Page 81 of Coming Home to Wishington Bay
‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ I asked as we climbed the lane up away from the houses. From up here, you could see right across the whole of Wishington Bay. A golden crescent of sand, edged on one side by the sea, sparkling turquoise today under a bright, almost cloudless blue sky and on the other by the neat little village with its bright white and candy-coloured facades. We drove on through the high street – some of the shops opened on a Sunday while others stuck to tradition and remained closed, depending on their trade. Those angling for more of the tourist traffic were already getting ready with sandwich boards being placed outside one of two of the cafés and awnings being rolled down.
‘It really is.’
‘Are you glad you ended up here?’ I asked, buzzing down the window to snap a picture of the view with my phone to maybe try and replicate in paints later, if I had time.
‘Incredibly,’ he said.
I turned back to him. His eyes were now shaded by sports sunglasses but nothing could hide that amazing smile.
‘Me too,’ I said, returning it. ‘So? Where are we going?’
‘We,’ he said, ‘are going everywhere!’
* * *
When Gabe pulled up at the first boot sale, I looked over at him, confused.
‘Is this your sort of thing?’
‘I’ve no idea. I’m a boot sale virgin!’ He grinned at me. ‘But I’ve been assured that this is a great one for picking up furniture and items for upcycling so I thought you might enjoy having a look around. There’s another one a colleague told me about, and I thought we could drive around and pop into some antiques and bric-a-brac places, and find somewhere nice to stop for lunch.’
‘Gabe, I don’t know what to say.’
‘In a good way?’
I laughed, a little embarrassed that my eyes felt more than a tiny bit damp. ‘A very good way! I think this is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.’
He smiled, but said nothing, just leant over and dropped a gentle kiss on the top of my head before opening his door and climbing out.
‘I can’t believe you went to all the trouble of hiring a car, and everything.’
‘We couldn’t very well have taken yours.’
‘I’d put you on the insurance.’
‘It might have ruined the surprise a bit, but thank you.’
‘I should probably do that anyway if we’re going to go into the city and meet your parents for dinner this week like you mentioned. That way we can just decide who drives at the time.’
‘Sounds like a good plan.’
‘Plus, I get the feeling you’re a horrible passenger.’
‘I am a horrible passenger so perhaps a good call.’
‘You wreck my car though and your nose will be the least of your worries.’
He laughed and gave a small salute. ‘Message received and understood.’
* * *
To his credit, Gabe didn’t wrinkle his nose or make any comment when I found my first piece, despite the fact it currently looked like a very dated and pretty ugly dressing table.
‘Oh, look at that,’ I said, pausing as we passed a higgledy-piggledy assortment of items. Bryan’s lead hung loosely from one wrist and my other arm was looped around Gabe’s.
‘The dressing table?’
‘Yes.’
