A minute of silence passed.
“We weren’t more than friends,” Shaw said, breaking the quiet. “Not yet anyway. But we were friends. And she meant… she means a lot to me. More than I realized.”
“Okay.” A tear slid down Reggie’s cheek.
“And whether we ever would be more than friends is something that…” He shook his head, stared over at a little boy with his mother, and then dropped his gaze to the grass.
“But, Shaw, she’s going to be okay. You can go and—”
“That won’t be happening,” he said firmly.
Another few moments of silence passed.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked.
“Few days off wandering around here until Frank puts me back to work.”
“You could come out to Harrowsfield. In fact, I believe Frank is traveling there tomorrow to go over some things. And we could—” She stopped talking when he abruptly stood.
“No, Reggie, I really don’t think we could.”
He turned to leave.
“Please, Shaw.”
He looked over his shoulder at her. “I’m sorry.”
“But if we can just take it slow.” Tears were starting to cluster in her eyes and this seemed to anger her. She brushed them away.
He turned to face her as she stood to do the same. “I buried the one woman who meant more to me than anyone else. And I nearly lost another woman who I care about deeply.” He paused and drew a short breath. “I’m not going to make it three. Take care of yourself, Reggie.”
She stared after him until even his tall figure disappeared into the growing crowds as London came to life.
Reggie finally walked off in the opposite direction. She could not bring herself to look back.
If she had glanced back, however, she would have seen Shaw stop and stare back at her for a long moment. Then he slowly turned around and kept walking.