Page 60 of A Snowy Seaside Christmas
Lark willed the ground to open up and gulp her down in one.
‘This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you. I knew you’d all get carried away with yourselves.’
‘I’ll bet Nate’s floating around on cloud nine now.’ Stella started easing herself out of the settle. ‘Don’t say another word till I get back. I’m just going to grab us a bottle of fizz.’
‘Fizz?’ Lark clapped her hands to her face. ‘Why fizz?’
‘To mark the occasion, that’s why. It needs to be celebrated.’
‘Have you any idea how bonkers that sounds, Stells? Please don’t,’ Lark pleaded.
‘Leave it, Stells,’ said Maggie. Lark sent a grateful look her way.
Stella gave a throaty giggle. ‘Don’t get your knickers in a knot, I’m only teasing. I’d never do anything like that.’
Relief washed over Lark as she watched Stella sit back down.
‘Am I right in thinking the reason you’ve shared this with us is because what you feared would happen if you got closer to Nate has actually happened, and you realise you like him more than as a friend?’ asked Florrie.
Lark nodded. ‘It has, and it’s my fault.’
‘And how d’you work that one out?’ asked Jasmine, scratching her head in puzzlement.
Four eager faces looked back at Lark as she raked her hair off her face and filled them in on the details and how Nate wasn’t speaking to her.
When she’d finished, they all sat looking at her wearing crestfallen expressions. She felt the weight of their disappointment sitting on her shoulders.
‘I always told you it would be a bad idea, that I’d end up losing his friendship, which is exactly what’s happened,’ she said with a shrug. ‘And, like I’ve said, now he’s ignoring me.’
‘But what I don’t get is why you thought it was a mistake?’ Stella was looking at her as if she was crazy.
‘Pot, kettle and all that,’ Florrie chipped in. ‘Sorry, Stells, but you were finding all sorts of excuses to keep Alex at arm’s length.’
‘That’s different. I hadn’t known Alex for long, whereas Lark’s known Nate for years.Heknows they’re meant to be together, andweknow they’re meant to be together. It’s only Miss Fussy-Pants here who keeps telling herself they’re not.’
‘And you’re absolutely sure it’s a mistake, Lark?’ Florrie asked.
Lark nodded. ‘It’s this feeling I keep getting and can’t shake off. It’s odd and I’ve never experienced anything like it before, but I get this really strong sense of something about him.’ It made her feel sad to put these feelings about Nate into words.
‘But you clearly didn’t feel them for however long it took to play tonsil tennis with him on Saturday night. How did that happen, then?’ asked Jasmine.
‘I honestly don’t know. I guess I must’ve pushed them to one side or ignored them. I have no explanation for it.’ She wasn’t going to say all she was conscious of then was the way Nate’s kiss had made her feel. ‘I’ve always followed my gut, my senses, whatever you want to call them, and they’ve never let me down. It’s why I can’t ignore this.’
‘Oh, flower, that must be hard.’ Florrie pulled a sympathetic face.
‘Well, it’s actually worse than you think.’ She swallowed down the lump of emotion that had formed in her throat. ‘And the reason it’s worse is because…’Oh jeez, this is hard.‘It’s because I love him.’ A sob escaped her mouth and her friends all reached for her, squeezing her hands or wrapping their arms around her. Lark fought the tears that were threatening to spill over.
‘I’m sorry I made fun of you,’ said Stella. ‘I wouldn’t have done it if I’d known how you felt.’
‘I know, Stells, it’s okay.’ Lark sniffed.
‘So what happens now?’ asked Florrie as they all sat back in their seats.
‘I’ve been thinking about Thailand.’
‘Thailand?’ they all chorused in disbelief.
Before she had a chance to explain, Lobster Harry cleared his throat and burst into song, filling the pub with a tuneless rendition of a local sea shanty. It wasn’t just the notes that sounded dodgy, some of the lyrics did, too. Everyone looked on in morbid fascination as the old fisherman belted the song out at the top of his lungs, one hand over his ear as if he were a seasoned folk singer, the other clutching a half-full pint of Micklewick Mischief that sloshed around precariously as he waved his arm.
