Page 69 of A Colourful Country Escape
A six-hour, stuck-in-a-car round trip with Ben. Lexie had to find a way to wriggle out of it before next week. ‘I don’t approve,’ she said, in a clipped tone that made her feel a tad cruel.
‘She doesn’t mean that,’ said Ben to the screen, as though sensing Lexie’s words didn’t suit her. ‘It’s a pain in the proverbial when someone tries to dictate who you should and shouldn’t fall in love with.’ He wavered for a second, pulling the cuffs of his shirt as though recharging himself. ‘If you believe in all that romantic palaver. Anyway, the one you’ve fallen for reciprocates your feelings. You haven’t been written off as boring. You should celebrate.’
Lexie noticed Ben’s shoulders slump a little, as though his battery life was dwindling again. Was Grace right about Cynthia calling him boring? Maybe that was why he protested so much about her. Maybe he’d liked her once, and deep down he was hurting. Not that he’d ever admit it.
Perhaps there was a spark of hope for Mrs Carrington-Noble’s matchmaking efforts after all. Lexie swallowed down the painful lump that was rising.
‘Anyway, I’m waffling,’ said Ben. His brother’s eyes were on him and he seemed uncomfortable under his gaze. ‘I’ll bow out here. Lexie, we’ll … catch up.’
Ben gave a salute and retreated from the room. Lexie should have felt relieved, although somehow she almost wanted him to come back. But anyway, it was just that they had work things to discuss. She was probably just excited at the bubbling up of ideas.
When Lexie turned her attention back to the room, she felt as though she’d just walked in on the unlikeliest of threesomes. Cory, Grace and Sky were chatting about nothing in particular, but the flirty tension in the air was palpable. Even her vaguely betrothed sister was fluttering her eyelashes. At least she was taking her open relationship seriously.
Lexie wondered at the possibility of GraceMontgaaaawwwmeryand Cory. Mrs Carrington-Noble would probably have Persian kittens if those two hooked up, as well as Ben and Cynthia.
But the idea felt odd. Grace was like a well-high-heeled version of Lexie, and Cory was more like … well, Sky.
‘Was my big brother just talking about love?’ Cory interrupted her thoughts. ‘Jeez, what did you do to him in London?’
‘I … er.’ God, she was floundering again. Like the flappy flatfish that liked camouflage.
‘Did you brainwash him, or something?’
‘Ha ha, yes, probably!’ There, that was much safer. Brain over badly behaved body. ‘I think he secretly likes Cynthia after all.’
‘What?’ Cory rubbed his stubble.
‘Yes, I’m sure he let it slip,’ Lexie lied. But it was just a little white one. She needed to divert this heat. ‘Anyway, can I help you with something?’ she asked Cory. Presumably he hadn’t turned up in the hope of taking photos of Lexie falling butt first into a pot of paint and emerging like a chacma baboon.
He gave a shy shrug and plunged his hands into the pockets of his shorts. ‘I just came to chuck around some ideas for this surf-shop thing you’ve inspired me with, but I guess it’s a bad time.’ He looked at the messy boxes and explosions of paint.
‘Oh, Lexie loves organising people. That’ll be right up her alley,’ said Sky from the screen. ‘One of these days she might even organise herself.’
‘On it!’ said Grace, waving a scrap of discarded paper in the air and dunking it into one of the mixtures.
‘So, now I’m helping myself, I’m officially allowed to help you too,’ Lexie confirmed, as Cory pulled out some sheets of crumpled A4 from his back pocket.
‘Cool. What do you think?’
He laid his papers out on a side table, and soon Lexie and Grace were inspecting Cory’s drawings of his longed-for surf school and shop, with Sky’s head bobbing up and down in the background.
‘Wow, these are great. You’re a bit of an artist,’ said Lexie. ‘And you did all this since our little chat a few weeks ago? Do you think you’ll go for it?’
‘Yeah. Nah. Not sure, to be honest. Probably just bum around drawing more dumb pictures and waiting for my next wave. But, you know. It’s good to have dreams.’
‘It is good to have dreams,’ Lexie repeated, feeling excited for him.
‘Have you got the financials mapped out?’ asked Grace, less nervous of the potential pound signs. ‘Bank of Mum?’
‘Nah, definitely not.’ He waved an arm. ‘I’ve got some savings from the surf lessons I’ve been doing for years, and I’ll get a proper bank loan for the rest. It’s nice to do something for yourself, you know? Dad built his own fortune, and Ben’s been entrepreneurial too. No reason I can’t have my own venture. I don’t want to be answerable to anyone else.’
Lexie nodded. ‘I get you.’ It did sound nice, and she had been her own boss once. That pull was nagging again. She glanced at the side table they were leaning on, and back at her mess of paints. There was still the idea of her own kind of paint empire, now her replacement package had arrived. A scary voice inside her kept telling her to prepare for being thrown back into the wilderness. Especially if Ben was going to be married off by the end of the year. She couldn’t outstay her welcome.
‘So, let’s talk venues, budgets … ’ Grace was counting Cory’s requirements with her fingers.
‘We should write up a proper business plan,’ Lexie added. She’d seen it done, and there was always Google.
‘I’d love to learn to surf.’ Sky joined in. ‘I could buy a new wetsuit and everything.’
