Chapter 26
Lily found that she was enjoying meeting Ben’s best friends. It was like another piece of the Ben puzzle fitting into the overall picture, she thought, watching him laugh along with his friends at the other end of the dinner table.
‘Faye, that meal was incredible, as always,’ said Jake, leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek.
Lily had sensed straight away that Jake was a born flirt but it was offset by a self-deprecating humour. She didn’t think Jake could take anything seriously – that was her main impression of him.
Faye blushed. ‘Oh, Jake, it’s nothing like up to your standards,’ she said.
‘On the contrary, it’s much better than the rubbish that I serve up in that ghastly trendy place,’ Jake told her.
Jake had told Lily that he was a restaurant chef but from the sounds of it, he had travelled around even more than she had.
‘Where are you working now?’ asked Faye.
‘Some upmarket Asian fusion place in Soho,’ said Jake, before making a face. ‘But it’s so boring so I’ll be out of there as soon as I find somewhere else.’
‘I don’t know which lasts shorter, your girlfriends or your jobs,’ said Ben with a grin.
‘At least I have girlfriends,’ said Jake, in a pointed tone.
Ben shuffled in his seat, looking embarrassed. ‘Well, at least I might keep my job,’ he said.
‘Thanks to Lily here,’ said Jake, with a wink in her direction. ‘I’ve seen our new bedrooms. She’s got all the talent, not you.’
‘It’s a joint effort,’ said Lily quickly, not wanting Ben’s feelings to be hurt.
‘I hope he’s paying you extra for all that loyalty,’ said Jake, with a cheeky grin.
Alex rolled his eyes. ‘You wouldn’t know what it means to be loyal to work,’ he told his friend. ‘Or your girlfriends, come to think of it.’
Alex was the quiet one of the three, thought Lily. Steady and reliable.
Jake shrugged his shoulders. ‘Everyone and everything outside of Maple Tree Lodge is boring,’ he announced. ‘Why do you think I’m always desperate to come here?’
‘Well, you’re always welcome,’ said Dotty.
Jake blew her a kiss across the table which Dotty caught with one hand, before giving him a wink.
‘The bedrooms look great,’ said Alex, turning to look at Lily. ‘I can’t believe how different they look.’
‘Thanks,’ said Lily. ‘But they were already lovely rooms. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over that view outside.’
‘You never do,’ said Alex with a soft smile.
Over dessert, Alex told them about his training. ‘It’s even more intense now that we’re going for the Commonwealth Games,’ he said. ‘Dad’s hoping that with any success there, it might be a springboard on to the Olympics.’
There were murmurs of appreciation around the table.
‘That would be a major achievement,’ said Walter. ‘If you and your dad get the training right. Sounds like a lot of hard work ahead.’
‘Yup. I’m not sure there’s too many early nights in your future,’ said Jake, with a grimace.
Alex shrugged his shoulders. ‘It’ll be worth it,’ he replied.
Only Dotty looked concerned rather than impressed. ‘But there’s more to life than training,’ she said, looking across at Alex.
‘Yes, there is,’ he said, nodding his head in agreement. ‘But try telling Dad that!’
Lily had already picked up on the fact that Alex’s dad was his trainer and a hard task master at that, from the sounds of it.
‘Anyway, there’ll be no training this weekend,’ said Faye, in a hopeful tone.
‘Sorry to disappoint you, Faye, but I have to go for a short swim and run in the morning to keep on schedule,’ said Alex, with a sheepish grin. ‘Why do you think I brought my wetsuit with me?’
‘I thought it was your attempt at fashion,’ drawled Jake.
‘Won’t it be freezing cold?’ asked Faye, looking concerned.
‘I swim in wild water all the time, more often than not nowhere near as clean and beautiful as lovely Dragonfly Lake, of course,’ said Alex. His handsome face creased into a grin as he turned to Lily. ‘You can join me if you want.’
‘To swim? Outside? In November?’ Lily made a horrified face which made Ben laugh out loud.
‘Coward,’ he teased her.
‘Oh, definitely. I mean, it’s not exactly the Mediterranean, is it?’ she said, still not convinced.
‘Excuse me! It’s even better,’ said Walter, smiling at her. ‘And cleaner.’
‘Absolutely,’ said Alex. ‘You should see some of the places where I have to swim.’ He shuddered. ‘The water is disgusting sometimes.’
‘That’s not healthy,’ muttered Dotty.
‘Well, it’s definitely clean here,’ said Walter. ‘The limestone rocks see to that. You can see almost through to the bottom, even in the deep bits.’
‘I understand that it’s lovely and clean.’ However, Lily was still hesitating. ‘But it must be too cold, surely?’
‘Trust me, it’ll be warmer out there than it will be in March or April after the winter,’ Alex told her. ‘Anyway, a few minutes is amazing for the circulation.’
Lily looked at Hannah.
‘I’m game if you are,’ said Hannah, with a laugh.
Alex looked delighted. ‘Excellent! I’ll meet you both out there at 7a.m.’
Lily turned to look at Hannah. ‘Now you’ve done it,’ she muttered. ‘What am I supposed to do now?’
‘I’d pray for a heatwave, if I were you,’ quipped Jake.