Chapter 34
34
The beach at High Tides Hotel, St Aidan
Postcards from another planet
Tuesday
‘L et’s be clear – we’re not stargazers, and this is definitely surveillance. Anything else we do is simply a way of passing the time.’
As Kit and I stamp through the soft sand up the dunes on the far side of the hotel the next evening with our arms overflowing with supplies, it feels like a good time for me to lay down some ground rules. Whenever there’s a man there’s always a risk an outing will turn into an expedition, but who knew we’d need so much gear? By the time we’ve got rugs to lie on, covers to put over us, flasks of hot chocolate, mugs and marshmallows, an ice bucket, glasses and a bottle of fizz, a dog bed, dog water and emergency bone biscuits for Shadow plus snacks for us, we could have done with some sherpas to carry it all.
‘So remind me again why we’re here?’
Kit throws down a rucksack and spreads out a travelling rug. ‘Suze and David have walked along the beach to Comet Cove for a gin-tasting event at the castle distillery. Our job is to lie low in the shadows pretending to stargaze while actually seeing whatever we can as they come back.’
‘After what David’s doing with the lido plans, I might be tempted to run out and shove him into the water.’ I’ve already ranted about this to Kit earlier, but I’m so wound up, it keeps spilling out.
Kit blows out his cheeks. ‘I admire how fiery you are, but I hoped if we gave this more thought we could come up with a more effective way to divert him than losing him at sea.’
It takes me a moment to fully take in what he’s saying. ‘Hold on. You’re on my side? ’
‘Of course.’ He shrugs. ‘I’d hate to see your hut go.’
I’m mentally punching the air that my instincts at making The Hideaway indispensable are paying off. ‘It definitely helps your business.’
He gives me a strange sideways glance. ‘There’s more to life than the bottom line, Floss.’
I have no idea what he means by that, but it’s funny how things go. ‘I used to want you to call me Florence, but Floss feels okay now.’ I take a moment to let that sink in for me as well as for him. ‘So what’s in your bag?’
‘Our new binoculars.’ The orange sun has slipped out of sight on the line where the sky meets the sea, but it’s still light enough to get the full benefit of Kit wrinkling his nose. ‘I might have bought a star book, too. The woman in the bookshop said there’s a local club starting up.’
‘There definitely isn’t.’ This is how rumours in St Aidan get out of hand; you have to stamp on them straight away.
‘If there was, we could go along.’ He sounds hopeful.
‘We’ll probably be too busy playing look-out for Rye.’
Kit sits down and pats the sand to his left, and Shadow flops down beside him. ‘You’ll have to excuse Rye’s hang-ups with David. Finding each other so late in life, there’s a lot riding on their relationship. They’re both over-protective of the other yet desperate to prove themselves too.’ He shakes his head. ‘David building the hotel was all for Rye.’
‘That’s a lot of pressure.’
Kit sighs. ‘It’s why Rye has to make it succeed. David left when Rye was a baby and they didn’t see each other again for twenty-five years – there’s a lot of making up to do.’ He pats the rug on his right. ‘Shadow’s sat in your place so you’ll have to come here. If we’re spotting planets, we need our heads close together so we know we’re looking at the same thing.’
Sometimes it’s too much effort to fight the logic, but as I kneel down next to him there’s an echo in my brain. ‘We grew up without our dad.’ I’m not sure why I’m sharing this now. ‘Sophie remembers him more than I can, but after the effort Mum put in after he walked out on us, we wouldn’t be up for any long-lost-father reunions.’
Kit’s staring out at the lines of foam, running up the beach. ‘Apparently Rye’s parents’ relationship broke down when David was ill.’
Another echo there. ‘I know all about that.’ I’m watching the shine on the sand by the waterline when it strikes me. ‘Sophie, Mum and I were very self-contained as a family, so even as teenagers we didn’t ask what had gone wrong.’
It’s only sitting here now that it hits me how little I know about what happened. He was long gone, and we were fine without him. There was never any reason to ask any more.
Kit rests his elbows on his knees. ‘Every family is different. I still have both parents and two older sisters and they’re always on my case, but it’s only because they care.’ He rattles the ice bucket. ‘Shall we have some Prosecco while we wait for it to get dark? I’ve brought flutes.’
I laugh. ‘Or we could do it St Aidan-style, and drink from the bottle?’
He pops the cork and hands the bottle to me. ‘I might be blaming Rye more than I should. I’m pushing for this as much as he is because I enjoy hanging out with you.’ He takes a box out of his rucksack, pops up the top and pushes it towards me.
‘If those are doughnuts, I’m very happy to be here too.’ I tilt back my head, take a large slug and as the fizz goes straight to my head, I get a waft of his scent. ‘If they’re custard doughnuts I may have to kiss you.’ As I hand back the bottle I’m kicking myself for letting that slip out, but I’m safe because the only shop that sells them is miles away, beyond the station.
He gives a low laugh and takes a drink. ‘Five shops to find them was worth it then.’
My tummy does a somersault. ‘You’re joking me?’
He shakes his head. ‘I’m not. Custard is your favourite. And Shadow’s. And I might be on a roll here, but that could be a star…’ His arm slides around my shoulder, and my hair is tangling against his cheek as my eyes follow his pointing finger to where a spot of light is shining against the fading sky.
‘That could be Venus…’ Don’t ask me where that came from because I can’t think any further than how hard my heart is hammering, and how the warmth of his body is spreading right through me, but I have to come clean. ‘I bought a book too.’
He passes me the fizz again. ‘From what I read earlier, I think you’re right about Venus.’ He runs his finger up my thigh and stops at the hem of my shorts. ‘Are you cold?’
‘No.’ I suppress the delicious shivers that are zinging up and down my spine, drink some more and think of my mum saying it’s important to be yourself. ‘The photos of the Milky Way were awesome, but what I most like the sound of is watching for shooting stars.’
‘Would you like to sit to do that, or would it be better lying down?’
As he stretches his legs out I snake my leg through one of his. ‘As we’ve brought so many rugs it would be a shame to waste them.’ A proper kiss would let me get him out of my system, but whatever I’ve said, I’m not going to be the one to jump him. I flop onto my back, and as I stare upwards, I notice he’s looking down on me.
‘How is the view from down there?’
I open my mouth to tell him there are already too many stars to count, but his face is dipping towards mine. I hold my breath, but he’s coming so slowly that I’m going dizzy with anticipation. Then his lips graze mine and I taste the sweetness of his mouth all over again, and all I can hear is the sound of the waves as they crash on the beach. Then I close my arms around him, feel the muscles of his back give under my fingers as I pull him towards me, and after that the whole world goes blurry.
It’s a long time later when we finally move, and that’s only because there’s a ping on Kit’s phone right next to my ear.
He disentangles himself in the darkness and gives a grunt as he finds his phone. ‘It’s Rye saying David and Suze are back at the hotel.’
‘We missed them!’
He laughs. ‘I can’t think how. They must have cut up the path behind the hotel.’ He runs his fingers through his curls. ‘When the evening’s going so well, it’s a shame to cut it short. There’s more Prosecco at mine…?’
In case he means more, I might as well say it. ‘Sex is a minefield for me – since my ops.’
‘I can imagine.’ He leans over and pushes the hair out of my eyes, and drops a kiss on top of my head. ‘There’s no pressure or expectation – I’m just enjoying what we’re doing.’
‘We haven’t even started the doughnuts yet.’
His smile is illuminated by the moonlight. ‘We could begin with those and see where we get to?’
And a few seconds later we’re on our feet hurrying towards the studio.