Charlotte nodded and sighed. ‘Yep, stupid. I panicked, Ben. I needed some space and by the time I realized what a fool I was being, it was too late.’

Ben fleetingly allowed himself a moment imagining how different things would have been, if Charlotte had come back to him before he met Bella. But then, he thought, swatting the idea away, he would never have fallen in love with Bella. Would never have had Elodie, would never have been about to embark on a new adventure. No, the way things had turned out was obviously the way it was meant to be.

‘I think everything happens for a reason, Charlie. You weren’t happy with me …’ He let his words hang in the air for a few seconds. ‘Or you would never have left in the first place. And now you’ve moved on with Luke.’

‘No!’ Charlotte shook her head vehemently. ‘No, it’s not like that with me and Luke at all! We’re just friends. He’s got a girlfriend.’

Ben raised one eyebrow sceptically. ‘Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s got nothing to do with me.’

Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears and Ben looked away, not wanting to be drawn into any kind of an emotional connection with her. He’d spent plenty of nights crying over her but she had still been adamant that she’d needed to leave. She hadn’t seemed to give too much thought to the distress he was experiencing.

Charlotte wiped her eyes cursorily with the back of her hand and stood up. ‘I’d better be getting back to my table …’

‘Yes,’ Ben stood up and faced her. ‘Well, ’bye then, Charlie.’

Charlotte gazed at him for a split second too long. ‘’Bye Ben. Good luck with everything.’

Ben watched her walk back to her table, wondering what would happen if he ran after her and told her to run away with him. He had no doubt she would do it and it gave him a small sense of victory. But just then, his guest arrived and all thoughts of Charlie were firmly consigned to history.

Chapter Twelve

Matt rang the familiar doorbell and looked down at Freya nervously. ‘Ridiculous to be this nervous with one of my oldest mates.’

Freya nodded and bit her lip. ‘I feel the same. Not sure what sort of welcome we’re going to get, that’s why.’

Eventually, the door swung open and Ben stood in front of them, looking harassed.

‘Hey, mate!’ Matt tried to ignore Ben’s flustered demeanour and held up a carrier bag full of beer, wine and crisps. ‘Good to see you. I’ve brought the usual supplies!

Ben smiled but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Uh, yeah. Look I’m really sorry, guys, it’s not a great time …’

Matt and Freya exchanged glances. ‘Oh! Sorry, mate, I must have got the date wrong.’ Matt frowned. ‘I thought we’d arranged today.’

‘We did,’ Freya cut in, fixing Ben with what Matt called her ‘uh-oh’ stare. He always knew he was in trouble when he saw it. ‘What’s the problem, Ben?’ There was a steely edge to her voice that made Matt shudder inwardly.