Page 87 of Coming Home to Wishington Bay
I tilted my head and rolled my eyes. ‘I know what you mean.’
‘You do?’ The light in his eyes was back but for a different reason this time.
‘Not like that! And no, before you ask. I mean, in case you ask …’
‘Ask what?’ His hand slipped away from mine. He bent momentarily and fussed with Bryan but, for some reason, it suddenly felt like he’d withdrawn for something other than just to pet his dog.
‘If I’d add that to the deal,’ I said lightly, unsure now, aware that the easy atmosphere had shifted.
‘Oh!’ He let out a long breath through his nose. ‘No, I promise I have no intention of asking that.’
‘Right. Good.’ My smile was doing its best to hide the jab at my confidence. He hadn’t needed to make it sound like quite such a ridiculous comment. Oh well, at least that whole perfect boyfriend theory now had a dent in it, which was probably a good thing. ‘And once I’m back in London, you’ll be free to bring back whomever you like without fear of recrimination from anyone, and you can tell people we broke up. A monk no more.’ I gave another smile and sat down to tie my sandals.
* * *
The village was brimming with people, locals and tourists alike, those in more of a hurry bustling around the slower amblers who were stopping to peer in all the shop windows. Despite falling into the category of locals, today we were ambling along with the rest of the tourists, taking our time, aahing at cute handmades and filling the basket with goodness from the local butcher, deli and bakery.
‘Do you think your parents would like some of this?’ I asked, holding out some beautifully wrapped fudge. ‘It’s so good, I can’t tell you.’
‘They do have a sweet tooth, but you don’t have to do that.’
‘I know. But it’s OK to want to, isn’t it?’ For a moment I was unsure. I’d never been a fake girlfriend before and I wasn’t sure of the rules.
‘Sure.’ Gabe nodded after a moment. ‘They’d love it.’
In the next shop – a haven of delicious smells from the herbs and flowers that scented all the wonderful bath and skin products – Gabe stepped out to take a call from a colleague asking his advice. I was happy to mooch around the shop, stopping to chat with the owner who it turned out made a lot of the products herself, before being tempted into several purchases, including a set that I thought Gabe’s mum would like.
I stepped back out into the sunlight just as he was returning the phone to his pocket.
‘You all done?’
‘Yes. Well, I could easily go back and buy a tonne more so it’s probably best I leave now.’
He smiled and we moved on to the next shop. ‘I know you must have discovered this one by now.’
I had. It was the one he’d mentioned about taking local artists. It was sweet that he’d thought about my art like that but I knew I had a lot to learn when it came to painting, the paintings on display on the walls only confirming that. We then moved to the side of the shop and climbed the creaking stairs, Gabe ducking as we did so to avoid cracking his head on the low returns above him on the circular staircase, before reaching the top floor where they displayed all the upcycled furniture.
‘Isn’t this lovely?’ I said, running my hand along the cool sheen of a marble washstand that had been saved from the scrap yard. A photo of it in its original state was pinned on the price tag and the difference was astonishing. ‘What a waste if this had just been sent to sit and rot on a landfill?’
We moved around the shop, noticing the number of pieces that already had a sold tag dangling from them.
‘Looks like you’re busy,’ Gabe said, pointing at yet another one as a staff member climbed the stairs and began rummaging for something under the desk.
‘Oh goodness, we are!’ she said, straightening.
‘That’s great. Good for you and the village.’
‘It’s definitely that. Although I think my husband and I need to grow another pair of arms each to try and keep up with it all.’
‘You do it all yourself then?’ Gabe asked.
‘We do,’ she said, resting a hip against the old desk. ‘We were adamant when we decided to add this element to the shop that we wanted it to be the whole process here. Having looked around, we nearly got caught out by a place that purported to be doing what we are here. When we looked into it some more, they were buying new stuff and it was more like a small factory churning things out in batches, rather than picking individual, older pieces for renovation. But it’s not always easy to keep up. Once these pieces are all collected, the showroom is going to look a bit bare for a few weeks I think, so you’ve done well to come today if you’re just in for a browse.’ She gave us both a warm smile.
‘Would you ever be open to taking things from someone who follows the same principle as you?’ Gabe’s question was casual but I whipped my head around, trying to warn him with my eyes not to say another word.
‘I definitely think that’s going to be our next step, although I think we’d want to keep it local. Ideally in the village if that were possible, but I don’t think we’ll be that lucky.’
‘You might be,’ Gabe replied, glancing across at me.
