This Book Made Me Think of You(52)

“Come on, Tilly!” Harper calls over the clatter of the rain falling on the roof of the outdoor kitchen and hitting the table and the dry ground. “Let’s get inside.”

She grabs Tilly’s arm, but Tilly remains still, breathing in the smell of the rain on the garden and feeling the droplets sting as they beat her bare skin. It’s almost dark, but she can just make out the clouds rolling across the horizon, a haze of rain falling on the fields. She takes a deep breath of the warm air. In the summer rain, it feels as though something is being washed away.





Thirty-Three




The rain stops as abruptly as it began. Tilly notices the quiet as she steps from the bathroom back into her room, warm from a shower. It is late but she doesn’t feel close to going to sleep, the storm having stirred something in her. And she can’t stop thinking about Harper. She told herself she would wait until Harper came to her, but she realizes how relieved she was that Constanza had noticed her distress and coaxed her story out of her. Perhaps Harper has been waiting for Tilly to do the same.

There is no answer when Tilly pads barefoot into the brick-tiled corridor and knocks on Harper’s door. She considers returning to her room but instead pushes lightly on the handle. It swings open, revealing a room that is similar to Tilly’s—four-poster bed, white sheets, plain plaster walls, exposed beams, Harper’s suitcase open on the floor, and her things strewn around. A copy of the latest Sarah J. Maas is splayed on the walnut side table. But there is no sign of Harper. The bathroom is empty, too, so Tilly ventures downstairs. Most of the lower floor is dark apart from pale moonlight coming in through the open shutters. Tilly follows the glow of lamplight to the kitchen, where the lights are on, glinting on the copper pans hanging from the stone walls. Just as she is about to give up, she notices the back door is ajar. She goes to shut it but catches the sound of a voice coming from the garden, instantly recognizing it as belonging to her sister.

“I know, I know.”

Tilly steps barefoot onto the terrace, the tiles slick with rain.

“Yes, I promise I’m still going to tell her.”

It sounds as though the voice is coming from the courtyard at the side of the house.

“But I wasn’t going to tell her today, was I?” comes Harper’s voice as Tilly emerges into a moonlit courtyard where potted lemon trees form a square around a small fountain. Harper stands next to it, her phone to her ear. Her eyes widen as she spots Tilly.

“I’m sorry, I’ve got to go,” she says into the phone, hanging up.

“Hey.” Her voice is unnaturally bright, her expression like when she fell out of the tree at eleven, clearly hurting but trying to hide her pain.

The air is heavy with the smell of sun-warmed lemons, and in the background comes the quiet trickle of the fountain. Behind them stands the darkened farmhouse, no sounds coming from inside. Harper is still in her outfit from dinner, her green maxi dress damp from the earlier rain, her hair tangled.

“I know about you and Raj,” Tilly blurts.

Harper’s mouth drops open. She wraps her bare arms around herself.

“You do?” she says hesitantly. “And you’re…not mad?”

“Why would I be mad? I get that you needed to work up to telling me in your own time.”

Harper lets her arms drop, pushing a damp strand of hair out of her face.

“God, that is such a relief. These past months have been so hard keeping it from you…”

“Months? You’ve been broken up for months?” Harper and Raj came over for dinner. Was that just a front? And has Tilly really been so wrapped up in her own problems that it’s taken her this long to realize that her sister’s life was also falling apart? “OK, maybe I do wish you’d told me earlier, but only so I could be there for you. If anyone understands heartache, it’s me.” She attempts a smile but notices that Harper’s eyebrows are creased in a deep frown.

“Broken up?” A breeze ripples up the valley, making the leaves on the lemon trees shake and Harper’s hair blow back from her face. “We haven’t broken up. We’re getting married. I thought that’s what you meant.”

The words hit Tilly firmly in the chest, taking her breath away.

“You’re…engaged?”

Harper nods slowly. When she speaks again, there’s a pleading note to her voice. “I meant to tell you. I wanted to. But I just couldn’t find the right moment.”

“But surely you would know I’d be happy for you both!” Tilly ignores the twisting feeling in her stomach. She is happy. Isn’t she? “But you said it’s been months…When did you get engaged?”

Harper looks down at the fountain, gentle streams of water trickling onto stone. “In Sri Lanka.”

“Sri Lanka? But that was last summer. You’ve been engaged for…a year?”

Harper nods, biting down on her bottom lip.

“Jesus, Harper. A whole year…” She rubs her forehead, her mind racing. Everyone else must know. Their parents, Raj’s family, Harper’s friends, everyone except her…“God, I can’t deal with this right now. It’s Joe’s anniversary…”

“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you today!”

“Don’t put this on me!”