Then some idiots screeched into the car park with their windows down and music blaring. ‘Woo hoo!’ shouted the passenger. ‘Dogging time.’ With a beep of the horn, they screeched out of the car park again.
And the moment was well and truly lost.
‘Erm… I should probably get you back home,’ I said.
‘Yes, and, er, you should probably get to bed. Your bed. For some sleep.’
We clicked seatbelts on and I drove Michael back to the cottage in silence.
‘Good night then,’ I said. ‘And thank you for being honest. It’s about time someone was.’
Michael undid his seatbelt then paused. I wondered if he was going to make a move, but if he was, he obviously thought the better of it. ‘Night, Elise.’ He opened the car door and got out.
Damn! Were we going to kiss? Had my thoughts from earlier been right; that I’d stayed with Daniel after the incident so I could still see Michael? Did I have feelings for him? I hoped not. Because, if I had… Oh goodness, what would I do? I didn’t want to drift from one relationship straight into another. I needed time to get to know myself. Me. On my own. Not one half of a couple.
I reversed Bertie out of his space then drove towards the main road. I could do this. Even if I’d somehow developed a crush on Michael, I could fight it. I needed to be alone. Not forever. But definitely for now.
27
‘Do we really have to spend the next hour or so mingling with a wee bunch of business stiffs?’
I grabbed Curtis’s arm and dragged him up the steps of The Ramparts Hotel, Whitsborough Bay’s only five-star hotel. It was Bay Trade’s fifth anniversary. Nick and his friends Skye and Stuart, the founder members, had decided to celebrate in style with a huge members, ex-members, friends and family party and awards ceremony and I’d felt very proud to receive an invite.
‘It’s an important night for Sarah and Nick so I promised I’d support them. Besides, I’d already said yes before you decided to grace us with your presence again.’
‘You’re sure there’ll be food?’
‘I’m sure. And it’s a five-star hotel so the food will be exquisite. Can we go in?’
‘Aye. But only because of the food, mind.’
‘Tell me how you manage to eat like a horse yet you have the body of a Greek God?’
‘It’s in the genes, Red. And a strict mayonnaise-avoidance technique. That stuff is evil.’
I shook my head and pulled him towards The Castle Room.
They’d certainly pulled out all the stops. Tables adorned in crisp white cloths ran down one side of the room, ready for the buffet. Round tables with balloons, flowers, and candles were filled with guests of all ages, dressed in their finery. I was relieved I’d worn a calf-length green satin dress and heels. I’d have looked out of place in anything else.
Sarah waved and made a beeline for us. Her dark curls were piled up on her head with loose spirals round her ears. She wore a long, flared, midnight blue dress with crystal-covered spaghetti straps and floaty net short sleeves. A spattering of crystals across the waist matched both the dress straps and the ankle straps on her midnight blue heels.
‘I’m so glad you could come,’ she said, hugging me then Curtis. ‘You look stunning, Elise.’
‘And so do you. I love that colour on you.’
‘Thank you. The first drink’s on the house. The buffet will be served in about an hour. Are you okay if I find you in a bit?’
‘Yes, go and mingle,’ I said, smiling. ‘Enjoy.’
Curtis turned towards the bar. ‘On the house? Mine’s a bottle of tequila, then.’
‘I’m not doing tequila shots again tonight. I’m on soft drinks. I’m still not over that gastric flu.’
‘Spoilsport. You used to be fun.’ He winked at me.
‘I’d like to think I’m still fun, but those shots tipped me over the edge last time and, if you cast your mind back, it was as a direct result of them that I tried to seduce Stevie. Epic fail.’
‘Have you made your peace?’ Curtis steered me in the direction of the bar.
‘Yes, although I’d understand if he hated me forever because, the next time I saw him, Daniel broke his nose. Since then, we’ve only texted.’
We reached the bar and Curtis ordered a bottle of lager and a soda water.
‘When was this display of testosterone?’ He passed me my drink.
‘Four weeks ago.’
‘And you really haven’t seen Dimples since?’
‘No. I just said that. We’ve made arrangements to meet up a couple of times, but one of us has had to cancel each time. Why?’
‘Because he’s heading our way right now.’
I turned round so abruptly that I spilled some of my drink down Stevie’s shirt.
‘Oh no! I’m so sorry.’ I grabbed a bar towel and tried to mop his shirt. ‘It’s only water. I promise.’ I blushed as my hand slipped off the towel and onto his chest and I had a sudden desire to wrap my arms round him and get lost in one of his super-hugs. My cheeks burned even more.
‘It’s fine,’ he said, seemingly oblivious to my colour-change. ‘As long as you weren’t aiming for my face. My nose couldn’t take it.’
‘Of course I wasn’t. I—’
Stevie grinned. ‘You’re nearly as easy to wind up as Sarah. It’s great to see you.’ He gave me a kiss on the cheek then shook Curtis’s hand. ‘Good to see you again, mate. Didn’t think this would be your kind of thing.’
‘I’d rather hack my eyes out with a wee spoon, but I’ve been promised food and an early pass out of here. I plan to eat, drink, and completely ignore anyone except you lot because I’m anti-social like that. If we were in Glasgow, I’d be schmoozing like hell to try and get them to the salon. Here, I have nae need to kiss ass.’
Stevie laughed. ‘At least you’re honest.’ He turned to me. ‘Apparently one of the Bay Traders is in a band and they’re pretty good. You’ll stick around for that, won’t you?’
‘Sounds good.’ I winced at Curtis’s pained expression and put my arm round him. ‘I promise you can bail if they’re dire. Sarah already knows we’ll probably leave early so I won’t feel too absolutely, completely, hideously guilty for running out on her big night.’
‘You’re very manipulative when you want to be, Red,’ Curtis said. ‘I’ll try and last beyond the buffet. Just for you.’
The three of us moved to an empty table. Sarah came over and dumped her bag to secure her seat, then went to play host again. I felt a stab of pride watching her. I genuinely hadn’t seen her so at ease or so animated for a long time. She was glowing and she had so much to glow about with a successful business and fantastic fiancé. Lucky thing. Mind you, I loved my job and I didn’t want a relationship right now so I wasn’t in a bad place either.
I chatted to Curtis and Stevie, relieved that the four weeks since the incident on the beach hadn’t made things awkward between Stevie and me. While Curtis told Stevie about his salon, I took a moment to gaze around the room. The door opened revealing Sarah’s brother, Ben, and Clare. My stomach clenched. It had been three weeks since our altercation in Minty’s. Even though a tentative peace had been declared and a few messages about hen do ideas had been exchanged with her and Callie since then, this was the first time we’d come face to face. She looked stunning, as always, in a short, tight burgundy dress and killer heels. Nick and Sarah welcomed them, pointed towards the bar, then pointed towards our table. Ben smiled and waved, Clare nodded her head in my direction, then they headed for the bar.
‘Are you okay?’ Stevie asked a few moments later.
‘Yes. Why?’
‘Could I have my hand back then?’
‘What?’ I looked down. I hadn’t realised I’d taken hold of his hand or that I’d squeezed it until his knuckles turned white.
‘Sorry,’ I whispered, letting go. ‘I hope I haven’t just added a broken hand to your collection of injuries caused by me.’
‘The nose wasn’t
your fault and you know it.’ He fixed those warm hazel eyes on mine. ‘I heard about Daniel. I’m not sorry it’s over, but I am for how it ended. What a tosser!’
‘Thanks. I should have taken your advice and dumped him after he hit you, but he seemed so genuinely distraught about it. It seems he’s a pretty good actor. I should give him a part in one of our school productions.’
‘Who’s a good actor?’
‘Ben!’ I stood up and hugged him. ‘It’s been far too long. How’ve you been?’
‘Pretty good. Well, apart from a house full of women’s products and lacy undies thanks to this one moving in.’
‘Oi. It’s just grand having me there. You’re getting a new kitchen on my company thanks to me slumming it with you instead of living the life of Riley in a hotel, so just you be grateful.’ Clare playfully punched him on the arm. ‘Hi Elise. Hi Curtis.’
‘Hi,’ we said together.
Stevie stood up and hugged her. I found myself wishing it was me and shook my head. I had to stop obsessing about his super-hugs.
Ben and Clare sat down. Thankfully the question of who was a good actor wasn’t raised again. I didn’t want talk of Daniel to sour what promised to be a great evening.
‘Do you mind if I join you?’ said a familiar voice about fifteen minutes later.
My pulse quickened when I turned round and saw him all smart and sexy in a suit instead of his usual jeans and T-shirt combo. ‘Michael. Hi. Of course.’ I quickly did the introductions round the table. ‘Sit down. You’re in luck. There’s one seat left.’ I saw Michael glance across to the far side of the table where the empty seat was. Was that a look of disappointment?
Curtis stood up. ‘You can have mine for a moment, mate. I’m nipping out for a wee smoke.’
‘Curtis! I thought you’d given up.’
‘I had, but I’ve fallen off the wagon. I’ve had enough stick off my staff about it so zip it, Red. I’m on holiday.’ He headed for the door, pulling a packet of cigarettes out of his suit pocket.
Michael sat down beside me and asked me a question so I turned to answer him, but then Stevie asked me a question so I had to turn to face him. Then Michael asked another, then Stevie again. Feeling increasingly awkward, I pushed my chair away from the table so I could get eye contact with them both.
Curtis returned and hovered nearby, watching. I caught his eye and shrugged apologetically. ‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll sit next to Legs. I want to see if she’s up for clubbing again later.’ He sat in the spare seat beside Clare.
By the time the opening of the buffet was announced, I felt quite exhausted from the barrage of questions coming from both men and excused myself to go to the ladies. On my way back, Curtis grabbed me and steered me towards the queue for the buffet table. ‘Well, well, well,’ he said. ‘Who’s got the boys fighting over her?’
‘What?’
‘Don’t play Little Miss Innocent with me. Dimples and Camera-Boy are falling over each other to get your attention. So who’s going to win?’
Colour flooded my cheeks and butterflies took flight in my stomach. Could he be right about them? Michael and I had almost kissed and there was definitely some chemistry there. But Stevie? He’d turned me down in Stardust, but he had said that I was attractive and it was only a bad idea because I was drunk and on the rebound. I had no idea whether that had been a gentle let-down or whether he had been interested. And if he had been, was he still interested now? Surely he’d have said something if he was.
Back at the table with plates of food, everyone had switched seats. Curtis sat down beside me. While we ate, he kept whispering in my ear to let me know that one or the other was either staring at me, giving each other evil looks, or laughing a little too loudly then glancing across to see if I was watching. Allegedly.
‘Stop it, Curtis,’ I hissed. ‘You’re being ridiculous.’ I chased a piece of potato salad around my plate then gave up and pushed the plate aside. I didn’t want two men fighting over me. I didn’t even want one man after me. I wanted to be my own person. Single. Strong. Happy being me.
‘Game time,’ he whispered.
My stomach lurched. ‘No! Don’t start stirring.’
He coughed loudly to grab everyone’s attention. ‘Seeing as we’re all back from the buffet and food’s nearly finished, who’s up for a wee game?’
Everyone looked intrigued and I cringed.
‘I’ll give each person the name of another person on this table. You have to say two things that you think are fabulous about that person then one thing you’d change about them. I know some of us have just met this evening so you’ll have to be creative. I’ll start to give a demo. This is directed at Legs over there.’ He blew a kiss towards Clare.
Clare smiled, placed her elbows on the table, and clasped her hands under her chin. ‘Bring it on!’
‘The first fabulous thing is obvious. You have legs that even I, as a gay man, would love to have wrapped round me.’ Clare beamed and everyone laughed. ‘The second fabulous thing is your hair. If I could do to all my clients whatever your hairdresser does to you, I would be able to retire next year.’
Clare tossed her hair which fell back perfectly into position. ‘And the thing you’d change?’ she challenged.
‘You’ve got a wee bit of chilli sauce on your cheek.’
Clare grabbed her napkin and everyone laughed again.
‘Do you want to play?’ Curtis asked.
His offer was met with an enthusiastic response, but my stomach churned again. I smelt trouble.
‘In that case,’ he said, ‘we’ll start with Nick. We need two fabulous things and one thing you’d change about Sarah.’
Nick smiled and took Sarah’s hand. ‘The first fabulous thing is your personality. You’re funny, intelligent, passionate, vibrant… I could go on and on. The second fabulous thing is that you agreed to be my wife and I get to spend the rest of my life with you. I’m the luckiest man on earth.’
A chorus of ‘awwww’ went round the table.
‘As for what I’d change, I was going to say absolutely nothing, but there is one thing. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes because you’d never again worry about your weight or your business being successful if you could see yourself as I see you: absolutely perfect.’
A tear fell down Sarah’s cheek at that point and she hugged Nick. I wiped at my eyes. Wow! I wanted to be alone for now, but if and when I felt ready to try another relationship, I wanted what they had. It reminded me of how things had been between Gary and me in our early days.
‘Ooh, pressure’s on,’ Curtis said. ‘Who can top that? I think we’ll go to Sarah who can tell us all what she thinks of…’ He paused for dramatic effect, ‘… her brother.’
Sarah played the game then Curtis pretended to scan round the table as if deciding who was next. But I knew it would be one of two people and they’d be talking about me. ‘Next up is… Michael. Telling us about… Elise.’
Michael’s eyes widened and he chewed on his thumbnail. ‘I haven’t known Elise for very long, but two fabulous things about her are…’ He looked down, no doubt thinking, ‘Ground, swallow me up, now.’ Poor Michael.
‘Go on…’ Curtis said.
‘Erm… It would be her gorgeous red hair and her brilliant laugh. And I’d change the first few times we met so that I wasn’t so hostile towards her because she didn’t deserve that.’ He grabbed his pint and gulped it as the group clapped.
Curtis put Clare on the spot next about Nick. Then, with a sinking feeling in my stomach, I knew where we were going next. ‘Stevie. Your turn to tell us about Elise too.’ No! Curtis was such a childish idiot sometimes.
Stevie fixed his eyes on me and smiled. Gosh, I loved those dimples.
‘Everything about Elise is fabulous,’ he said. ‘If I had to really narrow it down to two things, the first would be the fact that she tries to see the good in everyone and every situation, even with people who don’t really deserve th
at consideration. The second thing would be her amazing passion for her job and the huge difference she’s made to others like my neighbour’s kid, Brandon. As for something that I’d change, I wish I could take away the last few months of pain and hurt because someone as lovely as Elise doesn’t deserve to have gone through what she’s gone through.’
Curtis nudged me under the table. I ignored him, but I did notice the look on Michael’s face. He looked like a man whose lottery numbers had come up on the one day he’d forgotten to buy a ticket.
Waitresses appeared to clear our plates, which thankfully brought a natural conclusion to the game.
‘Did you see Michael’s face?’ whispered Curtis. ‘I bet I can tell you exactly what was going through his mind: “Shit, why didn’t I say that?” Round One to Stevie I think.’
‘I’m going to the ladies,’ I whispered back. ‘And, when I come back, this stops. This is not a game. Playing with people’s emotions is not a game. I should know. Gary played with mine for years.’
My legs shook as I lowered myself down onto the cool lid of the toilet and rested my hot forehead against the cold tiles, taking deep breaths. A wave of nausea swept over me. I leapt off the seat and raised the lid just in time. Damn! Why couldn’t I shake this illness? I dabbed my face with toilet paper and flushed. It would appear that Curtis was going to get his wish for an early pass, only it would be to go to bed instead of a pub crawl and clubbing. I felt a bit guilty that he’d travelled all this way, then I reminded myself of his childish behaviour and the guilt dissipated.
‘Elise? Are you in here?’
I opened the cubicle and smiled weakly at Sarah.
‘Oh my God! Are you okay? You look terrible.’
‘Thanks a lot! I spent ages getting ready.’
‘I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just—’
‘I’m joking.’ Exiting the cubicle, I washed my hands and glanced up at the mirror. Sarah was right. My eyes were red with huge shadows under them, my face pale and blotchy, and my hair was sticking up. I certainly didn’t do illness with dignity. ‘I’ve been sick again.’
Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove Page 21
