Page 66 of Winter at Wishington Bay
‘Well, we might see you there then.’ Corinne was clearly bored with the conversation, despite never having actually been invited to join it. Her voice dripped with self-satisfaction as she laid a hand on Nate’s arm. ‘Mightn’t we, Nate? I’m showing him some of the sights by night beforehand so I’m not sure what time we’ll get there.’
‘What time does the switch on happen?’ he asked but I wasn’t really listening. My mind was turning back to when I’d offered to show him some of the sights and get him out of the house. All I’d got was a sharp rebuttal but now, despite all his protestations about Corinne being too young and too obvious for him, here he was, lapping up all the attention she and her perky chest could throw at him. From everything I’d heard about his wife, Nate was certainly partial to a pretty face, and Corinne was undeniably beautiful. Not to mention a good fifteen or so years younger than me. Gravity had begun to take a rather unfair hold on certain parts of my anatomy while she was still in that wonderfully youthful stage where everything defies such laws and you blindly believe this will always be the case. Of course, one day you look in the mirror and to your horror discover that things most definitely aren’t where they started out.
I’d once done my best to counteract this with personal trainers, regular tennis matches and sessions at the gym, but you can only do so much. Nowadays, rushing round at the restaurant, cleaning, and walks in the fresh air with the sea crashing on to the beach beside me probably burned more calories anyway.
Many of my – well, I’d called them friends but time had disavowed me of that belief – acquaintances had long since turned to the plastic surgeon’s knife for a helping hand, but that was one step too far for me. I’d booked several appointments but ended up cancelling every time. Something about it hadn’t seemed right. I didn’t care if others did it, especially if they gained confidence from it. But lurking in my mind was the knowledge that this wasn’t really something I wanted. I was doing it because everyone else was. Because my husband had suggested it might be a good idea to ‘perk things up a little’. Because my mother, who could barely smile these days, even if she had wanted to, told me it was my duty as a woman to look the best I could. I could practically hear suffragettes spinning in their graves when this gem of wisdom was imparted to me.
Watching from the corner of my eye, I saw Nate tilt his head down as Corinne made a comment in a low voice, and I knew what I needed to do. I needed to step back here before my imagination got carried away even further in thinking that my friendship with Nate had ever had the slightest potential to become anything else. It was stupid to have even entertained the idea. I’d been asked out and spent time with a man who, as Eloise had said, would probably be far better for me than Nate McKinley ever would. And actually lived in the country. Billy Myers was everything I should have wanted. But it was Nate McKinley who made my blood fizz with electricity when he touched me, not Billy. And that wasn’t fair to such a decent man so when he’d asked me out again at the end of our afternoon of coffee and trailing the shops, I’d had to say no. I didn’t want Nate to have that effect on me – and I would get over it. But I couldn’t pretend that Billy did have that effect when he didn’t. I’d already had a lifetime of pretending and I wasn’t about to start again.
I didn’t disbelieve that Nate hadn’t been looking for anything to happen during his time here. His whole being had resonated as a man who’d shut himself away from any possibility of being hurt again, and I understood that. But as he’d opened up, relaxed into his stay in Wishington Bay with Bryan and begun to enjoy the process of writing his book, something had obviously changed. He’d become more relaxed with me, which I was happy about. He’d also apparently decided that being a monk, forever worshipping his ex, wasn’t the life for him after all. Corinne wasn’t looking for anything serious, as far as I knew. And Nate can’t have been either really… could he?
‘It must be so wonderful to be able to sit on the beach on Christmas Day,’ Corinne sighed. ‘Just stretching out under the sun in a bikini.’ She did a languid cat stretch for the full effect. ‘Don’t you think, Sophia?’
‘Umm… yes. I suppose so.’ I glanced across the room and noticed one of Corinne’s customers trying to catch her eye. Unfortunately, their waitress’s own gaze was firmly fixed on Nate.
‘Table five is calling you.’
Corinne let out a sigh and gave Nate a dramatic eye roll. ‘Working is such a bore.’ She moved round me, pressing herself close to Nate in the process. ‘See you tonight,’ she said breathily and sauntered over, swaying her hips more than usual, confident that Nate was watching. Under my lashes, I stole a glance. He wasn’t. I tried not to smile and tried not to feel bad about the fact I wanted to.
‘So, will I see you later?’ Nate asked.
I shrugged, flicking the pages of the ledger back and forth importantly, as though searching for something although I wasn’t taking in anything written there, my mind instead whirring away in a different direction entirely. For all I knew, Kermit the frog could have booked a table for two this evening and I wouldn’t have noticed.
‘Maybe,’ I answered, aware that I was being vague and annoyed with myself for letting Corinne’s date with him bother me quite so much.
‘Is something wrong?’
I looked up and saw the genuine concern in Nate’s eyes which only served to make everything just a little bit worse.
‘No,’ I shoved a smile on to my face. ‘Not at all.’
‘It’d be nice to see you this evening if you’re able to make it.’
Across the room I could see one of my tables ready for attention. ‘I’ll probably be around somewhere but honestly, I’m not sure you’re going to have much time to notice anything but Corinne. She’s a full attention type of girl. I’d better go, sorry.’ I made to move but Nate caught the fingers of my hand lightly with his own, halting me, and I looked up, trying to ignore all the sensations his touch set off.
‘I’m not seeing Corinne. I mean, it’s not a date.’
‘Nate, you don’t have to explain anything to me. It’s up to you what you do. You’re single and she’s single.’ I gave a shrug and pulled my hand from his.
‘But it’s not a date,’ he repeated, apparently determined to get this across to me, but I needed to get on and put it out of my mind. What Nate McKinley got up to during his time here was nothing to do with me. Now I just had to get my heart to listen to my head. I gave Nate a quick smile.
‘I’m pretty sure Corinne thinks it is. Maybe you should just go with it. Sorry, I need to get back to work. Enjoy the lights if I don’t see you.’ And with that I stuck a smile on my face and headed over to where my customers had now decided which of the several delicious puddings Ned offered had taken their fancy.
19
‘You know she’ll eat him alive,’ Eloise said in a confidential whisper as we finished our shift.
I made a brief attempt at pretending not to understand what she was referring to, which my friend saw off with one look, so I gave up.
‘He’s a big chap. I’m sure he can look after himself.’
‘You heard what Gabe said about him. It sounds like he ran himself ragged trying to provide for and please his ex, and she still went off. And now he’s agreeing to take Corinne on a date, who between you and me, sounds very much of the same ilk as his last one?’
‘Apparently it’s not a date.’
Eloise gave me a look and I shrugged.
‘That’s what he told me.’
