Page 82 of The Cornish Cream Tea Holiday
He shook his head. ‘It makes your eyes look huge,’ he said, then took a step back, as if trying to escape his own words. The silence stretched between them, and Thea was trying to work out how to reply when Esme filled the gap.
‘It’s so kind of you to let us come with you.’
‘No problem,’ he said. ‘You can help me catch some fish. I need to practise cooking them before Friday.’
‘Ben’s working with one of the top local chefs in his beachside barbecue truck,’ Thea explained.
‘A whole food truck dedicated to barbecue?’ Alex asked. ‘It sounds brilliant.’
‘We can all come and cheer you on,’ Esme said, as they collected their things, and Thea met Ben’s gaze. She wondered how he felt about that, and hoped she’d soon get a chance to ask him.
Two hours later, the small boat – owned by one of Finn’s friends, Stan, and calledEndeavour, which was ironic because their trip was definitely trying – bobbed on a calm sea that twinkled like a frosty pavement. They were out far enough that the land had disappeared, and it would have been disconcerting if it wasn’t so breathtaking. Their fishing lines were secured on the deck, so they didn’t have to stand and hold them, and trailing over the stern and down into the water. Stan was looking over the bow, shouting something about tides and catches that Thea didn’t understand, and she should have been having fun, but was failing spectacularly. She wasn’t the only one.
‘This is a fucking peach of a day,’ Stan called, when he’d got to the end of his monologue. ‘Get a load for your barbecue, Benny boy.’
Thea was sitting next to Ben and didn’t see him cringe, but she thought he must be, because he was as far from aBenny boyas it was possible to get.
‘Check your lines for a bite,’ Stan went on. ‘Keep on checking. How’s your mate doing?’
Thea was tempted to tell him to ask Alex himself, but Alex was leaning over the side, his face almost as green as his life jacket was yellow. Esme was crouched next to him, rubbing his back in small, soothing circles. They had been fifteen minutes into the journey when seasickness had overwhelmed him, and now they’d come to a stop, and the boat was bobbingandturning slowly, she could imagine that he felt a lot worse.
‘I think he’s still … unwell.’
‘Maybe we should go back,’ Ben said. He didn’t sound exasperated or annoyed, though she could imagine he was feeling both.
Alex raised an arm in the air. ‘No no,’ he called, his voice rasping. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘I don’t know, though,’ Esme said. She turned to look at Thea. ‘He’sreallygreen.’
‘I’m fine, Es,’ Alex said. ‘Give me a few more minutes, and I’ll be right as rain.’
Thea and Ben exchanged a look. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispered.
‘Don’t worry. I can go to the market and get what I need. Their catches will be bigger than the few we’ve got so far.’ He gestured to the cool box, where their three modest fish were lying in ice.
‘But you wanted to do it this way,’ she said. ‘To make a good impression on Marcus.’ Thea knew it was a big deal for him, and this wasn’t helping in the slightest.
‘It was just so I could practise,’ he replied. ‘It doesn’t matter in the scheme of things. Besides, we’ve made it out here, you’ve seen what it’s like, and I—’
‘Bite!’ Stan called from where the rods were idling.
Ben grabbed Thea’s hand and pulled her carefully across the deck to the straining line. ‘We’ll get this one in, then we’ll head back,’ he said, as Thea positioned herself in front of the fishing rod and began slowly turning the reel.
Stan chuckled. ‘We’ve been out here about five minutes.’
‘I know,’ Ben said, ‘and I’m sorry it’s been a mostly wasted trip, but we need to get Alex back on dry land. I’ll still pay you the full rate.’
‘I’m OK,’ Alex called, but his voice was weak.
Thea looked at his hunched figure, at Esme’s obvious concern, and chewed her lip. She felt Ben move behind her, then he bent and whispered in her ear. ‘We’ll take him home in a moment, but let me do this.’
‘Do what?’
He brought his left arm around her, so he could grip the fishing rod. ‘Keep you steady. You reel the fish in.’
Thea laughed. ‘Do you really need to help me?’
‘I’d feel a lot better if I did.’
