Free Accidental Reunion by Carol Marinelli Page B

years old, I was just saying I’m actually thirty-one.’
    ‘Do you want me to sing ‘‘Happy Birthday’’? Perhaps we should have a make-up class for all the bloody birthdays and Christmases you made us miss out on?’
    And though she was fully clothed, while Declan stood there naked as the day he was born, it was Lila that felt uncomfortable. She looked at his face, saw the hurt, the utter confusion, and she knew it was time for the truth.
    ‘I have to get back to my mum, Declan. She’s not too well.’
    ‘So why didn’t you tell me?’ he rasped. ‘Did you think I wouldn’t understand? Did you think stealing out of bed and creeping off in the middle of the night was a better way of going about things?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Then why, Lila?’ He ran a hand through his hair and his eyes burned with unanswered questions. He had never looked more gorgeous in her eyes, or more unattainable.
    ‘What aren’t you telling me?’
    ‘Work it out, Declan,’ she choked. ‘You’re the doctor, work it out for yourself.’ Her voice was rising now. ‘It’s been eight years since Mum was diagnosed. She’s not the woman she was. I’m going home to wet sheets and pressure-area care, and after that I’ll try and cajole her into taking a few mouthfuls of porridge. That gets me to eight a.m. You say you understand, but how can you? I’m not free to have a relationship, not free to be with you.’
    ‘We can work something out, Lila,’ he reasoned. ‘Together.’
    She shook her head. ‘What, you’ll find a terribly nice home for her? For my benefit, of course.’
    ‘I didn’t say that. There must be some solution.’
    Her hands shot up to her ears, a childish gesture she hadn’t used in decades.
    ‘Stop it!’ she shouted. ‘Stop it. There isn’t a solution, Declan.’
    He grabbed her hands, pulling them away from her ears and forcing her wrists to her sides. ‘We can work something out.’ His words were loud, sharp, but devoid of any anger. ‘We can, Lila,’ he pleaded. ‘If we want to be together then we’ll work something out and get through this.’
    She didn’t dare hope, didn’t dare believe there could be an answer. She hadn’t even told him theworst of it, that in six weeks they might be looking for a new home.
    She couldn’t let them get back together only to break up later, couldn’t bear to go through the pain she had endured all over again. The agony of watching their relationship die a slow and painful death was more than Lila could bear. Better the quick relief of a mortal wound. ‘Maybe I don’t want that.’ She watched him flinch. ‘Maybe I don’t want to be with you.’
    ‘But before…’ He gestured to the sofa. ‘Didn’t that mean anything to you?’
    ‘We had sex, Declan, good sex, and that was all that I wanted from you. Let’s just leave it at that, shall we?’ She hated hurting him, hated what she was saying, but it was kinder this way. Kinder than the truth. Taking on Lila would change his life. It simply wouldn’t be fair. ‘I didn’t come looking for a ring. Now, can I have my mobile back so I can ring for a taxi?’
    He didn’t let her get a taxi. Instead, he pulled on some old jeans, a T-shirt and runners. He might be too responsible to drink but there was nothing mature about the way he accelerated out of the driveway.
    He accepted her directions without comment. Pulling up outside her aunt’s house, he stared out of the windscreen as Lila pulled off her seat belt.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, her hand on the door handle. ‘But it really is better this way.’
    He turned to face her, his lip curling with distaste as he looked at her.
    ‘I mean it this time, Lila.’ His voice was like ice.‘I’m through trying to work you out. Do you know what I hate about all this the most?’
    When she didn’t answer he continued bitterly. ‘I hate the fact that I’m as much to blame for all this as you are. I’ve let you walk over me again and again but this time