When she reached the top, she overlooked the entire lake and smiled at the hotel. She made it down the hill and towards the lake. Then she passed the bench and went down the path to the water’s edge. Just as she reached the old pier, she noticed someone sitting at the end with their legs dangling over the water.
Before she could stop herself, Peyton stepped on the wooden pier and continued towards him. She didn’t say anything while she observed him as he stared at the forest just near the hotel. Her chest constricted as she realised what spot he was looking at—the same spot they’d spent their last night together and the same part of the forest where she had given herself up to him. The part of the world where she had confessed that she loved him.
Peyton swallowed the large lump in her throat and started to walk off the pier, trying to stop the memories of that night from resurfacing in her consciousness.
“Peyton?” he called out.
She stopped. She was halfway off but halfway to him.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to face him. He gave her a tight smile—one she had seen many times since he had returned. Her chest heaved as she stared into those grey eyes.
“Want to sit with me for a bit? Before we go through Marissa’s plans?” Callum carefully scooted over and patted a spot for her.
She remembered the many summers they had spent sitting on the edge, watching the world go by. Simple times. Before everything in her life had changed. Inhaling a deep breath to settle her heart, Peyton treaded cautiously towards the end of the pier and sat down, her legs dangling over the edge.
They sat there in silence, staring at the lake and the people who pedalled their small boats across the water. Though Daylesford offered little in extravagance, it did offer simplicity and peace. Closing her eyes, Peyton let the feeling of the wind consume her. Peace. That was what she loved about this town.
“I always knew you’d marry lavender boy,” Callum said softly, almost in a whisper.
Peyton slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. “What?”
“Though it’s not on the right finger, I know an engagement ring when I see one. I thought it wasn’t, but seeing you with him this morning… It makes sense that you two got together,” Callum explained, still eyeing the trees behind her hotel.
“It’s a promise ring,” Peyton stated as she played with the white-gold ring on her middle finger. She wasn’t sure why she was clarifying herself to him, but she felt the need to.
Callum stared at his hands in his lap. “That you’ll marry him?”
Peyton moved the hair that blew in her face and tucked it behind her ear. As her eyes scanned over at the trees, her heart ached at the memory of them at seventeen. From the way Callum had looked at her in the lantern light, she’d believed he had loved her, too, in some way.
“I’m not here to discuss my relationship with—”
“Lavender boy,” Callum said, interrupting her. His eyes met hers.
“No. His name is Graham, not lavender boy. Don’t call him that!” she said, raising her voice.
“You love him, not Jay.”
Peyton shook her head in disbelief. Then she stood up and looked down at Callum. The dejected expression in his eyes caused her to flinch.
“I don’t love Jay. Get that through your head. I love Graham.”
Truth.
“Like you loved me?” he asked.
Peyton didn’t blink. “More,” she said without reserve.
Callum stilled and looked like he had lost his breath for a moment. Then he stood up and glanced down at her almost as if he were relieved.
“Then marry him, Peyton.”
His answer surprised her. It wasn’t the answer that she had expected.
“How does loving someone more than I loved you warrant marriage?” she asked, bewildered.
Callum—for the first time—gave her an honest smile. “Because I know how much you loved me. And if you love him more than you loved me, it says something. Now, let’s go talk about my best friend’s wedding.” Callum stepped around her and began to walk off the pier.
Turning around, she watched him make his way towards the hotel. The emptiness inside her began to widen. Her heart had dropped at what he’d said. Until they were seventeen, she’d been his best friend. What she’d said hadn’t been a lie. She did love Graham more. He knew her pain and had been there, loved her through the weakest points in her life.
No one could ever come close to being as important as Graham was to her. But Callum…he was her first love, and she’d believed that he would be her last love. And for the last four years, she’d forgotten what it was like to love him. Somewhere deep inside, she feared that she would remember soon enough.
“Two dance floors on two different parts of the hotel? Is she insane?” Peyton looked at the sheets of paper and then at Callum. When she’d unfolded them, she hadn’t expected what she saw.