Chapter 24
Tabitha
Tim arrived at his truck carrying mysterious baskets, his strong arms flexed and well-defined. After loading his baskets into the back, he opened the door for me. “Your phaeton awaits, madam.”
I laughed, delighted he’d remembered. And still relieved I’d shared my burden with Tim, of all people.
But this kindness and the way he’d listened, making me feel calm and understood, had upped his appeal for me.
I already found him attractive, and now I was even more smitten.
“Phaeton?” I said as a flush ascended my chest and neck.
“The poshest carriage, not just bog standard. I’m impressed.
You did pay attention when I read you passages from my regency romances. ”
“Yeah, I—” He clamped his mouth shut.
What was he going to say?
“Yes. I did,” he finally said.
“And where is this phaeton taking us?”
“It’s a surprise.”
He placed his hand on my back and helped me climb up onto the seat. The heat from his touch remained, and I smiled to myself, feeling cared for.
A short drive later, we pulled down a long country lane with tall grasses and towering old elms.
I turned to him. “Oh, I know what we’re doing. We’re going to picnic on the riverbank.”
He pulled up in front of our old water hole that was shadowed by willow trees. The sounds of running water and birds and bees in the grasses filled me with peace.
“No, just sit. You’ll see.” He swung out of his seat, rounded the front of the truck, opened my door, took my hand, and helped me out.
I stood in front of him, and he was still holding my hand, lingering a moment longer. The caw of an overhead crow swept his face upward and must have pulled him out of his reverie.
He strode around to the back of his truck, popped the trunk, and pulled out a basket of soft towels and an enormous robe that must have been his. I knew his mum did a lot of swimming, but I didn’t know he’d taken it up too.
But now, it was obvious what his plan was. Swimming.
Excitement rushed through me at the thought of immersing my head under the cool water, but we were missing a key item. “We’re going swimming, but I don’t have a swimsuit.” And anyway, did I want him to see me in a swimsuit? We worked together.
His eyes swept down my body and then went wide. He coughed. Um, he wasn’t thinking about me without a swimsuit, was he? I chuckled a little inside.
“You’ll be underwater,” he said.
“Tiiiim.” I narrowed my eyes.
“I’ll be on the bank watching out for anyone walking by. I promise not to peek.”
I kept looking at him as we walked to the water. Would he keep his promise? I checked his face for any indication this was something else, but he seemed to be scouting around for a good place to set everything down. “Promise?”
“Tabitha, this is for you, not me. I’m just here to enjoy your company and sit guard.”
I laughed, but somehow, I believed him. “Okay. You don’t want to come in too?”
“Well. You know how vain I am. My pride couldn’t take the shrinkage.”
I laugh-snorted, but was this like the kiss he’d turned down all over again? Was I feeling attracted to him and hoping all the time we’d spent together had changed how he felt about me, when he only wanted to be friends? I still couldn’t be sure of his affections.
“Okay,” I said. “It’s probably still bloody cold, so it might be a pretty brief swim for me.”
In the end, I stayed in for half an hour.
The water was chilly but glorious, transparent pale blue, and I could see to the stones and sand at the bottom.
I dove under again and again, being careful not to tip up my bottom above the surface, then treading water and singing and gazing up into the sky.
I was utterly relaxed and serene and enlivened by the cold.
My problems seemed so far away from this perspective.
Tim kept his promise and never turned once, not even when he called out, “Annoying teenagers coming.”
“Ducking under,” I called back.
When it was time to get out, I emerged quickly, giving the birds a flash, pulled on the robe he’d hung from a branch, and tied it tight at the waist. I was cold but refreshed and felt like I could face the world again and all was going to be okay.
It was dusk, and the sky was pink and dreamy. His soft white robe covered me from my neck to ankles, and I felt warmer by the second. My insides heated at the smell of him on the robe, the particular brand of washing powder he used.
“I’m decent,” I called. “You can look around.”
He grabbed a towel and held it up to me. “Come and sit on the blanket.”
Again, I wasn’t totally sure where this was going. Were we being friends or…
“You’re safe,” he reassured me, and his tone felt genuine. “This is not some douchey seduction move, I promise.”
Part of me wished it was, but I didn’t realize how much I’d missed our friendship too. The easy way we could be together. If only he weren’t so darn handsome.
I collapsed beside him on the blanket under the elm tree, hyperaware of everything about him.
I took the towel from him and gave my hair a good rub.
I could only imagine what I looked like.
“Is my hair all matted and sticking out all over the place?” I asked.
“Yes.” He was smiling, and his brown eyes were soft, making me melt at the tenderness I saw there. This is the best friend I used to know. And even though I’d been with Perry for four years, he’d never done anything so genuinely thoughtful. I’d needed this moment of fun, and Tim had known that.
I touched my hair. I could feel it was sticking up like candy floss all over my head, and I laughed.
He laughed too and bounced his fingers around my head.
“It looks just like a halo.” His lips quirked.
“Yes, let’s just call it that, shall we?”
Tim pulled out champagne from the basket.
“Ta-da!” He uncorked the bottle and poured the sparkling liquid into one of Mum’s crystal glasses and handed it to me.
I scooted back against a tree, stretched, and crossed my ankles.
Then he laid out cheese, crackers, and grapes on the plates with napkins. The man had thought of everything.
“Thank you.” I sighed. “I could get used to this.”
“You deserve to get used to it.”
“I like working hard, and I don’t need a big house or even a big flat or name-brand clothing or purses.
I just wish my parents would get their act together, so they weren’t leaning on me for the rest of my life.
” Talking about my parents was starting to interfere with the peace I’d found in the water.
“I’m still sorry I made it harder for you.”
I shrugged. “You didn’t know. I didn’t really want anyone to know.”
“I can’t believe your parents accepted your money. You deserve better.” His mouth was hard and his eyes intense, like he seemed angry about that.
“Your parents are so lovely. Your dad was such a nice man and so devoted to your family.” I felt a little hesitant bringing up his dad, worried it might upset him.
“Yeah, I’ve been lucky. We never had much money. Mum and Dad, well you know, had to get married out of high school because Mum got pregnant. Mum wanted to be an accountant, but instead, she worked as a bookkeeper, and Dad wanted his own construction business, but he was a laborer all his life.”
He looked into the dusk sky of pink and orange. “But he never made Amy and me feel like they’d sacrificed their lives for us. We were always close.” With a softness that undid me, he pressed the towel to my cheek, drying the last drips of water from my hair. “Tabs, you deserved that too.”
I knew what I deserved, including this downtime. “Let’s not talk about my parents. I want to forget them—until I have to see them at home.”
I smiled and he gazed at me, his pupils dilated, turning his eyes into a deep, melted chocolate. My heart shimmied in a dance, slow-hipped and languorous against sensual music.
Was this something, or was his gaze friendly and concerned?
He looked away sharply. I sipped my champagne, my stomach tight, thinking about the possibilities of the two of us here alone. We could kiss. We could… Well, there was a footpath close, but we were hidden behind trees, so we could do anything, really.
He made me a cracker with cheese, and when I bit into it, I groaned.
Amazing. But do I want Tim to kiss me? I knew my body did—I was still keen to erase memories of Perry from my life, but still.
Tim didn’t seem to want that. At least, he hadn’t when I was drunk.
Now, I wasn’t so sure. And this picnic at dusk leaned toward romantic.
This cheese was incredible. “Oh God.”
He raised an eyebrow and grinned like I’d made an obscene noise.
I grimaced. “Too much?”
His face creased with apology. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. Make all the noises you want.”
“Oh joy. And I can eat all the cheese without the Perry comments.”
“Perry, ugh.” He made me another cracker. “I like to see you eating.”
“Good. Because you’ll see a lot more of it in the coming days.”
We sat there a while, him sipping water, me giving little hums of appreciation when I was ready for another cracker and cheese, until I had to say no more.
“Grapes, m’lady?” he asked, holding up a bunch.
I plucked one and popped it into my mouth, chewed, then took another one. “Open wide. I’m going to throw it, and you have to catch it.”
“That old game. Okay, do your worst.” He positioned himself in front of me.
I threw wide, but he launched himself in that direction and caught it.
“I forgot how incredibly competitive you are,” I said.
“Tabs, you throw like a llama!”
I choked out a laugh, and he demonstrated the move. “Use your wrist. Like this, see? May I?”
He nodded to my hand, and after I nodded back, he took my wrist, shook it out, and guided me in a throwing motion. His fingers pressed my wrist, and my pulse throbbed hard, reacting to his touch. I looked up and caught his eyes. Did his fingers stay longer than was normal?
Not wanting to make assumptions, I joked, “Okay, my wrists are definitely ready for some action.”