“Lara?” Ed takes a step toward me. “Are you OK?”
“Yes. I mean, no. I mean…” I take a breath. “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry I left our date in such a rush. I’m sorry you thought I was setting you up for a job. But I wasn’t. I really wasn’t. And I really hope you believe me-”
“Stop talking to him!” interrupts Sadie in a burst of fury, but I don’t move a muscle. Ed’s dark, serious gaze is on mine and I can’t tear my eyes away.
“I do believe you,” he says. “And I need to apologize too. I overreacted. I didn’t give you a chance. Afterward I regretted it. I realized I’d thrown away something… a friendship… that was…”
“What?” I manage.
“Good.” There’s a questioning look in his face. “I think we had something good. Didn’t we?”
This is the moment to nod and say yes. But I can’t leave it at that. I don’t want a good friendship. I want that feeling back, when he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. I want him. That’s the truth.
“You want me just to be your… friend?” I force myself to say the words, and instantly I can see something change in Ed’s face.
“Stop it! Talk to me!” Sadie whirls over to Ed and screeches in his ear. “Stop talking to Lara! Go away!” For a moment he gets that distant look in his eye, and I can tell he’s heard her. But he doesn’t move. His eyes just crinkle into a warm, tender smile.
“You want the truth? I think you’re my guardian angel.”
“What?” I try to laugh, but it doesn’t quite come out right.
“Do you know what it’s like to have someone crash into your life with no warning?” Ed shakes his head reminiscently. “When you landed in my office, I was, like, Who the fuck is this? But you shook me up. You brought me back to life at a time when I was in limbo. You were just what I needed.” He hesitates, then adds, “You’re just what I need.” His voice is lower and darker; there’s something in his look which is making me tingle all over.
“Well, I need you too.” My voice is constricted. “So we’re even.”
“No, you don’t need me.” He smiles ruefully. “You’re doing just fine.”
“OK.” I hesitate. “Maybe I don’t need you. But… I want you.”
For a moment neither of us speaks. His eyes are locked on mine. My heart is thumping so hard, I’m sure he can hear it.
“Go away, Ed!” Sadie suddenly screeches in Ed’s ear. “Do this later!”
I can see Ed flinch at the sound of her, and I feel a familiar foreboding. If Sadie messes this up for me, I will, I will…
“Leave!” Sadie is shrieking incessantly at him. “Tell her you’ll call later! Go away! Go home!”
I’m aching with anger at her. Stop! I want to yell. Leave him alone! But I’m powerless. I just have to watch the light come on in Ed’s eyes as he hears her and registers what she’s saying. It’s like Josh all over again. She’s ruined everything again.
“You know, sometimes you hear a voice in your head,” Ed says, as though the thought has just occurred to him. “Like… an instinct.”
“I know you do,” I say miserably. “You hear a voice and it has a message and it’s telling you to go away. I understand.”
“It’s telling me the opposite.” Ed moves forward and firmly takes hold of my shoulders. “It’s telling me not to let you go. It’s telling me you’re the best thing that’s happened to me and I better not fuck this one up.”
And before I can even take a breath, he leans down and kisses me. His arms wrap around me, strong and secure and resolute.
I’m in a state of total disbelief. He’s not walking away. He’s not listening to Sadie. Whatever voice is in his head… it’s not hers.
At last he draws away and smiles down at me, pushing a strand of hair gently off my face. I smile back, breathless, resisting the temptation to pull him down straightaway for another snog.
“Would you like to dance, twenties girl?” he says.
I want to dance. I want to do more than dance. I want to spend all evening and all night with him.
I shoot a surreptitious glance at Sadie. She’s moved away a few feet and is studying her shoes, her shoulders hunched over, her hands twisted together in a complicated knot. She looks up and shrugs, with a tiny sad smile of defeat.
“Dance with him,” she says. “It’s all right. I’ll wait.”
She’s waited years and years and years to find out the truth about Stephen. And now she’s willing to wait even longer, just so I can dance with Ed.
There’s a tugging in my heart. If I could, I’d throw my arms around her.
“No.” I shake my head firmly. “It’s your turn. Ed…” I turn to him with a deep breath. “I have to tell you about my great-aunt. She died recently.”
“Oh. OK. Sure. I didn’t know.” He looks puzzled. “You want to talk over dinner?”
“No. I need to talk about it right now.” I drag him to the edge of the dance floor, away from the band. “It’s really important. Her name was Sadie, and she was in love with this guy Stephen in the 1920s. And she thought he was a bastard who used her and forgot about her. But he loved her. I know he did. Even after he went to France, he loved her.”
My words are spilling out in an urgent stream. I’m looking directly at Sadie. I have to get my message across. She has to believe me.