Reluctant Date

by Sheila Claydon

  “I cheated,” she had told Daniel as he drove her back to her apartment block. “I didn’t tell him I studied American Literature at university.”

  He roared with laughter. “Serves him right!”

  Then, more seriously, he had tried to thank her. “You were great! I didn’t mean for the visit to take up all your time though. Can you forgive me for hijacking your entire evening?”

  She shrugged as she gave him that steady gray gaze, the one that put a considerable strain on his blood pressure. “It’s not a problem.”

  Then she paused in the act of stepping down from the golf cart and turned back with a half smile. “I hope it did what it was intended to do and took your mind off your worries about your mother for an hour or so.”

  Already out of the cart, he moved swiftly to her side. “It did, and thank you.”

  She nodded, but before she could turn away he grabbed her hand. “There aren’t any words, Claire, to explain how good it was to see my parents interacting normally for once.”

  “Then I guess we’re quits,” she said. “Because we can’t exactly pretend that my parents were a walk in the park either can we?”

  They had stared at one another as they both remembered their weekend together and then they were laughing, and Claire’s was the same laughter that had so intoxicated him when they first met. Full-throated peals punctuated with helpless giggles. Unable to stop himself he pulled her close.

  “Quits indeed,” he murmured and then he kissed her.

  * * *

  Now, remembering that kiss, remembering the softness of her lips, the scent of her shampoo, the slenderness of her fingers entwined with his, Daniel’s body reacted anew. With a pang he remembered how empty he had felt when she pulled away from him, still laughing, and ran across the moonlit grass to the walkway leading to her apartment.

  Thank goodness she had though. If she hadn’t then he wouldn’t have stopped at one chaste kiss, a kiss that could just about be mistaken for gratitude instead of desire; a kiss that had come out of nowhere, and which he wanted to repeat as soon as possible.

  With a sigh he turned back to the house to begin the weary task of packing. It was far too soon to reveal how he felt about her. She needed time to settle into Dolphin Key, into her job. If he confessed he’d offered her a job so they could get to know one another better, if he told her he hoped that she could learn to love him, then she would probably run a mile. She might even think he was some sort of stalker and take the next flight back home. Besides, there would be no time to think of her at all in the forthcoming days as he tried to sort out the increasing problems of the family business. For the immediate future he had to push all thoughts of romance to the back of his mind. He had absolutely no choice given the recent fire in Mexico and the finance meetings already set up in New York and London. It was a decision that made a very poor bedfellow as he tossed and turned and watched his alarm clock tick away the hours until it was time to get up, shower, and leave Claire and Dolphin Key behind him.

  * * *

  Claire, meanwhile, was having her own problems. Pushing open the double doors to her balcony she stood outside for a long time, letting the soft evening breeze cool her flushed cheeks as she relived the whisper soft touch of Daniel’s mouth on hers. Why had he done that? Why had he spoiled a perfectly good evening by kissing her? There was no way she would be able to survive her six-month contract if he insisted on introducing casual affection into their working relationship. She had coped with it this time by twisting her head away from him and laughing, when what she had actually wanted to do was something far more intimate. Next time she might not be able to do that. Next time she might interpret a grateful goodnight kiss between friends as something more than he had intended and embarrass them both. Irritated by her reaction to something she knew meant nothing to Daniel, she eventually slammed the screen doors shut behind her and went to bed.

  * * *

  Fortunately the next few days did a lot to take her mind off how she felt about Daniel, and it wasn’t just because he wasn’t around to remind her, it was because her new job kept her so busy that she didn’t have time to think about anything else but work. Not that it really seemed like work, or at least not like the nine to five slog she had endured for the past six years.

  Her crowded bus journey had been replaced by a stroll down Main Street via a stop off at the pier, a stroll that soon had her on first name terms with the early morning fisherman, and on nodding terms with most of the shop and office workers she met en route. Thanks to Scott, it wasn’t long before she was also welcomed by name in most of the inns and bars that overlooked the bay as well.

  “Everyone is just so friendly,” she told him the morning she arrived at work clutching a carefully wrapped fresh fish; a present from one of her newfound friends.

  He laughed at her. “It doesn’t take much to win you over does it?”

  She smiled at him; not expecting him to understand the effect living in Dolphin Key was having on her. After years of commuting daily across a city where fellow travellers rarely spoke, where shop assistants were impersonal, and where few people knew even their nearest neighbours, the casual friendliness and generosity of the town’s inhabitants was seductive. She found herself smiling at everyone she met; calling out greetings from her balcony; even accepting that a ten minute chat about the contents of the sandwich she was ordering was an entirely reasonable use of her time.

  And working with Scott continued to enthrall. His knowledge was as inexhaustible as his energy and enthusiasm; and although he was high on ideas he was also entirely open to criticism in a way that made any debate enjoyable, and which invariably brought out the best in both of them.

  Often they would discover they had worked straight through their lunch break and that it was mid afternoon before hunger pangs got the better of them. Then, still talking, they would make for the nearest bar and order up a salad and a plate of fries before taking a golf cart out to the surrounding countryside to look at a nesting site. Or they might jump into Scott’s boat and visit the nature reserve. Often they didn’t return until long after Beth had closed the office and gone home, and even then there would be something else Scott wanted to show her, or a report they needed to discuss. Nor was there any discernable down time. Scott seemed to spend every waking hour working, which drove Claire to do the same.

  Eventually Beth put her foot down. “This is getting ridiculous. Shut down your computer and clear your desk. You’re coming home to supper with me before this man takes over your life,” she told Claire at the end of her second seven-day week.

  Aware that she hadn’t followed up Beth’s invitation to visit the print shop so that she could meet Carl, Claire looked guilty.

  Reading her mind, Beth grinned. “You can’t avoid him forever you know. Besides, if I don’t get you out of here while Scott is on the phone, he’ll keep you late again. You’re going to have to put your foot down. He’s a real slave driver given half a chance.”

  “I heard that!” Scott reappeared from the inner office with a contrite grin. “I know she’s right too. I’m sorry, but I don’t do clock watching Claire. I don’t even do weekends but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Besides, you’ve already proved you’re not afraid of hard work, that you’ll put in the hours, so if you want to go somewhere, take a day off, come in late, leave early, just do it.”

  “In that case she can start now. Supper is at six-thirty Claire. You can’t miss us because we live over the print shop, which is the last building on Main Street.” Beth gathered up her belongings and made for the exit. When she reached the doorway she paused, and then turned and glared at Scott.

  “I suppose you’d better come too, but only if you promise not to talk about work!”

  Scott waved at her retreating back. “Deal!” he shouted.

  Then he turned to Claire. “Carl is a fantastic cook, so never, ever, turn down an invitation to eat with him and Beth.”

  “I haven’t
met him yet,” Claire told him. “I keep meaning to call into the print shop to be introduced but somehow I haven’t gotten around to it.”

  “Carl’s a nice guy. He’s a bit quirky but good fun. Beth too, but you already know that.”

  Claire nodded, her eyes drifting back to the report she was studying, so she wasn’t looking at Scott as he added a final snippet of information.

  “Beats me why he and Daniel are such good buddies though, considering Daniel and Beth were an item until Carl came onto the scene.”

  Her head snapped up. “You mean she and Daniel were engaged?”

  “As good as, but things changed pretty quickly when Carl came back to Dolphin Key.”

  Suddenly everything became clear to Claire. Daniel didn’t want to date anyone because he was still recovering from being thrown over by his girlfriend…fiancée…Beth! And Carl was feeling so guilty about it that he was doing everything possible to find someone else for his brother. Her heart sank as she realized her chances of ever attracting Daniel had rapidly sunk to zero because there wasn’t a chance he would get over his feelings for Beth unless he stopped working with her, and that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

  She forced a casual reply. “What was Carl doing while he was away?”

  Scott suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I’m sorry Claire, I’ve been talking out of turn. Forget I said anything. If Beth wants you to know their story she’ll tell you.”

  Claire stared at him. Then she shrugged and returned to her report. As far as Scott was concerned she had lost interest in their conversation and was now completely absorbed in reading about the feeding habits of the dolphins populating the bay. Not by a muscle did she show how much his words had affected her.

  Five minutes later she turned off her computer, piled all her paperwork onto one corner of her desk and stood up. She had control of herself now.

  “There are a few things I need to do before the stores close, and I’d like to take a quick shower too, so I’ll meet you at Beth’s.”

  Scott was so deep into his own work he barely grunted an acknowledgement as she left the office.

  * * *

  Determined not to think about Daniel at all, Claire walked briskly down Main Street until she reached the bookstore. Despite Beth’s warning she had already braved the interior and found that although Tom Cook, the proprietor, lived up to his talkative reputation, he was a nice man. And once she had got past the obligatory conversation and told him what she wanted, he had proved to be both interested and resourceful.

  As the large and jangly bell over the door announced her arrival he popped up from behind a pile of books. A small man with a shiny, domed forehead and a neat spade beard, he looked like an oversized garden gnome. He beamed at her, and then disappeared behind the counter again, only to reappear a moment later flourishing a hardback book with a glossy cover.

  “I believe this is what you wanted.”

  Taking it from him, Claire glanced at the cover and smiled. “I hope the illustration is far more racy than the contents actually are!”

  With a laugh he retrieved it and slipped it into a paper bag. “I took the liberty of flicking through it when it first arrived and I can assure you there is nothing exciting in it at all. In fact I’ll be surprised if you actually manage to read it aloud to Mr Marchant without falling asleep.”

  “I’m not even sure he’ll let me read it at all yet,” she told him as she paid for the book. “But I’m going to try. It’s my first move towards persuading him to start using the Talking Books Service.”

  “I can’t imagine why you are going to so much trouble but I’m very pleased you are. Once upon a time Gordon Marchant was one of my best customers; in fact he was close to being a friend, and I enjoyed many a literary debate with him. Then there was all that trouble with Carl, which happened at around the same time his eyes began to let him down. The combination was too much for him. He became so bad tempered that by the time he eventually stopped working he had alienated most of his friends and all his employees.”

  Uncomfortable talking about her employer’s family, even though Tom Cook obviously knew them well, Claire thanked him for getting the book she had ordered, made her excuses and left. As she hurried back to her apartment for a quick shower she wondered about Carl, however. First Scott and now Tom Cook had made allusions to family problems. What had he done that had caused so much trouble? Was it stealing Beth from Daniel, or was it something else, something that had happened when he was away from Dolphin Key?

  Chapter Thirteen

  She arrived at the print shop at the same time as Scott. He opened the side door with a familiarity that suggested he was a regular visitor and, calling out to Beth and Carl, led her up a flight of stairs and into an open plan room with hardly any furniture. Instead of chairs there were huge squashy cushions. Smaller cushions were piled onto the one couch as well. Jugs of dried flowers and sea grass, and collections of shells and large pebbles decorated the windowsills and shelves, while watercolors of all shapes and sizes covered the walls.

  “So Claire,” the man who crossed the room to shake her hand gave her a wry smile. He was as tall as Daniel but very thin, with the dark hair and the sharp features of his father. Where Daniel’s nose was short and straight, Carl’s was aquiline. And although their eyes were the same warm brown, his were deep set under frowning black brows, while Daniel’s were wide apart with long, gold tipped lashes. The smile was the same though, and so was the cleft in his chin. She took his proffered hand, at the same time handing him the bottle of wine she had brought with her.

  “Hello Carl!”

  It was the closest they would ever get to acknowledging the date he had tried to set up between her and Daniel.

  * * *

  The evening was one of the best Claire could remember enjoying in a very long time. Not only did the food live up to Scott’s promise but Carl and Beth were such thoughtful and entertaining hosts that, by the time the meal was over, Claire felt more at ease than she would have believed possible.

  Conversation had meandered across so many topics her head was spinning. She learned that Scott had graduated in marine biology and then studied coastal ecosystems, that Beth had come to Dolphin Key to paint and was the source of all the beautiful watercolors adorning the walls of the small apartment, and that Carl, amongst other things, was a talented musician. She also noticed that although he poured the wine she had brought into glasses for her and Scott, he filled his own glass with water. Beth drank water too, but as she was pregnant her abstinence was understandable.

  Later, replete, and totally seduced by the lifestyle of her new friends, Claire leaned back amongst the cushions and listened dreamily as Carl strummed his guitar. Maybe she, too, could learn to live like this instead of using books as her window on the world. Maybe she could live the dreams her parents had tried to instill in her after all.

  She was laughing at something Scott had said, and had half turned towards him on the cushions when Daniel climbed the stairs, calling out as he did so.

  He stopped short on the top step and drank in the scene before him. Lit by a dozen flickering candles, the room was a mix of deep colour and deeper shadow. And the sound of the sea through the open windows was an added enchantment, a backdrop to the soft notes of his brother’s guitar. He felt himself relax for the first time in days until his eyes adjusted to the light and he saw who Carl and Beth’s visitors were. At the sight of Claire, relaxed and smiling, her head resting against a scarlet cushion next to Scott, her eyes pools of darkness in the dim light, he tensed right up again. He was too late. It was obvious that Scott had beaten him to it.

  “This looks like a pretty good gig!” He was surprised at how normal his voice sounded when he spoke.

  “Hey Dan! When did you get back?” Carl abandoned his guitar and got to his feet. Although he only touched Daniel’s shoulder, Claire saw the affection in his gesture and wondered even more about the mysteries surrounding the Marchant famil
y. Then her eyes met Daniel’s and she stopped wondering about his family and started worrying about him instead.

  He looked dreadful. He was tired and drawn, and there was a tracery of fine lines about his eyes that she was sure hadn’t been there when she last saw him. Beth appeared to notice the same thing because she quickly went into the kitchen and reappeared with a can of beer and a beef sandwich.

  “Sorry, you’re too late for the good stuff,” she told him as she handed him the plate.

  He smiled his thanks as he sank down onto the couch. Carl sat next to him and asked about his trip. Soon the two of them were deep in conversation about the Marchant property development business. Beth gave them a look of disgust as she took up the threads of the conversation that Daniel’s arrival had interrupted.

  “Ignore them Claire. They have no manners. Tell us more about your work as a librarian. I want to know more about the stuff you did with children.”

  Doing her best not to eavesdrop on the two men sitting across from her, Claire tried to oblige. She told Beth and Scott about the schools’ programme she had introduced, and about the very popular weekly story time for toddlers. She described some of the special events and the competitions she had organised, and then answered the questions they threw at her. At any other time she would have been enthusiastic because she was excited about this part of her job, knowing how important it was for the company to reach out to children and teenagers and teach them all about conservation. Up until now she had been glad she had all the experience needed to get an educational programme up and running. Up until now it had been one of her main enthusiasms, the thing that had her bouncing out of bed before sun up, the thing that stayed in her mind throughout the day even when she was busy doing something else.

  She couldn’t maintain her enthusiasm now, however. Daniel’s proximity, his weary face, the fact he had only looked at her once when he first arrived and had more or less ignored her after that, was all proving too much for her. Needing an escape she glanced at her watch and was relieved to see it was late enough for her to leave without appearing rude. She sat forward on her cushion.