Chapter 42
Celia’s swimsuit was still damp but she pulled it on anyway, and as soon as she is in the sea, she no longer cares.
She plunges forward, gasping as the chill of the water takes her breath away.
Then she is swimming with all sense of coldness gone, and as she glides through the water her thoughts seem to unspool, one by one.
She knows there’ll be wrangles with Geoff over money – the flat in particular – but for now it is her home, and she runs it her way.
If it’s chilly, the heating goes on, no question.
Every morning she showers with the deliciously scented almond gel contributed by Amanda.
In her kitchen there are posh herbal teabags, each one in its own little envelope which – she has to admit – are especially pleasing.
‘These have been around for about thirty years,’ Amanda teased her.
So, life is good. Celia no longer has to sleep next to a man who always smelt faintly of sausage rolls, or worry about the fate of a decrepit caravan – although she does wonder what’ll happen when it reaches the end of its life.
Will it be compressed into a cube like a knackered old car?
Not her problem, she reminds herself as she swims parallel to the beach.
That’s for Geoff and his sister to figure out.
Celia is out of the picture now, swimming on a beautiful summer’s morning, with not a sound in the air apart from the occasional squawk of a gull.
Now a sudden movement at the little tent catches her attention. Enzo has emerged in tracksuit bottoms and a sweatshirt, dark hair attractively mussed. As he gazes around, shielding his eyes from the bright sunshine, she knows what it is that he’s looking for. Or rather, who.
He spots her then and waves. ‘Come in!’ she mouths, waving back, and knowing that he won’t hear her. But she doesn’t want to wake the others, not yet.
Celia sees the smile light up his face, and briefly he’s back in the tent, emerging now in swimming shorts, looking fit and toned and, she has to admit, quite delicious.
She watches him as he comes nearer, unable to drag her gaze away as he wades towards her.
Something surges up in her that she’s never experienced before.
It quickens her heart and almost takes her breath away.
‘Morning,’ he calls out, swimming towards her.
She smiles, and that’s when it happens, before his sister and daughter have even emerged to greet the day.
Right now, it’s just the two of them – Enzo and Celia in the sparkling sea, his arms suddenly around her.
This is how it feels, she realises, to be held.
She had almost forgotten – and yet it seems so right.
She feels as if her head is exploding and yet she is completely calm and happy.
They stand there, with the waves swishing gently and the morning sun beaming down on them.
And then they kiss. As Celia closes her eyes, she feels herself dissolving into the sea as his lips caress hers. She feels like she might cry because it’s been so long since she has been kissed like that.
Actually, she has never been kissed, so tenderly, like that.
It is entirely new and engulfing and wonderful.
And when they pull apart, with Enzo’s arms still around her, she cannot think of anything other to say than, ‘Morning.’
He smiles, and then they start to swim back to shore, just as Mathilde emerges from the tent, already in her swimsuit.
‘Dad! Celia!’ she yells.
‘Hey, honey!’ Enzo calls out. He turns to Celia and grins. ‘Well, that was lovely.’
‘It was,’ she says, beaming as Mathilde calls out, ‘I’m coming in!’