Chapter 14
Bobbin flew over.
‘ Buon appetito ,’ she said. Lili absolutely had not been thinking back to a trip to Rome and imagining her and Dylan walking hand in hand past the Colosseum. Because that would be like a teenage crush and Lili was almost thirty with a far bigger handle on her emotions.
‘It’s true, right?’ she said to Bobbin. ‘I’m strong, steadfast, my head won’t be turned by a guy, even if he does look great in a Dracula cape.’
Bobbin stopped eating and hopped from foot to foot. She could have sworn the bird was laughing.
Lili waited until Bobbin finished eating and then got up.
The firework display was at Craymouth, a northern Cornish town near the Devon border, around an hour’s drive for both of them.
She’d had the day off, which had timed well and made the night out less of a rush.
Craymouth was a market town with ancient buildings, wonderful independent shops and big public flowerpots, bursting with rainbows of blooms in the summer.
Lili had visited with Em a few times as it hosted musical festivals.
Dylan hadn’t said much in his text, just that its Bonfire Night display was a must-see.
The event started at seven. They’d agreed to meet at five.
A few hours later she got out of her car at one of Craymouth’s beach car parks.
The wind blew strongly enough to chase away the clouds and leave the darkening sky clear of blemishes.
Lili should have worn a hat. At least she’d wrapped up with a thick scarf.
Over the ocean, the sun was setting, a semi-circle of gold resting on the water, illuminating crests of waves; it highlighted a flock of passing gulls and the striking jagged outline of rocks nearer the shoreline.
Its glow reminded Lili of her friendship with Em and how a special person in your life made everything brighter, raising the volume on laughter, intensifying the taste of a meal out, bringing the little, wonderful things into focus.
‘Lili?’
She looked to her right. Dylan was walking away from a blue saloon car.
He wore a beanie hat and snug duffle coat, tight jeans and walking boots.
Not that she cared about his appearance; no, not at all, nor the fact that Tommo and Meg were right about the air of fishing boat master – someone who was in charge, capable, decisive, and unafraid of facing the elements at their worst. His face broke into a grin and he pointed at her car.
‘Sorry, Lili – nice as it is to see you, I’m compelled to introduce myself to that vision next to you, before we chat. Although I might need a magnifying glass to get a good look.’
Lili was not unaccustomed to such a reaction.
Dylan bent over to look through the window.
Em had left Lili her car as well as her savings – a classic Mini, tiny compared to its modern equivalent.
Em herself had inherited it from an elderly aunt.
Colin and Shirl had thought their daughter should sell it, but it had been love at first sight for Em, who promptly named it Colonel Mustard due to its colour.
Its engine sounded as loud as an aeroplane’s when you drove fast, and Lili spent most of her journeys expecting it to break down.
Yet it had been reliable so far, was cheap to run and easy to park.
Both she and Em supported recycling, and taking on this car suited the ethos of Lili’s job.
Dylan ran a hand over the bonnet. Every journey in that car also brought back memories of driving with Em.
The time they’d almost come off the road because a bunch of lads in the MPV in front had pulled down their trousers and wiggled their bare backsides.
Em had flipped them the finger, even though she and Lili were laughing.
Then there was the time Em rushed Lili to A the water stretched onwards forever.
Life was not like that. You had one short chance to find happiness.
Was she really going to deprive herself of love until the end of her days?
Wasn’t she brave enough to risk it when the prize could be so very exciting?
A large wave crashed onto the sands as if the ocean was telling Lili to wake up to the fact she’d not felt like this about a guy since a schoolgirl crush on her biology teacher.
Lili looked up at the sky, searching for the first star of the night.
Starlight took thousands of years to reach earth and as stars lived billions of years; the light people saw now probably mostly came from ones that were still alive.
But like humans, eventually they aged. Did Lili want her light to go out before she’d experienced love and passion – the things that had always been missing with dates previously?
She shifted her head down from the sky to Dylan and his strong features, the carefree hair sticking out from underneath his hat, a man content to just stand and watch, without feeling the need to talk, even though they hardly knew each other.
That was self-confidence. Yet a frown was etched into his forehead.
Perhaps he had a question for the ocean as well. Dylan looked at her and went to speak but stopped.
‘What?’ she asked.
‘Nothing. It’s nothing.’
They walked up towards the pier and onto the promenade where crowds were waiting.
On the way she smiled to herself and discreetly tucked the amber hawthorn leaf she’d brought with her into his pocket.
He’d probably soon get bored of this joke between them.
The aroma of hot chocolate and mini donuts gave a demanding call and they surrendered to it, their lips soon covered with sugar.
Dylan took photos to send to his brother later.
Apparently Harry’s favourite childhood food was fairground donuts.
A DJ played the latest hits as they strolled past a stall sizzling with sausages, but despite the heat from it, Lili shivered.
Dylan immediately pulled off his beanie and pulled it over her head.
Laughing, she protested but he insisted.
Seven o’clock arrived and the show kicked off with bursts of psychedelic sparks.
The crowd jumped at bangers and clapped as fragments of light rained down.
Afterwards Dylan and Lili went back on the beach, to return to the car park.
‘Great night,’ she said, linking arms again, daring to pull him in closer than before. ‘Thanks for asking me. That fountain firework at the end was stunning.’
He pointed to a bench and they sat down. ‘Not too cold?’ he asked.
Yes, and she knew how he could warm her up.
‘Because there’s something I’d like to discuss,’ he said.
No need. I feel it too . She looked out at the ocean and ran a finger over the beanie.
Okay. Grief had changed her. Maybe in an adventurous way.
Despite loving the single life, despite the misery that played out as her parents’ marriage disintegrated, maybe now was the time to go for a relationship that had meaning.
She turned to face him, tilted her head upwards, and she leant forwards, directing her mouth towards his.