Page 39 of Bea's Book Wagon
‘Oh, I love everything, really. Give me a good romance, too.’
‘Ah,’ said Bea, nodding. ‘You strike me as someone who believes in happy-ever-afters.’
‘You have to, don’t you? What sort of a world would it be otherwise?’ said Beth, lining Bea’s drinks up along the bar.
‘A pretty sad one,’ Bea agreed.
‘Speaking of happy-ever-afters,’ said Beth, leaning in across the bar. ‘Did I spot you in here with that Lochlan the other night?’
‘Oh, yeah,’ Bea nodded, bashfully.
‘He’s a looker, that’s for sure. Nice guy too, by all accounts,’ said Beth, approvingly.
‘Well, we’ve only been on two dates, but so far he seems nice,’ Bea gushed. ‘We met when he jumped into the river to rescue my dog.’
‘Did he?’ said Beth, clearly impressed. ‘How romantic.’
‘I know,’ Bea nodded. ‘I’ve got a good feeling about him. Sorry, I’m getting carried away. I just like him, that’s all.’
‘You get carried away all you like, love. I hope it works out.’
‘Me too. Do you know what? I’m going to see if he’s free. What have I got to lose?’ she said, pulling out her phone and sending Lochlan a text. It beeped instantly with a reply: Be there as soon as I can xx
* * *
Bea couldn’t help clock-watching as she waited nervously for Lochlan to arrive at the pub.
‘What’s up with you?’ asked Nathan, nudging her. ‘You haven’t stopped looking at the door since you sat down. Not boring you, are we?’ he teased.
‘No, course not,’ Bea replied, ‘I’m waiting for Lochlan, that’s all,’ she said, bouncing her foot up and down under the table.
‘Lochlan? The guy you went on a date with?’
‘That’s the one.’
‘And he’s on his way here?’
‘Yeah,’ said Bea, smiling. ‘He took me to this amazing restaurant in Brighton, Nate. Cate Blanchett was there… actual Cate Blanchett, can you believe it?’
‘Blimey,’ said Nathan, taking a swig of his pint.
‘I know. You should have seen this place, it was uber fancy… I’ve never been anywhere like it before. We had oysters—’
‘Oysters? But you hate oysters!’ Nathan cut in. ‘You used to call them sea bogeys?’
‘Oh, they were totally disgusting, but he ordered for us both…’
‘He ordered for you?’ Nathan scowled, shaking his head. ‘Bea, isn’t that—’
‘He was being romantic,’ Bea insisted. ‘Aren’t oysters supposed to be the food of love, or something? I couldn’t exactly not eat them.’
‘I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have eaten them if I’d turned up with a plate of oysters.’
‘Yeah, but that’s different, Nate, it’s… well, you.’
‘Right,’ said Nathan, his face falling a little.
‘Oh, he’s here,’ Bea said, grabbing Nathan by the arm. ‘Right, you lot, play nice, okay?’
