‘Will you go?’
‘Everyone does. And let’s face it, if you live in the bay you might as well because you’re sort of subjected to it whether you like it or not – you can see it and hear it from more or less everywhere in the town.’
‘So, now you’ve told me what there is to do, what do you do for fun, aside from snorkelling?’
‘Me?’ Sadie took up her burger and gave it a daintier nibble this time. Actually, putting it like that, she realised that the answer was not a lot. It felt as if she’d forgotten how to have fun these days, outside of family pursuits at least. She’d go out on the boat with her parents, go swimming or diving with Kat or Ewan and the kids, maybe walk the beach, but that was about it. Sometimes she’d meet with Natalie and Georgia for a drink, but even that wasn’t as often these days. These days she spent far too much of her time worrying about a future she couldn’t yet see and regretting a past she couldn’t change. ‘This is pretty fun,’ she said. ‘Being here with you.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. So I might be in with another date after tonight?’
‘You never know.’ Sadie raised her eyebrows and he laughed.
‘I’m going to take that as a yes because I don’t think my poor heart could take your rejection.’
‘I would say yes, but I’ve got to retain a little mystery, haven’t I?’
‘Mystery is overrated. I prefer people to say what they mean – it usually works out better in the end.’
‘OK, one hundred per cent yes then. I’d love another date. Is that direct enough for you?’
He grinned. ‘That’s more like it.’
* * *
Despite the ample food to mop it up, three more pints of beer had left Sadie a little tipsy when Vivien had eventually called time for the Listing Ship’s bar. Luke had fared better, though Sadie was sure he’d drunk just as much as her.
‘Are you deliberately trying to get me drunk?’ she’d asked as he’d come back to their table with the last one. He’d just tapped the side of his nose and laughed, and Sadie had informed him that if that was his plan then it would probably work.
The moon was still low and full in the sky as they came out of the pub, a salt breeze rolling in from the sea that heaved and sighed as the tide crept in. It would never fully cover the beach, and that was one of the big attractions of the bay for many holidaymakers because it always felt safe. Tonight, though Sadie could see the shoreline, still only a dark, undulating line on the sand. Mellow streetlamps lined the promenade while the technicolour lights of the rides on the pier reflected back from the black mirror of a calm sea.
‘I’ll see you home,’ Luke said as they stepped out onto the tarmac.
‘There’s no need. I’ve walked home a million times before.’
‘Drunk?’
‘I’m not drunk. And even if I was a little drunk I’ve walked home way drunker than this too.’
‘Probably, but I’d still rather see you were safe.’
‘I’m perfectly safe here. The only crime we have in the bay is committed by the occasional thieving seagull.’
‘Well if you won’t let me see you home to be safe, will you let me see you home because I want to spend a bit more time with you?’
She looked up at him with a soppy smile. ‘You do?’
‘Why wouldn’t I? I’ve had such a great time tonight, why would I refuse the opportunity of a few more minutes of your company?’
‘Me too,’ Sadie said. ‘But it might be a good idea not to come right up to the house.’
‘Probably – at least for now,’ he agreed.
As she turned to walk the promenade towards the cliff road that led home she felt his hand close around hers – not forced or unwelcome, just natural and right. It was the first actual physical contact they’d made that evening and it sent sparks shooting through her. She hadn’t reacted to a man’s touch like that since…
‘Heads up,’ he said, nodding towards a couple of figures up ahead. They looked as if they were arguing – at least the body language from this distance didn’t look too friendly – though Sadie couldn’t make out whether it was someone she knew or what they were saying.
‘Perhaps we should hang back,’ Luke said.
‘Maybe…’
Sadie halted, staring along the road. Luke had a point, because if it was someone she knew that would probably mean a bit of an awkward exchange, at the very least, considering she was out with Luke. Even if that wasn’t awkward, she didn’t want to get in the middle of a dispute. But the couple had stopped too now, the flailing of their arms intensifying and the volume of their voices increasing. There was no doubt they were in the middle of a huge bust-up.
‘They could be there all night,’ Sadie said.
Then one of the couple changed direction and started to head towards Sadie and Luke instead of away. The other followed. Sadie still couldn’t see who it was but now the voices sounded like… sounded like…
‘Shit!’
Sadie looked closer. She couldn’t make out anyone’s features but she could now recognise the woman’s long, graceful – if slightly agitated – strides, and the gait of the man who’d begun to chase after her.
‘Oh shit…’
Sadie cursed under her breath and yanked Luke across the promenade towards the darkness of the beach, out of sight.
‘Do you know them?’ Luke asked as she marched towards the shadow of the pier’s underside, taking him with her.
‘Um, yes. It’s just someone I don’t want to talk to right now… Might be awkward…’
‘Why? Is it your brother?’
‘No, it’s…’
My ex-boyfriend.
She couldn’t say that, could she? That would sound weird, wouldn’t it? Not weird that she had one, but weird that she was bothered he was there. Though that wasn’t really it – the problem wasn’t so much Dec being there but that she was certain Declan and Melissa had been having the most almighty argument, and even more certain that she’d heard Melissa screech her name. If Sadie had really been dragged into whatever the argument was about, to run into them at this precise moment would be horribly awkward – not only for her but for Luke too. Had he heard Sadie’s name being angrily tossed out too? Even if he had, but had been too gallant to say anything, she certainly didn’t want him to overhear any more. She didn’t know what Dec and Melissa were arguing about but the last thing she wanted to do was give the impression that there was some weird love triangle going on – which there absolutely wasn’t.
But why would Declan and Melissa be arguing about her? Sadie could only think of one reason – that Dec had decided to ask Melissa about helping out at the waffle house after all and she’d taken serious offence at the suggestion. If that was the case, Sadie could hardly blame her. Sometimes, for all his tenderness and charm, Declan could be dim-witted when it came to reading a volatile situation. Sometimes he’d just charge on in with his logic, judging everyone by the standards of his own openness and generosity, and it wasn’t always that simple. He’d have given his time up for Sadie and the waffle house in an instant, but Sadie could see that it wouldn’t be that straightforward for Melissa.
With the line of the sea just feet away, Sadie stopped beneath the pier, sure now that they were out of sight.
‘What now?’ Luke asked. His face was deep in shadow but, from the tone of his voice, Sadie thought he might actually be finding this turn of events funny. She wished she could find it amusing too, but right now she was only finding it mortifying.
‘Um… I guess we just wait for them to go past?’
‘You realise this is a bit weird, don’t you?’
‘Yes?’ she said uncertainly. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t be. I like weird.’
‘Good… I think?’
There was no time to say anything else. The shadow of his face moved in and his lips pressed to hers, and the force of her reaction was such that it felt as if the midsummer fireworks had already begun. She kissed him back, h
ands creeping into his hair to pull him closer still. It might have been the drink, or the surreal nature of the situation, but God it was good. It might just have been the best kiss she’d ever had. Awkward meetings out on the promenade were forgotten in a fiery, sexy instant.
Eventually he broke off and she took a moment to catch her breath.
‘Wow… I mean, just wow… I wasn’t expecting that.’
His hand went to trace the line of her cheek. ‘I wasn’t expecting to do it. But the darkness under here by the sea and the excitement of having to hide and… I don’t know, it just did something to me. You do something to me. I’ve never felt like this before, it’s just… you’re just incredible. Different and frankly nutty but incredible.’
‘Nutty is about right,’ Sadie said with a giggle that turned into a hiccup. But she was warmed by the rest of it, even if she was too humble and slightly embarrassed to say so.
‘Do you think your friends on the promenade have gone?’ he asked. ‘It sounds quiet out there now and I think you might need to go home.’
‘Why do I need to go home?’
‘That’s where we were heading, isn’t it?’
‘I changed my mind; I don’t want to go home now. Not mine anyway.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘I want to go to your place.’
He paused, and when he spoke again there was the sound of a grin in it. ‘You’re drunk.’
‘Says you.’
‘I’m sober as a judge.’
‘Me too. A little bit anyway. Sober enough to want to go and see your house. I want to see your nice painted front.’
‘It’s dark – you won’t see much of it tonight.’
‘Alright, you can show me in the morning then.’
‘Then you’d have to come back tomorrow.’
‘You know what I mean.’
‘I’m afraid I don’t,’ he said, his tone teasing her because they both knew exactly what she meant.
‘I want to look inside then.’
‘There’s not much to see.’
‘There must be something. Where do you sleep?’
He let out a sigh. ‘If I show you where I sleep I’m afraid we might do something that we’d both end up regretting.’
‘We won’t. I have self-control.’
‘I’m not sure I do.’
‘I wouldn’t regret it,’ she said softly, moving to kiss him again. This time as they broke off his voice was husky and full of longing.
‘Oh, God, Sadie… I can’t tell you how much I want us to go back to my place right now.’
‘Then let’s go.’
‘It wouldn’t be right. You’re tipsy and this is our first date – we hardly know each other. I don’t want a one-night stand from you; I like you too much for that. I want to see you again and I don’t want to wreck my chances by doing something tonight that might make you rethink things in the morning. You understand? And you have to believe that it’s taking some serious willpower to say this so that means I really do like you – a lot.’
She gave a slight shrug. She could understand it, though that didn’t mean she wasn’t a little disappointed and even more frustrated. But she loved that he had so much respect for her and that it meant so much to him to see her again.
‘You’re right,’ she said finally.
‘Home then?’ he asked. ‘It sounds like the coast might be clear now.’
‘It does,’ Sadie agreed. ‘Kiss me again before we go to see though.’
‘I don’t think I can – I might explode. And I don’t know if this amazing willpower I’m exerting right now could withstand another kiss like you give. I’d crumble under the pressure.’
Sadie giggled, and though she desperately wanted that kiss she didn’t press him any further. ‘Come on, then,’ she said, taking his hand this time to lead him back out onto the beach.
The promenade was deserted now – it looked as if Melissa and Declan had either walked pretty fast to get to the other end or they’d veered off to take one of the many cliff paths back to wherever they’d been headed.
* * *
The walk back was much quieter. The night air was mild and still and scented by the broom and gorse that grew alongside the cliff road as they walked it, the sea down below breathing in and out. By the time they’d reached the point where Sadie felt it was no longer advisable for Luke to be with her, she’d sobered considerably, enough to see that he’d been right to refuse her a night at his place and for her to start wondering what the hell had been going on between Declan and Melissa.
She glanced at Luke, walking alongside her. For a moment he caught her eye and smiled.
‘Alright there?’
‘Yes,’ she said, and her heart skipped a little. She liked him. She was beginning to think that she might like him more than she’d liked anyone since Declan – at least, the early signs were good. But if the gossip about her and Declan was out there, and if Melissa got to hear about it, did that mean eventually Luke would get to hear about it too? Luke interrupted her thoughts.
‘Is that your place?’ he said, stopping on the road. Maybe a quarter of a mile away Sadie saw her parents’ house, lights burning in an upstairs window but the rest of the house in darkness. It looked as if Henny and Graham were on their way to bed and Gammy had probably turned in long before.
‘Yes.’
‘It’s nice. Good spot up here. Must be worth a bit.’
‘Probably, but I’ve never really asked. I think Mum and Dad had help paying for it.’
‘From family?’
‘My mum’s parents. They’re much posher than we all are.’
He laughed. ‘I’ll remember that if I ever have to meet them.’
‘God, I would never let you meet them; they’re hideously snobbish! You wouldn’t want to see me again if you thought I was related to people like that!’
He hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her close to kiss her. ‘I don’t think so,’ he murmured before his lips touched hers.
‘I wouldn’t risk it,’ she whispered back as they broke off. She smiled up at him.
‘When can I see you again?’
‘I have absolutely no social life, so whenever you want to.’
‘Tomorrow night?’
‘Keen…’
‘I have no social life either.’
‘We’re a good pairing then. Tomorrow night it is. What time?’
‘What time can you be ready?’
‘Depends how much effort I have to put in.’
‘Come as you are – I like spontaneous you.’
‘I probably ought to shower first – you must have noticed I smelt like waffle batter tonight.’
‘Maybe I like waffle batter.’
‘As much as you like burgers?’
‘More…’ He kissed her again and she wanted nothing more than to melt into his arms and stay there. But then he let her go and smiled down at her. ‘Can I have your number?’
‘Needy.’
‘You have mine, so I think it’s only fair.’
‘True.’
She pulled out her phone and he keyed her number into his own before stashing it back into his pocket.
‘Goodnight,’ he said, and he began to walk back down the path. Sadie watched him, the imprint of his lips still tingling on hers.
‘Goodnight, Luke.’
As distractions went, it hadn’t been bad at all.
Chapter Twelve
‘Somebody is burning the candle at both ends.’
Henny gave Sadie a stern look as she plonked a full toast holder onto the breakfast table.
‘I decided to pop into the Ship last night and got talking to someone,’ Sadie said. It was a half-truth – and her parents didn’t need to know who she’d got talking to just yet. She was tired and not in the mood for a lecture, which she knew she’d get soon enough once Vivien had opened her big mouth and word had got round that Sadie had been out with the newly arrived owner of
the Old Chapel.
‘Well I don’t know how you expect to do a full day at the waffle house if you stay out half the night. You’ll be neither use nor ornament to your grandmother if it becomes a regular thing.’
‘It was just once, Mum. I am allowed a social life surely?’
‘I’m just saying that April is relying on you, and this was all your idea after all.’
‘Where is she anyway?’ Sadie asked. Currently there was only her and her mother at the table.
‘Your dad has taken her to the cemetery to see… She wanted to go early because she’s been too tired in the evenings.’ Henny paused. ‘Sadie, have you noticed anything… off about your grandma lately?’
‘Like what?’ Sadie asked carefully, teacup halfway to her lips.
‘Little lapses of memory… judgement… that sort of thing. And little mood swings too. Nothing major but sometimes she’ll say something quite unexpected…’
If any time was a good time to say something, now would be it, and yet Sadie could barely bring herself to. If all this came out now, would that mean the end of the waffle house? She wasn’t ready to give it up yet, and she still clung to the belief that once Gammy was back into a routine all would be well again. April wasn’t one of those old ladies who would fade from view and become someone they no longer recognised – not her Gammy. It wasn’t possible and Sadie wasn’t going to believe it. She was just a little lost right now, still struggling to come to terms with Gampy’s death, that was all. She’d be fine in a few months with Sadie’s help.
‘Don’t make me too much breakfast,’ Sadie said. ‘I’d better get down to the waffle house and start getting ready to open in case Gammy’s a while at the cemetery. You can phone Dad and tell him there’s no rush if she wants to spend a little time there; I can’t imagine we’ll be that busy first thing.’
‘Your grandma won’t be happy if you open up without her,’ Henny said briskly.
‘She might have to get used to the idea… Mum… I know you said just now that you thought she might be a bit off. Well I don’t know about that but she is slowing down, isn’t she?’
‘She’s been slowing down for years – they both were. The trouble is neither your grandmother nor grandfather would listen to anyone’s advice on the matter. You know already that part of the reason we didn’t want you to take that place on is that the books weren’t looking good. It’s why we’re still against it, though you seem to be hell-bent on doing what you want.’
The Waffle House on the Pier: A gorgeous feel-good romantic comedy Page 16
