Chapter 17 #2
Angus either didn’t notice or chose to ignore the fact that the white linen tablecloth was strewn with red rose petals but Tilly noticed, of course, and she could hear an echo of him telling her, in no uncertain terms, what the rules of engagement were going to be.
‘I don’t want to see any rose petals or candles or heart-shaped chocolates…’
It was harder to remember the tone of his voice.
Had angry, anti-romance Angus simply evaporated, in her memory as well as real life?
Angus chose to start the meal with a glass of the chilled Veuve Clicquot he ordered for Tilly. They both opened their menus and, within moments, had looked up to share a secret smile.
This was a restaurant so close to the sea you could smell the salt in the air and the menus reflected that.
‘A whole grilled fish for two?’ Tilly tried to make it sound like a delectable option.
‘I’m thinking a seafood platter for two,’ Angus countered. ‘With oysters and prawns and’ – he paused for effect – ‘sea urchins.’
‘Oh, mon Dieu… They’re like little hérissons. I can’t remember the word.’
‘Hedgehogs?’
‘Oui. C’est ca.’
They couldn’t look at each other when the waiter came back to take their orders, in case they started laughing again.
Neither of them was hungry enough to start with entrées, so Angus ordered one of the only main dishes that wasn’t seafood for both of them. ‘We’d like the medallions of beef with truffle jus, s’il vous plait, monsieur. And frites.’
They watched the sun edging across the horizon, the golden tinge of the sky beginning to tip into apricot as they sipped their champagne, their conversation simply articulating how lovely this setting was.
Perfectly cooked medium-rare beef fillets were brought to their table, served on a bed of mushrooms that had been roasted until they were flat black buttons in a puddle of jus.
One waiter shaved wafer-thin slices of truffle over the top of the steaks and another added the cone of hot frites and put a glass of red wine in front of Angus.
He closed his eyes for a long time as he savoured his first mouthful of the meal and then he paused for almost as long, staring at his plate and then raising his gaze to Tilly.
‘I cannot believe that steak and chips could be this good,’ he said, with a sigh. ‘I’m in heaven.’
So was Tilly, but on a very different level to simply enjoying great food.
This was a dream that only needed one more thing to make it perfection – that Angus would be feeling what she was feeling right now.
A love that was as infinite as the stretch of the Mediterranean in front of them and as light-filled and rich as the deepening sunset that was gilding the sea.
When she had swallowed her last bite, she sat back in her chair and let her gaze drift onto the pebbled beach below.
A young couple was walking right on the edge of the waves, holding hands and, as she watched, the man lifted his hand and the woman twirled beneath it and then stepped close enough to put her arms around him.
They stepped sideways, forward and back and sideways again and then she did another twirl and they went back to walking – as if a break for dancing was a perfectly natural thing to do on a beach.
Even from this distance, it was clear that they were laughing as they carried on with their walk and it made Tilly smile, albeit with a poignancy that she could feel right down to her bones.
That was what would really make this dream perfect. That kind of romance.
Her smile faded as she realised Angus had followed her line of sight.
He was turning in his chair to keep watching them, in fact.
This was worse than the rose petals on the table, wasn’t it?
Not only a couple walking hand in hand on a beach but the glow of a spectacular sunset that was flaming into shades of red and orange now.
She needed to distract him.
‘Do you dance?’ she asked.
‘Not by choice,’ he said, firmly. But there was a gleam in his eyes. ‘Only when I find myself trapped in a lavender festival and get dragged into a crowd of people.’
He turned swiftly back to face her.
‘That’s it,’ he exclaimed. ‘I’ve just remembered.’
‘Remembered what?’ Tilly was bewildered.
‘What’s been hovering at the back of my head ever since I saw you trying on that dress. Wait… I’ll find it.’
He took his phone from the pocket of his jacket and began scrolling.
‘Do you remember Chris de Burgh?’
‘I don’t think so. Is he a singer?’
‘Yes. Irish, I think. And this was his biggest hit…’
The percussion and then smooth notes of the song, playing quietly enough that no one else in the restaurant could be disturbed, were nothing more than listening to a man with a lovely voice who was telling a woman how beautiful she was – until the words of the first chorus.
He was singing to a lady who was wearing a red dress.
A love song. A slow, romantic love song.
Was Angus actually listening to these lyrics? Had he not realised how romantic it was? Was he not feeling as if he was having these words sung especially to him, as she was?
And they were, almost, sitting on a beach in the South of France, bathed in the most glorious sunset Tilly had seen in a very long time. She wouldn’t be surprised, Tilly thought, if a flock of Disney bluebirds suddenly appeared to flutter around their table.
But maybe it was only the reference to the red dress that had resonated with Angus because he was smiling as he shut off the music on his phone. And then the waiter came to collect their plates and the moment was gone.
Until Angus sighed.
‘I don’t think I want to go back to Scotland,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to go back into my office.’
Tilly nodded. ‘I understand,’ she said. ‘It will be hard, won’t it, to work with someone that you…’
She couldn’t bring herself to say it but the words were there in her head.
…that you loved enough to want to spend the rest of your life with.
Angus had furrows in his brow that made Tilly think they’d come full circle. Here they were on their last night together and he was scowling just like he had been when she’d met him at Marseilles airport.
‘Someone that I was going to propose to?’ Angus offered. ‘Someone that rejected me before I even asked?’
Tilly nodded miserably, her heart sinking like a stone.
But Angus was shaking his head. ‘It was really only my pride that was hurt,’ he said. ‘And my opinion of my ability to make good choices.’
Tilly’s eyes widened. ‘Not your heart? Not even a little?’
Angus was still frowning. ‘A little, I suppose,’ he conceded.
‘I was sad that I was losing what I’d hoped for in the future.
A life partner. A family. But I wasn’t in love with Moira.
I… was fond of her. I thought we were very compatible and that we’d make a successful couple and, hopefully, parents, but she wanted…
well, she found the kind of love you’d approve of.
The “in love” madness. The romance. The bells and whistles of the kind of love that I’m not capable of giving anyone. ’
He shook off the words. ‘It might just be a bit awkward for a while, that’s all,’ he finished. ‘Working together. And…’ His tone shifted, as if he was making a private confession. ‘I feel different here. I feel like I’m more alive.’
‘Maybe you’re finding out who you truly are.’ Tilly held his gaze. ‘You don’t have to go home,’ she added softly. ‘You could rent Ellie’s cottage for as long as you like.’
‘I could, couldn’t I?’
For a long, long moment, Angus held that eye contact. Tilly thought she could see the instant he’d made his decision, before he spoke.
‘Can you send me Ellie’s contact details?’
She airdropped the contact to his phone and, to her surprise, Angus sent Ellie a text straight away. A moment later, his phone rang and he stood up and moved away from the table towards the beach to speak to her.
Tilly lifted her champagne glass to her lips as she watched him.
He was only just finding out who he really was, wasn’t he?
It was possible he might find out that he was capable of falling in love. That maybe, it was actually happening, without him realising it – because he’d allowed himself to be a different person than he had been in Scotland.
There was something fluttering around Tilly right now that felt like an emotional version of those over-the-top bluebirds of happiness. Something that was also a lot more powerful.
Hope.