Chapter 8

They had naturally moved into a position where their bodies were entwined. Her head resting on his chest as he draped his arm around her. She didn't need to tell him that she still loved him. He knew her soul better than she did. The fact that she showed up at all told him all he needed to know.

She thought back to that first night, trying not to dwell on the time they had wasted these last five years apart. She looked up at him with her trademark sweet smile and said,

"So, what now?"

His smile lit up his face, reaching all the way to his eyes as he looked back at her.

"Remember that time we went apple picking at Ballycross Apple Farm in Wexford?"

"Of course." She laughed like she could forget the way he caught her. Like some kind of knight in shining armour when she fell from the ladder, only for them both to end up in the dirt when he lost his footing.

"Well… You told me you weren't one for settling. But if you ever did, you quite liked the idea of an Orchard…."

Sophie's eyes lit up at his words as she sat up to look him in the eyes.

"This is all yours?" She questioned, not quite sure she could believe what she was hearing.

"No, love. Not mine…."

"Oh…." She said, trying to hide her disappointment.

Callum tilted her chin up and smiled mischievously down at her. He kissed her, letting the gesture say all the unsaid things.

"It's all ours…."

Sophie reigned in her urge to jump him then and there. Her heart was soaring at his words, but she wouldn’t be foolish. Not again.

“Callum….”

“You’re hesitating, Soph.”

“No, Callum. This isn’t hesitation. This is real life. We were practically kids when we were together, we lasted two years, two years. We’ve been apart for five. We’re totally different people now. We can’t just pretend the last five years didn’t happen. They happened. And it was agony. At least for me….”

Sophie moved from the bench to the seat on the opposite side of the fire pit area. She wrapped the blanket around herself, instantly missing the warmth from Callum’s body. But she needed space from him, physically, so she could make sense of her thoughts.

Callum stared at her thoughtfully. He had hoped that his grand gesture would be enough. He would admit that he had hoped they could avoid having this conversation. The one where they drudged up everything that happened between them, and the years in between. But he was here for a reason, and if that’s the conversation Sophie needed from him in order for them to be together, then he would have it.

He leant forward and placed his elbows on his knees, resting his chin on his knuckles.

“Ok, Soph. What do you want to know?”