Page 39 of Winter at Wishington Bay
‘Well, then, you’re welcome.’
We sat chatting for a little longer before checking on Bryan who had now wriggled himself into the top of my bed and was looking very comfortable under my duvet with his head poking out, and gentle, contented snores drifting from him
‘We can leave him there. I can nip up and check on him again in a bit.’
With that, we headed back down the stairs and into Flora’s shop, ready to get the tree in place and decorated.
‘Better?’ Flora asked in a voice loaded with all sorts of questions.
‘Fine, thanks,’ I smiled innocently.
She gave me a head shake, and a gentle push over to where Nate was already hefting the tree into the metal pail Flora had placed beside it.
Together we settled the tree in its pot and moved it in to the space Flora had set aside for it.
‘Thanks.’
‘My pleasure. Are you going to decorate it?’
‘Uh-huh,’ I said, bending down and lifting the box of decorations onto a nearby stool.
Nate shifted his weight as he gave a short nod.
‘You’re more than welcome to stay and help, although I don’t want to distract you from your work.’
‘I’m on course to hit my deadline. I was up early today and got my word count in so I’m happy to stay and help if I can be useful.’
I’d seen a few female customers browsing the shop, all the while throwing apparently casual glances over at Nate, so I had an idea that Flora would be more than happy to have him stay longer, even forgetting the fact that she was clearly doing her best to set me up with him.
‘That’d be lovely, then,’ I replied, and a watched as he relaxed his shoulders, the smile brief but striking. ‘Still not sleeping too well?’ I asked as I passed him the lights to wrap round his side of the tree.
He gave a shrug. ‘It’s better than it was, which is something.’
I stole a glance as he passed the lights back round to me. The dark shadows under his eyes remained but they were less than they had been that first week I’d met him.
‘All these walks and sea air, you’ll soon be sleeping like a log.’
‘I look forward to it.’
I smiled and handed him the second set of lights. ‘So, what did you have planned for today before being roped into doing this?’
‘I volunteered. And nothing much. I was just getting a little stir crazy earlier so thought Bry and I could do with some fresh air. I was just wandering aimlessly really when I came across you sprawled on the pavement hugging a tree.’
I leant around the tree and stuck my tongue out.
He laughed. ‘I’m glad I did though. This is nice.’
I returned the gentle expression. ‘It is.’
Nate passed the end of the light string back to me, our fingers brushing as he did so. The touch sent ripples throughout my body and I turned away as I felt warmth flush my face. Sticking my head practically inside the decoration box and making vague rummaging sounds, I waited for my heart rate to settle before emerging.
‘You OK?’ Nate asked, concern creasing his face when I did.
‘Uh-huh!’ I said, lightly. Clearly he wasn’t affected in the same way as I was, which I supposed was good. He had enough to think about without me complicating matters. Although it would have been nice if he’d shown some sort of reaction. I’d had far too many years feeling like I was incapable of stirring any sort of response from a man so it would have been nice if the universe gave me a break occasionally and show that I wasn’t the sexless being my husband had made me believe I was. I stole another glance at Nate and smiled to myself, at the same time as giving myself a pep talk. Just because my husband hadn’t seen it, perhaps because he’d been too busy looking at every other woman but me, didn’t mean I wasn’t attractive. Nate might not see it either but those were the breaks. He had more than enough on his mind right now, but at least he was giving me something pretty to look at this winter.
‘You’re quiet.’ He looked across at me and raised a brow.
‘I didn’t realise I was usually noisy,’ I grinned. I’d thought about another wink but my eye was still stinging and I didn’t want to send him running for the hills in fear.
