Chapter 28
28
‘I think your man the pig farmer fancies you,’ Brianna said. ‘And I think you fancy him, too.’
‘I do not, and his name’s Owen, not your man the pig farmer.’
Actually, Jess wasn’t entirely sure how she felt. Her head had been all over the place since she’d had such an unexpectedly lovely afternoon with him yesterday. It had been an awkward goodbye, though, with neither of them knowing what to say. There had been no hint on his part that he’d like to meet up again either, with the only tenuous thread that suggested they might keep in touch being her promise to forward him the paper when it ran ‘Amy’s Story’.
She’d made him promise to keep her up to speed with Wilbur’s health, too, but whether he would or not – well, she could only hope.
After hoisting herself with some difficulty back onto the train, she’d paused before sitting down to look over her shoulder, mentally playing that childish game of ‘if he’s still there, it means he likes me’, but his back was turned, and he was already walking away. The train’s doors had slid shut before it rumbled out of the station, and that had been the end of that.
Now Jess and Brianna were huddled inside their coats on a bench covered in seagull poop down at the beach in Bray while Harry disturbed crabs in their holes by poking a big stick down them.
‘What about Nick?’
‘Oh, no question, I definitely fancy him.’ Jess nodded emphatically.
A little too enthusiastically it seemed. ‘Do you? I wouldn’t have thought he was your usual type, Jess.’
‘That’s the point. Despite what everyone seems to think, my mother in particular, I am capable of fancying a man who’s gorgeous and successful. I don’t always go for fellas who need fixing.’
‘Hey, I’m on your side.’ Brianna reached over and gave her friend’s hand a quick squeeze. ‘And I don’t disagree with you. It’s just that from what you’ve told me, your man Owen is good-looking and successful, but he has one big thing you need that I’m worried Nick might not have.’
‘Brianna, if you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about…’
‘Get your mind out of the gutter, girl! No, I mean he’s sensitive. You need a man who’s sensitive and not some cut-throat businessman – that just isn’t your style.’
‘Huh… you mean sensitive like Harry?’
Both girls turned their attention to Harry, who’d moved on from stabbing crabs while they slept to beating a dead fish that had washed up onto the pebbles with his stick.
‘Oh my God, Harry! Cut that out!’ Brianna yelled, standing up and gesticulating for him to stop the carnage.
Once he’d dropped the stick, she turned her attention back to Jess. ‘Whatever you do, don’t ever have kids,’ she warned for the umpteenth time. ‘The stress is going to kill me. Honestly, one day I’m worried he’ll grow up to be a flasher, and then on days like this, when the testosterone really kicks in, a serial killer.’
Jess laughed and gave her friend her usual response to Harry’s quirks. ‘He’s a gorgeous, totally normal boy, and one day all the things he gets up to will be funny anecdotes at his twenty-first.’
‘You think?’
‘I know so. Listen, boys will be boys, and like Harry, Nick’s got a soft side, too. I think you need to meet him and see for yourself.’
‘OK, I’m up for that. How about you both come to our place for dinner – if it all goes well with your date this Wednesday, that is? That way, Pete and I can check him out properly, and I promise I’ll try to reserve judgement until then. I’ll put the hard word on Harry to behave.’
‘Right! You’ve got yourself a deal. Dinner would be lovely, and you’ll get to see for yourself that Nick’s lovely, too. Now then,’ Jess said, tucking her flyaway hair behind her ears, ‘all we’ve done is talk about me. What’s going on with you?’
‘Oh, the usual: busy, busy – you know how it is. I’m heading out later this afternoon to make placards for a protest the playgroup’s going to stage.’ She shook her head, causing her shoulder-length brown hair to swish back and forth. ‘I really believe that corporate greed is the death of communities.’
Jess didn’t think it would go down too well were she to point out that if it weren’t for big corporations, Pete wouldn’t have a job, so instead she gave her friend a pat on the back. ‘Good for you, Brie, standing up for what you believe in.’
‘Well, you just make sure you stand up for what you believe in and don’t let yourself be bullied by Nora or your mum where Nick is concerned, OK?’
It was the second time she’d been warned about letting herself get bullied in under two days: first by her father and now by Brianna. Was she really that much of a pushover?
Speaking of pushovers… ‘So have you heard from Nora? The last time I spoke to her, she was off waterskiing in the South of France.’
‘What! The South of France! Lucky madam, but she hates the sea.’
‘I know she does. She also hates mountain biking and skydiving, but that hasn’t stopped her. I swear, Brie, this Ewan is going to be the end of her. She’ll have a bloody nervous breakdown if she keeps it up. I’ve tried talking to her, but she won’t listen.’
Brianna shook her head. ‘She’s mad. I’ll have a word, so I will. I haven’t spoken to her since last week, so I’m due to give her a call and tell her exactly what I think about her swanning around the South of France on a set of waterskis without telling me.’
Jess shivered. The wind was feeling decidedly wintery today.
‘Come on – you’re turning blue it’s getting so cold, and I think Harry’s probably massacred enough sea life for one day,’ Brie said, standing up and checking her backside for remnants of bird poo. ‘Let’s head home for a cuppa.’