.” Connor grimaced. “Full family immersion? I can see how that might have been difficult.”

“It gets worse. She didn’t want to meet everyone as my girlfriend, but capitulated at the last minute. While we were at the party, I said I loved her in front of everyone.”

“They all heard?”

The memory of his shouted words in the silent room filled Finn’s head. “Yeah. The music was loud, I was talking to Steven, and shouting. Then the music stopped.”

“Oh God.”

“I thought for a minute she was going to be okay with it. There was something in her eyes, but then I said it again, and she bolted. She told me it was over, and left the country to visit her mother.”

“But she’s coming back.” Connor stood. “The question is, are you going to try again?”

Am I?
She’d been adamant. Determined to end it. His heart was bruised, and no amount of whiskey had eased the pain. He’d tried. He’d put himself out there, in front of his entire family, dammit, and she’d rejected him. He should move on. Should have some self-respect, and some respect for her wishes too. But the thought of life without her…

“Yes, I am.” He didn’t know exactly how, but he was definitely going to try again.

*****

“Alejandro is dying to meet you.” Belle fastened the black pearl necklace that her fiancé had given Val around Val’s neck. “He’s based in London, which isn’t so far from Dublin, is it?” Her eyes twinkled with suppressed excitement. “He’s single, and totally gorgeous. Raoul does business with him, and I’ve met him a few times, he’s—”

“Mum. I’m not interested in being set up.” Val fingered the necklace.

“You need a boyfriend, darling.” Belle was determined. “I want you to find someone. It isn’t healthy for someone your age to be without a partner.”

Val hadn’t told her mother about Finn, but couldn’t hold back anymore. “I was seeing someone. We broke up last week.”

Belle grabbed Val’s hand and pulled her down onto the bed. Her eyes were wide with concern. “Did he treat you badly?” Her lips compressed. “So many young men these days are just after sex, they run at the first sign of something more permanent. I can’t bear the thought that your heart was broken again. I wish I knew him, I’d…” She twisted her hands together in an eloquent strangling gesture.