Page 30 of Starting Over at Halesmere House
‘I definitely don’t.’ That way she wouldn’t suffer the ignominy of him having a perfect view if she did tumble to the ground. ‘If I fall off, I give you full permission to carry on without me.’
‘As if I’d do that. Quit moaning already and keep going.’
Alice seemed to be hitting every bump on the track as they went along, each little dip or bit of rock glancing off the bike’s wheels reverberating straight through her. She pedalled carefully, and Zac eased back as the path widened to cycle alongside her.
‘Don’t look down – look where you’re going. Try and feel the bike; you don’t need to see it. It’s right there, beneath you. It’s not going anywhere.’
‘If it is, it’ll be taking me with it,’ she said with a shudder as she steered around a puddle. ‘You seriously do this for pleasure?’
‘Just ride through the water; you can’t avoid everything.’
‘But I don’t know how deep it is!’
‘All part of the fun.’
She glared as Zac laughed, and gradually her balance improved as they carried on. Four other cyclists raced past them, and Alice put her pink face down to the steady climb and not the fact that two of them had been children, confident and capable, unafraid. The idea of hurtling downhill over some of the rough and narrow tracks they passed on the more challenging trails was enough to make her feel queasy.
At the top she was puffing in a very unattractive manner, her skin damp. ‘You’re absolutely mad,’ she wheezed, sticking out a foot and tottering to an ungainly stop. She wouldn’t mind taking her helmet off to do something with her hair, the breeze blowing loose bits across her face, but she could well imagine what state it was in if the heat on her face was anything to go by.
‘Maybe but the adrenaline rush is something else. And check this out.’
Zac raised a hand to the landscape: a glorious view of shimmering copper, gold and amber as the forest eased towards winter. Bracken on the fells was turning too, and Alice recognised grazing sheep as the same Herdwicks that he’d helped her to gather that first time they’d met.
‘If I had enough breath, I’d say something clever about how pretty it is.’ She tugged a water bottle from her rucksack and slugged back a welcome, cold mouthful. Zac didn’t even look like he’d broken sweat as he drank too, while she wiped her face on her sleeve. She was already filthy from the mud; she definitely hadn’t factored in all this dirt when she’d been planning her new life. ‘How much further?’
‘Alice, we’ve done about three kilometres! If you get to the end without moaning again, I’ll buy you a coffee in the café.’
‘If you throw in a cake as well, you’re on,’ she muttered. ‘I’m going to have aches in places I didn’t even know I had muscles in the morning.’
‘Still moaning. Do you want that coffee or not?’
‘And the cake?’
‘If that’s what it takes to get you through, then yes, I’ll buy you a cake.’
They set off again and even though her legs were still shaky, Alice found a rhythm that she started to enjoy. She tried to keep out of the way of faster riders passing them, and her balance had already improved as she navigated rough paths, rocks and standing water. They paused for another drink, and she found it easier to set off this time.
Back at the car park, she removed her helmet and scraped her damp hair into a ponytail after helping Zac load the bikes into the van.
‘Would you still like that coffee?’ He was leaning against the door, and she wasn’t ready to end their time together yet. Did he feel the same?
‘What about the cake? I swear, the thought of it is literally the only thing that kept me going. I’m going to be crawling like a crab out of bed tomorrow; my arms and legs feel like jelly.’
‘I can’t have you going home disappointed. Let’s go.’
The café was quiet as closing time approached. Alice bagged a Bakewell slice covered in almonds and Zac went for a thick, gooey chocolate brownie to accompany their lattes. They found seats inside; the afternoon was cool, and a light drizzle was threatening to become heavy rain.
‘So?’ He pulled out a chair to sit opposite her. ‘How’s the cake?’
‘Not bad. They were all out of Victoria sandwich and that’s my favourite. It’s a good thing this isn’t a real date, or I would’ve marked you down for poor choice of cake.’
‘Seriously?’ The brownie was halfway to his mouth, one large bite already gone. ‘Clearly, I need another chance to do better. You have very high standards, Alice Harvey. So if this was a real date, how would you score it so far?’
‘So far?’ She tilted her head. ‘It’s not over?’
‘No.I’ve still got to check out those trees at the barn.’
‘Oh yeah. Let’s see, then.’ Alice pursed her lips, pretending to think. ‘I’d score this as a date at seven, maybe seven and a half.’
