Chapter 35
Kitty ran the whole way home, her feet stumbling against the sand, ignoring the pain in her calves. With sandals dangling from her hands, her feet sent up a plume of salty spray around her legs.
She couldn’t believe what had happened. What had she been thinking? Not only to kiss Nick, a man she didn’t even particularly like, but to be caught by his parents? That was the act of a teenage girl, not a twenty-seven-year-old professional career woman.
She bent down, grabbed a handful of sand, and flung it into the water, shattering the moon path tracking her pacing.
She let out a yell. She was behaving like Cathy, not Catherine, not Kitty.
Kitty Brown didn’t climb on top of dubious men and feel up their abs.
Kitty Brown had higher standards than to be charmed by a man with no prospects and the life skills of a twelve-year-old.
And what would have happened if they hadn’t been interrupted?
She was his daughter’s teacher, for God’s sake.
How could she have faced him at the school gates if they’d had a one-night stand?
As mortifying as it had been, Nick’s parents’ arrival had at least stopped her from making a terrible mistake.
‘This wasn’t supposed to happen!’ she shouted into the sea air.
How had she failed so miserably in her one aim of keeping to herself? Nothing, nothing more could happen with Nick. It was out of the question. She trudged along the beach, thoughts tumbling around in her brain. Uppermost of which was, now Nick could legitimately accuse her of leading him on.
Kitty blamed her stupid behaviour on all the emotion dredged up from speaking to Alice. Why else would she let herself so easily be dragged into Nick’s arms? Though, to be honest, she hadn’t been dragged. She’d made the first move.
Which was completely unlike her.
Or was it?
The more she thought about it, the more she realised it might not be like Kitty Brown.
It was, however, exactly the kind of thing Cathy McDonaugh would have done back in the day.
A prickle of unease caught Kitty by surprise.
She was even more surprised to realise it wasn’t unease…
it was excitement. Could she return to Cathy? Did she want to return to Cathy?
Cathy had been reckless at times – extrovert, confident, all the things Kitty Brown was definitely not.
Perhaps there was a middle ground to be found, she thought, her pace slowing as she walked along the water’s edge.
Nick Andrews couldn’t be part of that plan.
She wasn’t ready for another relationship.
She didn’t even understand who she was anymore, never mind who she could be as a partner.
Was she Cathy the party girl, Catherine the sensible Londoner, or Kitty, local teacher and Saffron Bay’s resident screw-up?
The next time she saw Nick, unless it was at the school gates, she’d have to put him straight. She was happy to continue their friendship, but their relationship could never be anything more.