“Well that’s because you think ‘chips’ are ‘crisps,’” Willow teased.
He bumped his hip against hers. “My point is, such simple food shouldn’t taste this good.”
As Willow and Hunter discussed the finer points of British cuisine, Jesse and I fell behind.
“They get on really well, don’t they?” I said, watching them as they laughed together.
“They sure do. He probably wouldn’t admit it, but I think he’ll miss her.”
I nodded. “Willow will definitely miss him. She doesn’t really do very well with boys. They don’t usually get her. They think she’s weird. It’s a shame they don’t look past her dress sense to see how much fun she is.”
“She’s great. I think she might even have tamed Hunter a little.”
“Is my cousin a player?”
“No,” Jesse laughed. “Not really. But he’s not a saint either.”
“I guessed that.”
“This has been a crazy vacation. Hunter fully intended to meet some girls over here, but he didn’t expect to find one he liked so much. And Willow is a welcome change from his normal type. You know he was in to Mischa when he first met her?”
My eyes began to water as I choked on a chip, the vinegar catching in my throat. “Mischa? Really?”
“Sure. He thought she was sexy.”
“But she thought you were sexy,” I pointed out.
“I am.” Jesse grinned.
“Okay, you need to spend less time with Radleigh McCoy. That ego is rubbing off on you!”
Radleigh had left London earlier that morning. He could have left sooner, but he wanted to make absolutely sure that everything was right with Jesse before going home. After spending a little more time with him, I definitely understood why Jesse had mentioned the ego. At times, it was like there was an extra person in the room. His girlfriend had to be a special person to handle him.
“Sorry,” Jesse said, laughing. “I’m not sure arrogance really suits me.”
“Confidence suits you,” I told him, smiling.
“It suits you, too. You had a good time tonight, didn’t you?”
“I really did. It was nice to be out of the house, but spending the time with you guys just made it even better.”
Jesse stopped walking – or swinging – and said, “I’m gonna miss you so much.”
“I know,” I said, stepping a little closer to him. “I’ll miss you too. But … can we leave the tearful goodbyes until we get home? It’s really romantic out here with the cold and the Christmas lights but when we talk, I want it to just be me and you. Nobody else around.”
Jesse nodded, and I felt like he really understood. “Okay. Let’s do that.”
It seemed like an eternity until we arrived at the house. We all waited downstairs, chatting to my parents until Willow’s dad came to collect her. Hunter went to bed shortly after, and while Jesse was talking to my dad, I followed my mum into the kitchen where she was loading up the dishwasher.
“Mum?”
She stopped what she was doing and looked up at me. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to say to her, but I felt like I needed to talk to her about Jesse. About what would happen next. Maybe I just needed to get my thoughts straight before talking to him. Whatever it was, I just really needed my mum. Somehow, she seemed to get the general idea because her eyes softened. She straightened up, and sat down at the breakfast bar beckoning me to do the same.
“Are we about to have ‘the talk’?” she asked.
I sighed. “I don’t know, Mum. But I do know that I really don’t want tomorrow to get here.”
She reached for my hand. “I know it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to Jesse, especially when you were supposed to have another week with him. Leaves you with some tough decisions to make, doesn’t it?”