Chapter 15
R ob did more shopping after they finished their second breakfasts, his arms laden by the time they got back to the car park. He fumbled his keys out of his pocket. “Here. Can you open the boot?”
Jude did, and Rob played an unsuccessful game of Tetris with his boxes of eggs, local produce, and chunky bars of hand-made soap.
“I know, I know,” he said. “It’s not a practical vehicle.
I should sell her and buy a Transit van instead, something big and boxy.
You don’t have to tell me,” he added as if he expected Jude to do exactly that.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Jude promised while admiring Betsy’s gleaming chrome before leaning in to rearrange Rob’s groceries, making short work of nesting each item with its neighbour, not an inch of boot space wasted.
“Try stowing supplies for eight into the galley of a yacht for a few months, then talk to me about tight fits. This, by comparison, is easy. And anyway,” he said as he slid the egg box into a snug spot, “anyone who’d choose something like a Transit van over something this lovely needs their eyes tested.
That’s like saying Tom should sail a car ferry instead of the Aphrodite because it could fit more clients. ”
Jude still had his head in the boot making some last adjustments when Rob said, “Yeah?” almost questioning as if this was an argument that usually ran in a different direction. “You really think so?”
“Yes,” Jude said firmly. People paid a lot for the Aphrodite ’s beauty. “And I like that you can feel it when you put your foot down. All that power so low to the ground? Makes you feel every mile you travel.” That was what sailing felt like as well—not always smooth, but physical and present.
Rob didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he held out his keys.
“You trust me to drive her? I thought you said she was priceless?”
Rob only nodded and Jude got in, strapping into the driver’s seat, engulfed all over again by the scent of leather—another reminder that Rob’s car was likely worth many times more than the rust buckets Jude’s mum and dad owned.
Had owned.
Jesus.
When was he going to wrap his head around which tense to use about them?
Thinking about it made him gruff. “What if I scrape it getting out of this space?” The lanes back to the main road weren’t exactly wide, either. “You ready to pay the excess on your insurance?” Because there was no way Jude could afford it.
Rob blinked at him from the passenger side, surprised, as he buckled his seatbelt. Then he squinted in a way that shouldn’t have been half so attractive. “You ever get to steer the yacht?”
“The Aphrodite ? Yes, of course.” Sharing the work was a necessity with a small crew.
Slicing through waves so fast his eyes had watered had been quite something, the first time.
All that wind-power making her huge sails billow; the warm wooden deck creaking beneath his bare feet as she strained forward. His dad would have….
Jude swallowed.
He would have loved her.
Maybe Rob noticed his second silent struggle in as many minutes. He sounded more kind than teasing as he said, “I can’t help thinking that yacht must have been worth a whole lot more than Betsy.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“So quit worrying.” Rob reached across him, his lips brushing Jude’s cheek, seemingly accidental before he snagged the seatbelt and pulled it over Jude’s chest. “She’s insured for business use, and we’re partners.” He paused. “In the Anchor, I mean. After a fashion.”
That quick brush of lips hadn’t felt businesslike, nor did the way Rob still sat angled sideways, his gaze fixed on Jude before he let out a deep sigh. “Was it something I said?”
“What?”
“You seemed happy while we ate.”
He had been. “It was nice to see so many people here.”
“So why the long face now?”
That was much harder to verbalise. Conversations about his parents only left him hollow while he was still no closer to knowing what happened to them.
“Just… just family stuff with no answer.” He unclenched his fingers from the steering wheel where they’d tightened.
“A bit like what you don’t want to talk about. ”
“You’re not going to let up, are you?”
“Asking about your dad?”
Rob’s nod was slight.
“Maybe I’m just confused.” Jude started the engine, which purred to life so much more smoothly than anything else he’d ever driven.
“About what?”
Jude reversed the car from its tight spot, concentrating. “About why you’re so anti your dad when he keeps trying to give you things.”
“Ancient history,” Rob said, gaze fixed out of the windshield.
“He sounds a lot like you.”
“Who? Dad?” Rob’s snort was surprised.
“He seems generous.” Jude hesitated before adding, “Like you’ve been with your time.”
Rob seemed to find the gorse lining the lane back to the coast road fascinating. He studied its yellow-flecked blur beyond the window before pulling out his phone and typing swiftly.
“What are you doing?”
“Writing down the date and time.” Rob added a few more lines of type.
“Pretty sure this is the first time you’ve said anything nice about me.
” He gestured for Jude to go on. “Anything else you want me to add to the list? Maybe about how you still fancy my pants off, because you can say it aloud if you want, Jude. We both know it’s what you’re thinking. ”
He wasn’t wrong, but Jude didn’t rise to the bait Rob dangled, recognising it as a diversion tactic. Instead, he cast his line farther and into waters a whole lot deeper. Trees covering the lane made the windscreen reflective, Rob’s flinch visible when Jude said, “He has to miss you.”
“Well,” Rob finally said a long, slow minute later. “Like I said….”
“It’s complicated?”
“Yeah. That.” Rob’s gaze remained fixed on the screen of his phone for a few seconds before his face reanimated, segueing into a different subject as if his life depended on it.
“You know what else was great about that village?” He raced on with his new topic just as smoothly as the car managed the incline inland, almost at the coast road junction already.
“I’ll have to tell you myself because you probably didn’t even notice, but have a guess first.” He brandished his phone like it was some kind of clue to a puzzle Jude had no interest in solving. “Go on. Guess!”
“I don’t know. The way they’ve spread markets all through the year instead of just holding them in the summer?
” Locals coming to Porthperrin in the same way year-round would breathe new life into the village.
“The different festivals sound great too.” Art, music, and a book festival had been detailed on the leaflets on their table, and would likely attract more tourists.
“Nope.” Rob waggled his phone again as they crested the hill, text and app notifications chiming one after another as his phone found a signal. He raised his eyebrows as if Jude should make something of those sounds. “Oh my god. You really didn’t pay any attention, did you?”
It would only swell Rob’s head to tell him he’d been the focus of most of his attention. Jude chose to ignore the question rather than give him any more ammunition.
Rob responded as if he’d said no. “Okay, okay. I’ll give you one more clue. Think about while we were eating. What did you notice about everyone sitting around us?”
That they’d all been happy? Chatty? There had certainly been lots of laughter. Jude pulled at the seatbelt crossing his chest as if it had tightened. “There were a lot of families.”
“You are as thick as mince, aren’t you?” Rob said in wonder. “It’s a good thing you’re so pretty.” He held up his phone one more time. “Did you happen to notice if anyone was on their phone while we were there?”
Jude hadn’t noticed, but now that he thought about it, he couldn’t say that he had.
“It’s just like at home.” Rob pointed at a road sign for Porthperrin. “There’s virtually no signal.”
“And that’s a good thing?”
Rob didn’t answer.
Jude stopped at the coast road junction. “Which way, Rob?”
“Hang on.” Rob stared at his phone, reading a text message before saying, “Turn left.”
“Home? I thought you said we should stay out for the whole day? Give Lou some space.”
Rob held his phone towards him, Louise’s name at the top of the screen, her message only containing four words:
Come home right now.
Three dots appeared while he watched followed by another message.
We got an early booking.
The final text had Jude almost stalling Betsy’s engine.
It’s a food critic from London.