Page 19 of A Secret Cornish Wish
Enchantment Under the Sea dance. . . I think, turning to and fro.You might just have found your first mermaid of the evening.
Six
‘Hi, sorry I’m a bit late,’ I say as I arrive at the end of the harbour to find Rob waiting for me.
‘No worries.’ Rob turns around from where he’s been leaning on the railings looking down into the waves. He looks gorgeous this evening. Even though he’s only wearing black jeans and a black Guns N’ Roses T-shirt, he looks effortlessly casual and relaxed.
‘Hey, you look nice,’ he says, noticing that, for once, I’ve made an effort. ‘I like your T-shirt.’
After a lot of thought in a short space of time – I’ve been in a permanent rush since I left Rose’s cottage with my borrowed dress – I wolfed down my tea, then dashed upstairs to my bedroom to find something to wear to meet Rob. After throwing nearly everything I owned onto my bed, the only thing left hanging in my wardrobe was my newly borrowed mermaid dress. I decided eventually on blue jeans, a smart black jacket and my white Bon Jovi T-shirt with the band’s emblem on the front – a red heart with a dagger vertically though the middle, and two angel wings at the top. I pulled my curly hair up on one side with a comb, and at the last minute I whipped on the black pixie boots, instead of my usual trainers.
‘Thanks. I like yours too.’
‘Great minds think alike, obviously!’
‘Great minds that like rock music,’ I remind him in case he’s forgotten we have that in common.
‘Yes. So, what would you like to do?’ Rob asks.
I shrug. I’m not entirely sure what you actually do on a date? This is the first one I’ve ever been on. But I don’t tell Rob that. ‘I don’t mind. What would you like to do?’
Rob looks like he might be as much in the dark as me. Even though I don’t think he’s been out with anyone since he came to St Felix, I can’t imagine it was the same at his previous school. ‘Shall we go for a walk on the beach?’
‘Yes,’ I reply keenly. ‘I’d like that. Which one?’
We’re spoilt for beaches here in St Felix. There’s the busy harbour beach just below where we are now – at high tide we’d only be able to walk along that for about a minute, but at low tide the sand extends right around the side of the harbour to another much longer beach on the other side of Pengarthan Hill, very popular with holidaying families. Then there’s St Felix Bay where the surfers hang out, waiting to catch the huge waves that often roll into the bay there. Rose’s house looks out over that bay. Just around from that is Morvoren Cove, where we’ve been rehearsing our performance for the dance, and, finally, Porthaven Bay – a tiny cove that is often fully covered at high tide.
‘How about St Felix Bay?’ Rob suggests. ‘We could go across the town then down over the beach. If we went up over the hill, we could stop for a drink or something at that little café that’s always open on Morvoren.’
‘Oh, yes, and I know a really lovely little place to sit there.’
‘Tucked up on the cliff face?’ Rob asks. ‘Looking out over the sea?’
‘Yes – you know it too?’
‘I often go up there for a bit of peace and quiet when it’s busy in the town.’
I smile at Rob.
‘What?’ he asks. ‘Have I said something odd?’
‘No, not at all. I think that sounds like the perfect way to spend the evening.’
We walk together across the town and along the soft sand of St Felix Bay. We stop for a few minutes to watch the surfers attempting to catch the early evening waves.
‘Have you ever tried surfing?’ Rob asks as we watch yet another wave crash over the top of a wetsuit-clad surfer.
‘No, not really my thing. I’m much better off on dry land. Have you?’
‘I’d like to, but I don’t think I’m strong enough – these guys are really muscly.’
‘I think it’s more about technique than muscles,’ I say to try to reassure him. ‘If you want to, you should try it. I think they do taster sessions for beginners.’
Rob shrugs. ‘Maybe one day. Shall we walk again?’
We walk across the beach, chatting about school and the competition on Saturday and what possible costume Suzy might come up with for both Eddie and Rob to wear.
‘It’s all right for Eddie,’ Rob says as we come up off the beach and take the little path up and over the hill that leads to Morvoren Cove. ‘He can carry off something bold and bright. He has the personality for it.’
