Chapter 9
There it was again, the I’ve-been-a-bit-naughty smile that had got him out of trouble on so many occasions over the years.
Hattie raised an eyebrow. ‘How did you kind of know?’
‘Pete from the cricket team told me.’ Guy shrugged, as if it were obvious. ‘His wife used to work at the hospital with Kayla and they’re still friends on Facebook. This afternoon, Kayla posted about the coincidence of you being on this cruise and me turning up on the ship too.’
Slowly nodding, Hattie discovered she wasn’t actually that surprised. It had been too much of a coincidence. ‘And you’re telling me now because . . .?’
‘I thought I should come clean.’
‘You mean Pete called to warn you that his wife was going to tell Kayla, who’d then obviously tell me. So you thought you’d get in first.’
‘Hattie, it was just one of those things. As soon as I heard about this cruise, I thought it sounded right up my street. And yes, we could have booked a different date, but this was the week that suited us best. Plus, it had Jamie Hamilton on board, which was a massive bonus. And honestly? I thought it’d be great to see you again, and it is great.
There’s no reason why we can’t be friends, is there?
You have no idea how often I think about you. ’ He paused. ‘Or how much I miss you.’
All those years, all those happy times, followed by less happy times, and finally the failure of their marriage. Despite everything, Hattie felt her stomach flip, as hearing Guy say those words brought a million memories flooding back. Because there had been love there, on both sides.
Then again, she’d had plenty of time to get him out of her system. She was older and more mature now.
Also, less gullible.
‘And how does Suzanne feel about this?’
He watched as a speedboat swooshed past, bounce-bounce-bouncing over the surface of the water, then turned back to meet her steady gaze.
‘She doesn’t know. Hattie, seeing you again has honestly knocked me for six.
I had no idea it was going to have this much of an effect on me.
But it has.’ He paused. ‘It really has.’
‘That’ll be the force of my flawless looks and irresistible personality.’ What else could she do but be flippant?
‘You’re joking,’ said Guy. ‘But I mean it.’
‘Poor Suzanne.’
‘There’s nothing poor about Suzanne. You’ve seen what she looks like.’
‘I have.’ Hattie nodded in agreement.
‘She’s stunning.’
‘Absolutely.’ Curiosity compelled her to ask, ‘Is she the one, do you think?’
‘It’s still early days. A couple of little things need ironing out.’ Guy pulled a face and said wryly, ‘She does keep trying to teach me yoga.’
Hattie managed to keep a straight face. ‘Do you wear a leotard for that?’
‘I do not, and don’t you dare laugh. She also wants me to eat more healthily. Tells me my arteries will clog up if I have too much fried food, and I’ll have a heart attack.’
‘Which is true, that could happen. She wants you to be healthier for your own sake as well as hers,’ Hattie pointed out. ‘That’s fair enough, isn’t it?’
‘She wants me to jog,’ Guy said mournfully.
‘I’d pay good money to see that. Double if you’re in a leotard.’
‘Sounds like you’re on her side.’
‘I’m not on anyone’s side. But it does seem as if you’ve met your match. Which can only be a good thing. Has she been married before?’
‘Yes. Her ex-husband’s a triathlete. It was an amicable divorce,’ said Guy. ‘He’s back in the UK taking care of the kids while she’s over here with me. They’re sweet girls, six and four. When he dropped them off with us a couple of weeks ago, he asked me what my BMI was.’
‘He did? What did you say?’
‘I told him I didn’t have one, I drove a Porsche.’
Hattie laughed, and Guy smiled too. ‘He’s a nice enough chap, but now he probably thinks I’m fat and stupid.’
‘You aren’t that fat. Only a few kilos overweight.’
‘Compared with them, I’m a sumo wrestler.’ He glanced past her. ‘Story time’s over. Here she comes. Anyway, it’s been great chatting with you. I hope we can all enjoy our holiday. And I meant it when I said you’re looking fantastic.’
Not nearly as fantastic as lithe, snake-hipped Suzanne, though, in her short primrose-yellow Lycra dress and silver sandals. Who could begin to compete with someone as physically flawless as that?
Catching the eye of the friendly New Yorkers she’d been talking to earlier, Hattie said, ‘Enjoy your evening. I’m going to grab a drink and catch up with Bill and Janey.’
But as she was walking away, she heard Suzanne behind her say with amusement, ‘Were you just being chatted up by your ex-wife?’
Having escaped at last from a group of enthusiastic rugby fans in the bar, Jamie headed up on deck to find Leon and Fen. When he reached them, Leon was on his phone, in the process of ending a call.
‘I’m going to have to sort this out in the cabin.’ Leon looked resigned. ‘It’s a client in Singapore having a panic attack about his finances. I need to set up a Zoom and go through all his files on my laptop.’
As he rose to his feet, Jamie slid onto the space on the sofa he’d vacated. ‘That’s OK, we’ll talk about you behind your back. I’ll tell Fen all the stories you don’t want her to hear.’
‘Don’t listen to him,’ Leon instructed Fen. ‘Whatever he says, none of it’s true. It’s a pretty complicated situation,’ he went on, indicating his phone. ‘I could be gone for some time.’
Jamie sat back. ‘Just as well. It’ll take me a while to tell her everything.’
‘Go on then,’ said Fen when Leon had left. ‘Break it to me gently. He’s married.’
‘Two wives. Four kids. Treats them all very badly indeed. Kicks dogs too.’
‘OK, now the really important stuff. Does he give away the endings of thrillers?’
‘Always.’ Jamie nodded. ‘You’ve dripped some of your drink onto your top, by the way.’
She examined the purple stain on her lilac vest, gave it an experimental prod with one finger, then said comfortably, ‘No worries, I’m sure it’ll wash out,’ and took another sip of her drink. ‘This cocktail’s so delicious it’s worth it.’
He liked the way she didn’t fly into a panic, but took the minor setback in her stride. As if reading his mind, Fen said, ‘I’m never going to be as stylish as Disa. She doesn’t spill stuff down herself like I do.’
Jamie said, ‘It’s funny to think you live in Redland and we’re only a mile away in Clifton but you and Leon had never bumped into each other before. I bet you went to the same restaurants, pubs, shops.’
‘We probably did, we just didn’t notice each other.’
‘He told me he’d have recognised you if he had. And I believe him. I reckon you’re exactly his type.’
‘Really?’ Smiling, she plucked at her stained top then twanged one of her springy curls. ‘Messy and accident-prone with mad hair?’
Jamie laughed and turned towards her, pretending to study her in detail.
‘Your hair isn’t mad, it’s great.’ It was that shade of natural white-blonde that displayed her heritage, but her brows and lashes were dark brown.
Her eyes were a clear silvery grey and there was a small scar beneath the left one, as well as a dusting of freckles across her nose.
She’d been wearing lipstick earlier but it had all worn off now, courtesy of eating, drinking and – more than likely – kissing Leon.
During the years they’d known each other, Leon’s girlfriends had been an eclectic mix ranging from skinny to curvy, sporty to nerdy, city to countryside.
‘You know, I’d say up until now he never really had a type. But maybe that was because he hadn’t met you.’ He paused, then added slowly, ‘But now he has. And it turns out you’re it.’
All around them, people were chatting, laughing and getting to know each other. For several seconds, Fen didn’t move and remained silent. Finally, she said, ‘Are you joking?’
He shook his head. ‘Not at all. Deadly serious.’
‘Oh my God, I can’t believe you said that.’
‘Me neither.’ He didn’t make a habit of being serious, particularly when it came to emotions, and especially emotions of a romantic nature.
It wasn’t his thing. Life was easier if you joked your way through it.
As far as his own dating history was concerned, women had tended not to criticise him, but if they did, it was to point out that he wasn’t taking their relationship seriously enough, preferring to play it for fun and laughs rather than getting more deep and meaningful.
But they were talking about Leon now. And Jamie knew instinctively that Leon felt differently about Fen from how he’d felt about any of his previous girlfriends. This really could be it for his best friend, and since Jamie liked Fen too, he couldn’t be happier.
‘I know it’s early days,’ Fen said now. ‘Like, really early. But I hope you’re right.’
Jamie smiled, charmed by her honesty and lack of guile. ‘It’s still wild, thinking of the two of you going around Clifton, dipping in and out of shops and bars, never managing to meet each other.’
She nodded in agreement. ‘I know, it’s all so random.’
‘And I’d say I have a good memory for faces,’ he went on. ‘If I’d seen you before, I’m sure I’d have remembered you too.’
A slow smile lifted the corners of her mouth. ‘Except we have met before.’
‘We have?’
Fen nodded. ‘Oh yes.’
What did that mean? There hadn’t been any mention of it before now. What had happened? Had they danced together? Kissed? Surely not more than that.
‘Don’t look so panicky.’ Fen was entertained. ‘It wasn’t terrible.’
Thank God.
‘That’s a relief.’
‘You just did something a bit bad and I told you off.’
This wasn’t good. ‘I did something bad to you?’
‘Not me. You’d been invited to a birthday party at a bar on Whiteladies Road. And the girl whose birthday it was, she really thought you’d turn up. But you didn’t.’
The memory of that evening came flooding back. Jamie did a double-take. ‘You were the one outside who gave me the lecture?’
‘I was.’
‘Over by the wall, in the shadows?’
‘Yep.’