Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
I t had been a thoroughly lovely Saturday, reflected Rebecca when they finally came back to the hotel after a deliciously long, late and leisurely lunch at one of the Rebelo family’s favourite restaurants.
On the return journey from Loulé market, Katerina, Cristina and Ana had insisted on stopping at the big shopping mall in Guia where they’d spent nearly two hours in the fitting rooms of Zara, H&M and Berksha, with each of them bringing armfuls of clothes for Rebecca to try on– from the outrageous and wild through to the amusingly unsuitable.
She’d submitted and they’d taken great pleasure in treating her like a doll they could dress up, falling about with laughter as she pouted and posed for them.
In between it all, she had found a few items that she liked and got the seal of approval from the girls.
Who knew that red was her new best friend?
Or that a plain deep-rose-pink dress with a mid-thigh skater skirt could look both cute and sexy, according to Ana, whose judgement she trusted the most, even though the girls were unfailingly honest and direct.
As they drove up to the car park of the hotel, Rebecca smiled to herself at the memory of some of the comments the girls had made in the changing rooms.
‘Oh God, no, you look like a camel!’ Cristina had said of a sand-coloured jumpsuit.
‘Hideous,’ said Katerina, about the little pedal pushers Rebecca had been quite keen on. ‘Make your thighs look like a WWE Wrestler.’
Despite being conscious of her muscular thighs, Rebecca thought this was hilarious because of Katerina’s deadpan delivery.
Ana was by far the best at choosing what suited her, although was quick to spot when Rebecca wasn’t comfortable.
As much as the three would criticise and tease, they were equally generous and kind, ganging up on her to convince her how gorgeous they thought she looked.
It was something she’d never experienced before.
‘You have to buy that! If you don’t, I will buy it for you,’ insisted the mild-mannered Ana with a ferocious glint in her eye.
They’d continued to tease her throughout a late afternoon lunch with all the family, and now, arriving back at the hotel, she glowed with happiness as she carried her shopping bags up the steep cobbled path.
When Will hailed her suddenly, appearing out of the blue above the lavender borders, she started, his quick shout of greeting reminding her of the day she’d returned from Lisbon to find him here.
Like the previous time, he disrupted her equilibrium, dispelling the sunshine spilling through her.
‘Rebecca, I’ve been looking for you everywhere,’ he said. ‘Where’ve you been?’
‘Out having fun,’ murmured Katerina under her breath as she nudged Cristina.
‘I thought you were working today and seeing your friends this evening,’ Rebecca said, immediately irritated by the apology in her voice, because after all, he’d been the one who had told her he was going to be busy today, and they hadn’t spoken since he’d turned her down.
‘Not until later. I thought we could spend some time together. I think we might need to talk.’
It would be churlish to say she had things to do, when she didn’t, but for some reason she didn’t want to have the conversation after the night before. She’d embarrassed herself and she had no wish to rehash the event.
With an inward sigh, she smiled at him, knowing they had to have a conversation. ‘Do you want to go down to the beach?’ she suggested.
‘Perfect. Do you want to drop your… things?’ He gave her shopping bags a slight frown and she remembered he didn’t approve of excessive consumer spending.
‘Sure. Give me a minute and I’ll meet you back here.’
Five minutes later, wearing one of the new sundresses that Katerina and Ana had talked her into, she met Will at the top of the path.
‘You were quick,’ said Will, apparently not even noticing the new pink dress with its cute flippy skirt that made her feel feminine.
‘Didn’t want to keep you waiting,’ she quipped with a quick smile.
‘No problem. I checked my emails while I was waiting. My editor is really pleased with the chapter I sent through this week.’
‘Oh, that’s great,’ said Rebecca, enjoying the feel of the soft fabric flowing around her knees and wondering if Will might notice now.
‘Yes. I’m pleased. I’m going to hit my deadline in the next two days, so we’re good for dinner on Tuesday.’
‘Phew!’ said Rebecca, in an attempt to tease Will and lighten up the mood.
‘Yes.’ They lapsed into silence as they walked down the wide-planked wooden steps to the beach. Today, the sea raced into the beach in a quick succession of small white foaming waves, the brilliant blue of the sky reflected in the water as sunlight ripped on the surface.
When they reached the sand, Rebecca kicked off her shoes and buried her toes in the sand. Will didn’t wait but carried on walking, head down, staring at his feet. She caught up with him, conscious that there was a lot unsaid between them and clearly it was down to her to broach the subject.
‘I’m sorry… I made a bit of a fool of myself last night,’ she said, wincing, hoping he’d look at her and smile.
He didn’t. She saw him shrug his shoulders. ‘We all do it,’ he said.
‘I wasn’t that drunk, just a bit silly,’ said Rebecca a little aggrieved.
‘Maybe not,’ said Will and shrugged again.
His cheeks reddened. ‘I’m… Well, I’m… I like to make the first move.
It’s just… Well, you know. I’m old-fashioned that way.
Alicia always… waited for me.’ He moved as stiffly as his words and Rebecca could see that the conversation was making him very uncomfortable.
A far cry from the laughter and silliness with Felipe.
She laid a gentle hand on his arm. ‘I’m not Alicia, Will.’ She wasn’t going to apologise for that.
‘I know you’re not. I guess this is a big step for me. Sorry… I…’
She took his hand and squeezed it, touched by the miserable expression on his face. ‘Hey, this is a big thing for both of us.’ As soon as she said the words, she could hear Felipe’s voice in her head, teasing her about the potential double entendre of a ‘big thing’.
‘It is,’ said Will, gravely. ‘But… it’s you I want to be with, Rebecca. Just give me some time.’
‘Of course,’ she said squeezing his fingers, trying to dislodge the disloyal thought How much time do you need ? ‘We said we’d take it slow, let’s do that. We’ll know when the time is right.’
‘Thanks, Rebecca, you’re the best,’ he said, dropping a chaste kiss on her forehead, making her feel like a maiden aunt.