Page 26 of Lost in Love

“Don’t be too hasty.” Katherine laughed. “That’s just my opinion.”

“Perhaps it’s just you that is enraptured?”

Katherine’s face dropped. She paused for a moment, then removed her hand and stood up.

“Are you okay?”

“I have a sudden headache.” Katherine put her hand to her temple. “Too much champagne perhaps.”

Anna looked at her watch politely. “I suppose we should get going anyway.” She packed her bag up quickly, not entirely sure what she’d done wrong. Katherine put her hand on hers after all. Had she backed her into a corner with her question and scared her? Whatever it was, the atmosphere had suddenly changed.

Anna shouted, “Dad, we’re off now.”

“All right.” The sound of the last dregs of beer being sucked through a straw came from the sitting room.

* * *

Katherine closed the door behind them and ran upstairs to her bedroom. She grabbed the phone beside the bed and tapped at it before holding it to her ear. She paced the room.

“Sorry to ring so late, Becks.”

“What’s up? You sound a little panicked. Take some deep breaths.”

Katherine sucked in air. “I’m not sure I can do this.”

“The damsel?” Rebecca questioned.

“Yes, the damsel.”

If you don’t want to be lonely, then you know you’re going to have to open back up, Kat. That’s part of friendship. We discussed this, remember?”

“I know, but I don’t think this is friendship.”

Her declaration was met with a moment of silence.

“You have feelings for her?”

Katherine closed her eyes and drew in a breath. “Yes. She’s amazing, funny, selfless, but I can’t. I can’t go through it again, Becks. I can’t.”

Her eyes flooded with tears.

“Okay, look, everything is fine. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Take a step back. Do you want me to come down?”

“No, no, it’s fine. I just don’t seem to be able to control myself around her. My heart got me to this point, and now my head can’t deal with what it’s supposed to do.”

“Your head is supposed to listen to your heart.”

“But what if… it happens again?” Katherine’s voice trembled.

“You can’t live by what-ifs! Have you explained your situation to her?”

“No, she knows nothing; I’m sure she’ll lose interest. She has enough problems of her own without mine.”

“So you don’t want her to lose interest?”

Katherine flopped onto the bed. “No, I really, really like her. I can hardly concentrate when she’s around. I have the overwhelming urge to scoop her up in my arms and kiss her every time I see her.”

“Then you have to open up to her. If she’s worth having, she’ll be there for you.”

Katherine nodded and wiped her eyes. “Okay.”

“I’m here, remember? Any time. Let me know how it goes.”

“Thanks, Becks. Night.”

“Night.”

Katherine hung up. Rebecca was right; she was going to have to tell Anna everything. The problem with baggage was that, although you could keep it zipped up and private most of the time, on occasion you would have to unzip it and fling it open for others to examine.