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He didn’t have the answer.
So maybe it would be better to keep things between them just as friends.
And he kind of wished he hadn’t asked her out tonight. He knew they needed to talk properly and cement their truce, but all the feelings he’d once had for her had come flooding back. It was so unexpected—and it was seriously messing with his head. He really didn’t know what to do. Being here with her made him feel like an awkward teenager all over again.
The same awkward teenager in a creased suit who’d married her over the anvil in Gretna Green, promising to love and cherish her for eternity...
He opened the car door for her, and she acknowledged his courtesy with a smile. His hand accidentally brushed against hers as they walked to the restaurant, and he felt a tingle through his whole body; he didn’t dare look at her in case it showed in his eyes and she noticed.
What was she thinking? What was she feeling? He didn’t have a clue. And asking her would break open too many things he needed to keep buried.
The maître d’ seated them at their table with an amazing view of the sea.
‘I know we won’t see the actual sunset from here,’ Abby said, ‘but we’ll still get to see the sky looking pretty, reflected in the sea.’
Not as pretty as her.
And not that Brad would be gauche enough to actually say that out loud. ‘Uh-huh,’ he said instead.
The waiter brought their menus over.
‘Would you like wine?’ Brad asked.
Abby shook her head. ‘Even though I’m not officially on duty at the café again until next week, I have things to do with Ruby tomorrow, including the final dress fitting, so I’d rather keep a clear head. Still water’s fine for me, please.’
He smiled at the waiter. ‘Still water for both of us, please.’
He looked at the menu. ‘It’s been a while since I’ve eaten somewhere this fancy.’
She glanced at him over the top of her own menu. ‘You picked it.’
‘I wanted to take you somewhere nice.’ And she’d mentioned it inspiring her new range of ice cream, so he’d thought she might like it here.
‘It is nice. Thank you. I love eating here.’
When the waiter came to take their order, Brad discovered they’d both chosen the same. He should’ve guessed. They’d always had similar taste in food; though he’d seen food more as fuel than anything else, since she’d left.
‘So how was it?’ she asked.
‘Which bit?’
She spread her hands. ‘All of it.’
Of course she wasn’t going to let him get away with fudging the issue. This was Abby. The woman who knew him as well as he knew himself—if not better. He sighed. ‘OK. Confession time. I realise now I should’ve come back before. I wasn’t fair to Mum or to Ruby.’ Or to Abby, for that matter. ‘I left them to deal with it and didn’t support them enough.’ He’d abandoned Abby, too.
‘Well, you’re here now,’ she pointed out. ‘You’re not still running away.’
Though part of him wanted to. He’d never actually told her about his clashes with Jim and how much he regretted them. He knew she was close to her own parents and he wasn’t entirely sure she’d believe him, because it was so far outside her own experience. But talking about it now wouldn’t change things, so he didn’t tell her. Instead, he said, ‘It’s when you’re expecting someone to walk into a room and they don’t. That’s the hard bit.’
She reached over the table and squeezed his hand briefly. ‘I know what you mean. Every time I sit at your mum’s kitchen table, I half expect your dad to walk in and ask if there’s any more coffee and where are the doughnuts. It must be so much harder for you.’
‘Mum says you get used to it.’ He blew out a breath. ‘Though I’m glad I’m staying at the cottage so I don’t have to face it all day, every day.’
‘That’s understandable,’ she said, and he was grateful that she didn’t point out his mother had to face it all day, every day. ‘How was the church?’
‘Seeing Dad’s grave was tough,’ he said. ‘So was walking past the quay and seeing someone else’s boat in the spot where his used to be. Though of course I didn’t expect Mum to keep Dad’s boat. It’s much better for it to have gone to someone who’ll use it and enjoy it.’
