A Virgin for a Vow

But his only priority was Abby.

Hadn’t the last few days demonstrated that? He was walking through life like a ghost. His life was meaningless without her sunny presence casting out all the shadows that had doggedly surrounded him for so long. Why had he been such an emotional coward? Had he ruined any chance of a future with her?

He wanted to see her straight away but there was one thing he had to do first. He should have done it years ago. He raced home to pack up Kimberley’s things, shooting her parents a text to say he would be around to drop them off as soon as he got a chance.

He folded the clothes and placed them in a cardboard box and gently closed the lid. It was like closing a chapter of his life.

His phone pinged with an answering text from Kimberley’s parents to say they were in the area—could they drop in for a minute to pick up their daughter’s things? Luke was desperate to go and see Abby but he couldn’t fob off Kimberley’s parents. Surely he owed them a few minutes?

He opened the front door an excruciatingly long hour later to find Peter and Tanya Norman standing there. ‘Come in,’ he said, greeting them as he normally did with awkward hugs and handshakes.

Tanya looked like she’d been recently crying, but then that wasn’t unusual. ‘Luke…there’s something I have to tell you. I think it’s time to tell you the truth about what happened the night Kimberley was…killed.’

Luke looked at Peter but he was doing his stoic father and husband thing, although he reached for his wife’s hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

‘The thing is…’ Tanya swallowed. ‘Kimberley was going to break up with you. She was interested in someone else but didn’t have the courage to tell you. She didn’t cheat on you. I know that for a fact. She was just finding it hard to bring things to an end with you because you were always so good to her. I think the only reason she didn’t tell you about it that night was because she felt like she had betrayed you by allowing herself to fall in love with someone else while still in a relationship with you.’

Luke couldn’t get his brain around the bombshell news. Kimberley had been about to leave him? No wonder he’d thought their relationship was past its use-by date. But he’d always blamed himself. ‘Why didn’t you say something before now?’

Tanya looked ashamed. ‘I felt it would hurt you too much to know she had fallen in love with someone else. You were always so good to her. So kind and patient when I know she wasn’t always an easy person to be with. But I think that’s because she wasn’t in love with you. She’d been so hurt by her last relationship and you were a safe person, someone she trusted to take care of her. But in the end she wanted more. She wanted what everyone wants. True love.’

Luke wanted to be angry but somehow couldn’t summon the energy. Kimberley’s parents believed he’d been in love with her. He didn’t think it served any purpose to tell them he hadn’t been. ‘Thank you for telling me,’ he said. ‘It was very courageous of you.’

‘I was worried when I saw you and Abby Hart had broken up,’ Tanya said. ‘I was pleased you had found someone. Really pleased. I thought I wouldn’t be when the time came but I was. But then I felt terrible when I saw you’d broken up. I wondered then if it had anything to do with what happened with Kimberley. I couldn’t let another moment pass before I told you what I should have told you years ago. She might not have loved you as you loved her but she did love you. It just wasn’t the right sort of love.’

Luke opened his arms and welcomed her into a warm hug. He reached out with one arm and included Peter as well. No one said anything. They simply stood in a circle of three, honouring their memories of Kimberley.

And for the first time in five years Luke felt an enormous weight lift off his shoulders.

* * *

Abby had been mentally preparing for the fallout after her column went live but the opposite happened. Her inbox was filled with messages of support and encouragement, her Twitter feed went nuts and Felicity even mentioned something about a pay rise.

But, even so, it didn’t make her heart feel any lighter.

Ella had phoned her every day since Abby had been back in London but she had been surprisingly tight-lipped about her older brother, saying only that she was reluctant to take sides as they were both adults and had to figure out this stuff on their own.

But Abby was worried Luke might never figure out his stuff. His stuff had put his life on hold for five long years. Would he end up an old lonely man with no one by his side?

Would she end up alone?