Page 18 of Best Laid Plans
‘You’ll see.’
She growled, low in her throat. ‘Now who’s being stubborn?’
Luckily, the shop specialising in trekking gear that he’d walked past earlier was only another minute’s walk away, down the next street, which was a good thing as Indigo was limping hard in her wrecked trainers now.
He ignored her exasperated sigh as he ushered her through the door and into the wonderfully cool air-conditioned interior.
She stopped dead just inside the shop and turned to give him a withering look. ‘Julien, I told you, I can’t afford to buy new boots right now.’
‘I heard you. But you’re not buying them. I am.’
Before she could even open her mouth to protest, he held up a hand. ‘Do not argue with me. I cannot let you walk any further in those monstrosities. It’s offending my sensibilities.’
She shook her head. ‘Julien, I can’t?—’
‘Quiet, stubborn woman,’ he growled in frustration.
Thankfully, she didn’t take his tone as an insult, although he was a little perturbed when she burst into laughter instead.
In fact, he started to become seriously worried about her when the laughter seemed to overtake her, bending her double and shaking her whole body as she struggled to get her breathing under control.
When she finally managed to pull herself together, she looked up at him with tears of laughter still in her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m laughing. I think I’m a bit hysterical. Today has just been a bit much, you know? In fact, this whole holiday hasn’t exactly turned out the way I expected it to.’
‘Yes, this wasn’t what I had in mind when I pictured a break, either. I was hoping for a little more peace and quiet and a lot less bickering with pig-headed women,’ he said grumpily.
This only made her start laughing again, in great gulping gasps.
All he could do was stand there and wait for her to get a handle on it again.
‘I have no idea why the state of my feet troubles you,’ she said eventually, taking deep breaths to calm herself down, ‘but if it means so much to you then I’ll let you buy me some boots.’ She swiped the tears from her cheeks and held up a finger. ‘But you have to give me your address so I can reimburse you after I get home.’
He shook his head. ‘There is no need to pay me back.’
This seemed to sober her up pretty quickly. ‘Yes, there is, Julien.’
He could tell from the look on her face that the only way she’d let him help her out was if she felt she could even things out later. Which was fine by him. The cost of the boots meant nothing to him, but he knew this wasn’t really about the money. It was about pride.
‘Okay. Agreed,’ he said, giving her a resigned smile. Catching the sales assistant’s eye, he waved for her to come over.
‘Now, let’s get you sorted out.’
5
Discovering Praiano – a simple town with a big heart. Check out the small, pebbled cove, which is especially atmospheric in the evening…
The new boots felt wonderful on her feet.
Despite her protests, Julien had insisted on buying her some specialist walking socks and plasters too, in an attempt to protect her poor blistered skin from more damage. She was now wearing all the things they’d purchased and had dropped her ruined trainers into the shop’s recycling bin with a huge sigh of relief.
The day was starting to look up.
After finally arriving in Praiano, footsore, disgruntled and almost faint with hunger, she’d hit rock bottom when she’d arrived at her hotel to find her bag still hadn’t turned up.
She’d nearly cried, right there at the reception desk.
In fact, she was just on her way to grab the cheapest, most calorific meal she could find in the town centre to try and boost her morale when Julien had shown up out of the blue and marched her over to the hiking store.
Even though she felt hugely uncomfortable about him spending money on her, at that precise moment she hadn’t had the strength to put up more of a fight.
