Page 36 of Summer at Harbour View House
Hannah clicked her fingers. ‘We do now. It’s a bit better than 14B, isn’t it?’
‘But you can’t even see the harbour….’
‘Well, it was nice to meet you both,’ Ben said. ‘I’d better get on or I’ll miss my break.’
Without another word, he headed on down into the water. Only after he was gone did Natasha realise what he had said.
‘Ben … Trewin? He’s Jago’s son?’
‘The very same,’ Davey said. ‘Home for the summer. He’s the volunteer lifeguard down here. You won’t have to worry about rip tides with Ben around.’
As Davey started up the beach to the car park, Hannah nudged Natasha in the ribs. ‘Just ripping off your clothes,’ she said, making Natasha cringe.
‘Right now,’ she said, shivering as a cold breeze rushed down the valley, throwing flurries of sand up into the air. ‘All I feel like doing is putting a few back on.’
13
A Spot of Gardening and a Chance Meeting
‘There,’Natasha said, tying the last piece of string around the wire mesh frame to hold a lid piece in place. ‘All done. An outdoor run for Charlie.’
‘Looks nice,’ Hannah said. ‘Although there’s a bit of a gap in those boards on the other side. You’d better make sure a fox can’t get in. He does look happy, though.’
Charlie pecked at the ground, then took a few steps forward and sat down.
‘Oh, I think he’s laying an egg,’ Hannah said.
Charlie, perhaps annoyed at being referred to as a boy, shook her tail end, sending up a plume of dust.
‘I think she’s dust bathing,’ Natasha said.
‘Where did you get so good at DIY?’ Hannah said. ‘I mean, objectively so, compared to me. Not sure I’d hire you to refit my kitchen quite yet.’
‘A good job you don’t have your own kitchen,’ Natasha said.
‘Oooh, low blow.’ Hannah grinned. ‘Maybe I’ll have Davey put one in when we get our first house together.’
‘You’d like to think that it might come with one … wait, what? Your first house? Aren’t you getting a little too—’ The word she wanted to use was clingy, but just in case Hannah got offended, she searched for something a little softer. ‘Ah … involved?’
‘I know it’s only been a couple of days, but we just seem right for each other.’
‘Can I remind you that it’s less than a week since Brad unceremoniously kicked you out of his life, and less than half a week since you were drunkenly professing your undying love for him?’
‘Yeah, but that was before I met Davey.’
‘Just … take it easy, Hannah. I know I’ve got a few years on you, and perhaps it’s easier to bounce back from rejection at your age, but—’
‘I’m not a strong, independent woman like you, Nat.’ Hannah fluttered her eyelids. ‘I need to be looked after.’
‘I wouldn’t say no to a little protection if it were offered,’ Natasha said. ‘But in its absence, I’ll have to figure it out for myself. And I’m not about to grab the first guy that comes along—’
‘Of course not, because I grabbed him. Well, only if you’re counting the first eligible guy. Otherwise, it would be Jago, wouldn’t it, and he was a bit too crusty—’
‘Please don’t put those images in my head.’
‘And the second would be that weirdo next door.’
Almost as though the word triggered an automatic response, the first bars of some eighties rock song started up from the garden next door. Natasha groaned.
