Chapter Twenty-Three
The One With Bucks Fizz
Marcus had been a lot of fun, and his job was fascinating, so the evening had sped by, but although Kate could feel her former self emerging, she wasn’t remotely attracted to him.
Not that there was anything to not like about the personable man. He was probably the same height as Kate with her heels on, dressed very nicely and had warm, friendly eyes and a genuine smile. He wasn’t pushy, but he did make it very clear he liked Kate. Was she being too wary? Should she leap in and have some fun?
The true measure of how she felt came on leaving the restaurant, however. As they walked, deep in conversation, towards the entrance, the doorman swept the doors aside to reveal Dev and Leigh.
Kate’s heart, which had remained all night in its normal position in her chest, gave a swoop, the envy of any passing swallow, and she tripped over her own feet, instinctively grasping Marcus’s arm. Deafened by the pounding in her ears and trembling from an inexplicable onrush of emotion, she stared at Dev as he all but froze.
Leigh flashed her beaming smile as they passed by, but Dev’s expression was unreadable as he nodded in her direction, his sharp gaze flicking to Marcus and back before the moment was over. Realising she was still holding onto his arm, she’d summoned a smile and released him, scurrying head down through the doorway into the cooling night air.
Kate barely slept that night, her mind going to places she really didn’t want to think about – had it been a romantic date? Was it at Dev’s instigation, or Leigh’s? And what about afterwards… at Harbourwatch…
‘Stop it!’ she snapped out loud, thumping her pillow before lying down again and trying – in vain – to curb her traitorous imagination.
At work on Monday morning, she was still on a short fuse and looked up in frustration when the office door swung open. She’d been trying to do a final proofread of a proposal, and this was her third interruption in the past ten minutes.
Chloe, the manager’s PA, dragged in one of the elegant, brass-trimmed luggage carts.
‘This just came from the printers?’ She indicated the large, flat box resting on the base.
Coming round to inspect it, Kate summoned a smile. ‘Thanks. It’s the banners for the fayre. There didn’t seem much point in having them sent to my house as they need to be put up on this side of the bay. There’s three, one for the junction with the main road, one for the top of the hill by the cemetery and another one to go on the harbourside, near where the ferry stop is.’
A half hour later, the proposal on its way, Kate stood at the window overlooking the terrace. There were a few elderly couples drinking tea at some of the outdoor tables and another table with four young women on the prosecco. She couldn’t hear anything but could tell they were having a good laugh about something, and a whisper of envy shot through Kate. She’d tied herself to Hugo at such a young age, she felt she’d missed out on so much of the adult girlfriend thing.
And the dating…
There it was again, that niggling reminder ever since Mollie had told her she was lonely and her friends had suggested she start seeing people. Find a person. Someone special. And she’d tried. She’d had a date, but pleasant as he was, she had no intention of seeing Marcus again.
Kate shuddered, despite the warm day, and turned away from the window, trying hard not to think about Dev.
Grateful when her mobile rang, Kate took the call.
‘Hi, Nicki.’
‘Hey. Just realised, with my boys off to the grandparents this weekend and your Mollie on her London school trip, we’ve got a window. You free for a girlie lunch on Saturday?’
Kate’s mouth curved upwards, the offer coming so soon after her recent musings. ‘Always.’
‘Anna and I are heading to Harbourmasters for midday. Shall we get a table for three?’
‘Please. I’ll come to Anna’s and walk down with you.’
The weekend soon came around and, relieved not to have had a call from Mollie within hours of reaching her destination – and trying not to worry too much as it was the first school trip involving staying away from home since the move – Kate had happily headed down to her much-anticipated girlie lunch with Nicki and Anna.
‘So it’s finally coming together?’
Kate wiped her fingers on her napkin as they finished their meals. ‘Yes, thank God! Lots to sort out at the manor yet – layout for stands.’ She waved an airy hand. ‘Where’s best for the pop-up pergola for the performers, bearing in mind the need for cabling, and so on, but compared to where we were…’
She rolled her eyes, and Anna and Nicki laughed.
‘I just need to find a couple of available strong men now.’
Nicki waggled her eyebrows. ‘If you find them, I’d love to meet them!’
The table was cleared amidst the laughter, but then Anna sent Nicki a concerned look.
‘Are you okay? I mean, you know, you and Hamish?’
Having just taken a mouthful of her Bucks Fizz Nicki put a hand over her mouth, eyes sparkling, then swallowed quickly.
‘Bloody hell,’ she spluttered on a cough. ‘Yes! We’re fine. I was just joking, you daft bugger.’
‘Sorry.’ Anna looked mortified, but Nicki was still chuckling.
‘Don’t be silly. Besides,’ she nudged Anna’s arm and nodded towards Kate, who looked from one to the other, ‘it’s Kate who said she needed one. Well, two to be precise.’
‘They need to come with cable ties, too. Industrial strength.’
This time, both Anna and Nicki dissolved into giggles, and Kate shook her head at them.
‘Such children,’ she chided, but amused, nonetheless. ‘I’m not interested in finding a man for myself.’
Her friends exchanged a knowing look before Nicki fastened her gaze on Kate. ‘But Marcus lurrrrves you. He can’t wait to see you again.’
‘Shut up,’ Kate said, laughing. ‘I’m not ready. It was… it was… too much like a date.’
Anna blinked. ‘As opposed to?’
‘It doesn’t have to be serious, you know?’ Nicki for once eyed Kate without humour. ‘Men can be just for fun too.’
‘Hah!’ Kate almost snorted as she drained her wine glass. ‘I’m not sure I’d know what to do with one these days.’
‘I think you need more practice.’ Nicki pointed at Anna’s mocktail. ‘I can’t believe you have to drive later. We were supposed to be out on the lash too.’
Anna merely beamed. ‘We’re out to dinner tonight. One drink at lunch time and I’d be asleep for hours.’
In amongst Nicki’s humorous asides, they turned down dessert, opting instead for coffee, and the conversation moved to Anna’s recent trials.
‘It’s quite worrying. Oliver’s been so stressed, but Matt’s brimming with that confidence he has when he thinks he’s on to a good thing.’
‘You mean since he got together with Gemma?’
Anna laughed. ‘Well, I don’t have that many years to compare, but yes, you’re right. Anyway, he’s insisting on flying solo with whatever he’s up to.’ She looked around, lowering her voice. ‘He’s in London again, but he won’t let on what he’s doing. Gemma says that was par for the course when she was housekeeping for him last year.’
‘Is Mollie becoming a nuisance for Oliver?’
‘He loves anyone with the patience to listen to him talking history.’ Anna chuckled. ‘Though he’s convinced her interest is more to do with whether he’s a distant relation to Jane Seymour’s family.’
After leaving the restaurant, they browsed the shops for a while, but as they walked over the bridge, with Anna on her way home, Nicki persuaded Kate to take a detour into the Lugger.
‘Come on,’ she pleaded as Kate showed some reluctance. ‘How often is it we can do this?’
Caving to Nicki’s pleading look, she laughed. ‘Okay, okay.’
Kate and Nicki headed over to a booth away from the other drinkers, most of whom were locals, with whom they exchanged some banter.
‘So what about Jago or Cobber?’ Nicki inclined her head towards two of the men at the bar, wearing work gear as they downed a pint before heading home.
Kate stared at Nicki in disbelief. ‘I’m not sure they’d be up for much fun.’
Nicki shook her head. ‘Not for that, love. To help you get the banners in place.’
‘Oh!’ Kate grinned. ‘Fair point.’
‘So, it’s a week since the date with Marcus. Wasn’t there anything that stood out about the evening?’
Against her volition, Kate’s mind immediately recalled locking eyes with Dev as he and Leigh entered the restaurant, and heat stole into her cheeks as the familiar quivering in her middle began its dance.
‘Bleddy hell, as the locals say,’ Nicki exclaimed. ‘What on earth did he do?’
Kate sighed. ‘Walked in with Leigh. He’d told me she was visiting but somehow, I didn’t expect to see them out for dinner.’
Nicki’s pretty eyes widened. ‘I meant Marcus.’
The warmth in Kate’s skin intensified as a hand shot to her cheek. ‘Oh God. How embarrassing.’
A smirk was the only answer. Then, with a secretive smile, Nicki added, ‘Or intriguing.’
‘Or nothing. Not remotely interesting. Definitely not intriguing. Can we change the subject?’ Was she pleading a little too much?
Nicki held out her hand for Kate’s glass and got up. ‘Of course. I’ll get us a top up and then we can talk about you getting a bit more date practice.’
Nicki – with Anna’s assistance – hadn’t slacked, and on the evening before Mollie returned from her trip, Kate once again prepared for a blind date – this time with someone called Freddie, which was about as much information as either of them would share.
‘You need to have things to talk about,’ Nicki admonished as she worked on Kate’s hair in her bedroom at The Lookout.
‘Is that all he knows about me too, my name?’
‘So far.’
She didn’t feel remotely nervous, simply because… ‘This is ridiculous.’
Anna chuckled. ‘Not really. To be good at something, you must practice.’
‘Although the results are better if your subject stays still,’ Nicki advised with a grin as she wound another tress of Kate’s hair around the curler.
Ten minutes later, Nicki had finished, and Kate had to admit she’d done a fabulous job of her hair, which lay in polished curls.
‘It’s so lovely to see your hair down instead of screwed back in that chignon, stylish as it is,’ Anna exclaimed. ‘It takes years off you.’
‘It’ll take more than a great hairdo to give me back the lost ones.’
Kate eyed herself in the mirror. There was a hint of her former self… wasn’t there?
‘Half an hour until you need to leave,’ Nicki added, as they headed down the stairs.
All the nerves came whizzing back, and her anxiety must have been evident because Anna grasped her hand.
‘It’ll be fine. It’s just a practice date. It’s so much easier if you’re not out to impress.’
Nicki laughed. ‘Freddie is probably feeling the same.’
Ten minutes later, Anna and Nicki walked down the lane with Kate, waving her off like a lamb off to its first shearing before heading up the lane to their respective homes. Her steps faltered as she passed the ferry stop. What if he didn’t turn up?
Kate chewed her lip, uncertain if this chap standing her up would feel like an escape or humiliation. Should she just head home now, ask Anna to send him apologies?
Her stomach let out a protest, and she grinned despite herself. Okay, perhaps she’d enjoy a nice meal first, then go home. Alone.
‘Treat it like a business meeting,’ she muttered as she passed the Lugger and crossed the bridge.
Pushing aside the whisper of Anna’s parting words to definitely not do that, she turned her steps towards the harbour.
It was a quiet evening, being between school holidays, the lull before the next influx of visitors, and Kate passed few people as she walked along, thankful she’d opted for a more casual look, with wide-legged trousers that allowed for a chunkier heel.
A handful of stray tourists peered into the closed shop windows. Delicious aromas floated out of an air vent by Thai Dai’s, and Kate’s tummy rumbled in appreciation this time.
There were dogs taking their owners for a walk and a young couple in mud-caked boots outside the chippy when she turned for the waterfront.
How on earth did one recognise a ‘Freddie’ when that was the only information she had? The only Freddie she’d come across before now lived in Harrogate, had four legs and liked chasing rabbits.
Kate looked around. There were no noticeable men on their own. What if he hasn’t come?
‘So what?’ she said softly, hefting her bag more firmly onto her shoulder. It’d be a relief. She could get a take-away and head straight home. To an empty house. And yet another lonely evening…
She fetched up outside the bistro. The tables by the windows were either empty or occupied by couples, as were the ones outside, other than a loud table of six at the far end. Kate checked her watch. She was early. Typical.
A strange sensation rippled through her, a sense of being watched, and she swung around. Dev stood by the harbour wall.