Chapter 16
‘T here you are,’ Max said as she approached her boat. ‘You need to get changed.’
‘Okay. Into what?’ He looked at her like she was an alien and had started speaking some strange language he had no hope of understanding. Typical man, Rosie thought. ‘Like, casual clothes, party outfit... what?’
He frowned. ‘Something you can eat dinner in.’
‘Yeah, but dinner where?’
‘Do you always have to ask so many questions?’ He checked his watch.
‘When you’re a woman deciding what to wear to a—’ She almost said ‘date’ but stopped herself just in time. Was that what this was? Or we he just being her tour guide still? ‘To an event, then yes, we need to ask questions. For example, is it a jeans evening or a dress evening?’
Max shrugged. ‘Dress, I suppose.’
‘But you don’t know?’
‘You’ll look nice in anything,’ he said quickly, then scurried back to his boat, calling over his shoulder, ‘I’ll be back in half an hour.’
‘You said three-quarters of an hour a minute ago.’
‘Then you asked questions for fifteen minutes!’
Rosie giggled as he headed back inside his galley, and she did the same.
She’d grown used to the gentle rocking of the water and found it comforting whenever she stepped inside the Forget-Me-Knot .
For a second, Rosie took in her new home.
The events of the day had made her realise just how much she wanted the summer to last forever.
The colourful rugs and cushions gave the place a sense of warmth, and alongside it, Rosie felt a freedom and happiness that almost overwhelmed her.
Max might have been shocked at how chaotic her bright, colourful décor was, but she loved it.
After grabbing a glass of water, she jumped in the shower and quickly washed away the dirty rainwater from the day. Though her bedroom wasn’t private, she’d drawn all the curtains and had a towel wrapped around her. As she emerged, her phone rang.
‘Hey, sis,’ she said. ‘You okay?’
‘I’m fine. Why won’t you accept a video call?’
‘Because I’m naked,’ Rosie replied matter-of-factly.
Her sister giggled. ‘Oh. Fair enough.’
‘I just got in.’ As she dressed and began to towel-dry her hair, Rosie told her about the events of the day and that Max was taking her out for dinner.
‘So you’ve got a hot date! Good for you, Rosie.’
Rosie threw her dressing gown on over the towel and quickly began her make-up. ‘I don’t know about that. To be honest, I don’t know what’s happening.’
‘But you fancy him? Even though he’s grumpy and rude and shouts at you from his boat like a crazy old neighbour?’
‘Yeah. It doesn’t sound great when you say it like that, but he’s not that bad really. Not once you get to know him.’
‘And does he fancy you? He must do if he’s taking you out on a date.’
‘I don’t know! Sometimes I think he might but then he’s all grumpy and quiet and I have no idea.
And I overheard him talking to someone– a friend– and he said I was just some crazy English tourist neighbour and that there was definitely nothing between us.
He’s also getting over a break-up, I found out. A bad one, I think.’
‘Wow, that’s a lot, Rosie. Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘I don’t know. I’ve just been really busy, and I guess I needed to figure some things out in my head.’
‘Normally in this situation you’d just come right out and ask him. You’ve done that before.’
Once when a guy Rosie was working with was sending her mixed signals, she’d simply asked him outright and as a result he’d asked her for coffee and they’d gone out for a total of six dates and a few hot and steamy nights too.
‘Maybe I will, but I don’t know. I just think that approach won’t work with Max. He’s too reserved. Did you ask the doctor out yet?’ she asked, trying to change the subject.
‘Urgh, no.’
‘You’ve missed your deadline twice now,’ Rosie reminded her, teasingly.
‘I just can’t get the courage up to do it.’
‘Let’s make a deal,’ Rosie said. ‘If I ask Max about his ex, you have to ask the doc out. Fair?’
‘No! No deal! I can’t cope with this sort of pressure. It’s all right for you, you’re an extrovert. You don’t mind talking to people. You’re like mum in that way. But me– I just can’t. Let me do it in my own time.’
‘Oh, all right. If you’re going to be such a baby about it.’
‘Hey!’
Rosie giggled, then seeing the time on her phone, turned to her wardrobe.
She chatted with her sister about the day at the flower market, how things were going, and her sister’s plans to come out and see her one weekend.
Excitement at the thought filled her stomach.
‘I’d love that. Do you think Dad’ll come too? ’
‘Definitely. He can’t wait. He’s never stayed on a houseboat before.’
She looked around the room. ‘I’m not sure I’ve got enough room for you both.’
‘Don’t worry, we can always rent one or get a hotel. We just want to see you and the flower market and your little pitch. Have you thought of a name for it yet?’
‘No!’ Rosie took out a black dress, form-fitting with three-quarter-length sleeves. It had served her on many occasions when she hadn’t known exactly what to wear. It hadn’t let her down yet. ‘I was toying with The Canal Stop Shop.’
‘Eww.’
‘What’s wrong with that?’
‘It sounds like a garage or an all-night minimart.’
‘Yeah, I suppose it does. Hey, Mels, what do you wear to dinner when you have no idea where you’re going? I don’t want to be overdressed—’
‘Or underdressed.’
‘Definitely not.’
‘A little black dress is always the answer. Classy and elegant and you don’t have to wear skyscraper heels; you can keep it casual with accessories.’
‘You are wasted in nursing, you know that?’ She took the black dress from her wardrobe and sniffed it, checking it didn’t smell of any of the lingering damp that she sometimes caught a whiff of after the flood.
‘Have you thought about naming the shop something to do with Mum? Like Botanist’s something... I don’t know.’
Rosie paused from struggling with the zip at the back of the dress. ‘I love that idea, Mels. Mum would love it too.’
‘And Dad,’ Melody added.
It would honour her mum’s memory and make her a part of her future too, even though she wasn’t there to see it.
A second later, after getting her dress done up as far as her waist, she let out a grunt.
‘Umm, Rosie...’ Melody said. ‘What are you doing?’
At that moment, with both hands struggling behind her back, Rosie’s balance failed. ‘Argh!’ She fell to the side, missing the built-in dining table by millimetres.
‘Rosie? Rosie, are you all right?’
‘I’m okay,’ she replied, pushing herself upright and back up to standing. ‘The bloody zip’s stuck and I just fell over trying to fix it. I’m going to have to go and see if I can get it sorted.’
‘Okay. But don’t kill yourself over a dress. Speak soon, sis. Love you.’
‘Love you too!’
Rosie spent another five minutes struggling with the zip and gave up.
She was getting far too hot and sweaty. She took a break, leaving it undone, and spritzed on some perfume.
The good thing about having short hair was she didn’t have to do anything to it, which gave her more time to think about what Melody had said.
Naming the shop something to do with her mum would be perfect.
But what? She tried one more time and couldn’t get the zip to move, which meant she had no other option. She’d have to ask Max to help.
Rosie slipped on her shoes to see Max step onto the deck and knock at the open galley door.
‘Ready to go?’
She couldn’t help but take him in. Instead of his usual paint-splattered jeans and T-shirt or oversized plaid shirt, he wore clean fitted jeans that wrapped around his thighs like a second skin.
His other ones were so baggy she hadn’t noticed before how muscly his legs were.
Drawing her eyes up, she saw his smart shirt and blazer gripping his broad shoulders and chest. His hair was a little wild, but she liked it that way.
Her pulse began to race as he studied her too and the way his eyes roved over her curves said he liked what he saw.
She forced her gaze back to the mirror, checking her reflection one last time. ‘Ready, but can you just do my dress up for me, please?’
‘Your... why?’
She spun, so he could easily access the zip. ‘It’s stuck.’
She heard his sharp intake of breath and felt a prickling of enjoyment as he cleared his throat. ‘Umm... yeah– sure– okay.’
Max stepped into the galley, pausing behind her.
The zip was stuck at her mid-back, just below her bra line.
She could feel his shaky breath brush her bare skin.
He fiddled with the zip and it began to move.
As it neared the top, his fingers swept the skin on her back, sending a shockwave through her.
The touch had been soft and she couldn’t help but imagine him gently placing his hands either side of her face as he guided her towards him for a kiss, or his fingers sweeping down her waist as he explored the curves of her body, or—
‘There,’ he said gruffly. ‘Done.’
She forced away those thoughts as an internal fire burned inside her. ‘Is this outfit okay?’ she asked, turning to look at him, hoping to see mirrored on his face the longing she felt inside. It was there momentarily as his eyes scanned the length of her body once more.
‘You look lovely.’
Her breath hitched and time seemed to pause as they stood only inches apart, watching each other. The pressure built, but with neither of them speaking, Rosie panicked and asked, ‘So where are we going?’
‘For dinner.’
‘Yes, but where?’
He moved outside and she locked the door of the Forget-Me-Knot behind her.
‘You’ll see. Stop asking so many questions.’
She giggled as he offered his arm and they walked side by side.
***
Rosie looked at the boat they were about to have dinner on. She’d imagined a fancy restaurant where she might have felt uncomfortable or out of place. She should have known Max would take her somewhere special. Somewhere out of the ordinary.