Page 60 of Winter at Wishington Bay
‘That’s it, that’s exactly how it was. I earn pretty good money and Serena definitely liked that aspect of our lives. When the TV and film stuff came in, that was a bit of kudos too as far as she was concerned. I consulted on a couple of big name disaster movies and we got to go to the premieres. Serena was in her element then. She’s made to be seen – it’s like she comes alive in situations like that. Frankly, although the work itself was interesting, I’d have happily skipped the premiere stuff.’
‘I’m guessing that wasn’t an option.’
‘I’m pretty sure she would have left me a lot sooner if I’d have done that.’ He gave that a moment’s thought. ‘Maybe that would have been better.’
‘You can’t rake over what you should have done or not done now. The past is the past and we can’t change it, no matter how much we might want to.’ God knew there was plenty I’d change if I could.
‘That’s true. What’s done is done. When I realised she was gone, it was the strangest feeling. Half of me wanted to beg her to come back and the other half, I don’t know… Does it sound bad if I say it felt like some sort of relief? Mixed in with the pain and upset and all that other stuff blokes aren’t supposed to admit to.’
‘If men admitted to more of that stuff, I’m sure there would be a lot less of them pretending everything was fine until it’s too late.’
Nate nodded. ‘You’ve probably got a point there.’
‘I definitely have a point there.’
He looked across and laughed. ‘See? This is what I mean. You know who you are. You’re honest about it. You don’t need constant validation. Not that I mind. It was pretty hard not to compliment Serena, to be honest. But you know what I mean.’
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d received a compliment from my ex so to be honest, as much as Nate was right, as much as I now lived to please myself, and made my own decisions, be they right or wrong, there weren’t many people who didn’t enjoy a genuine compliment from someone from time to time.
‘I do,’ I said, simply.
He looked down at the dog in his lap, and gently laid the pad of his thumb on the top of Bryan’s head, and began a series of slow, gentle strokes.
‘If everything that has happened has taught me anything, it’s that honesty is the most important thing. If we’d have been honest with each other about how unhappy we both were, we might have been able to fix things. Or at least realised that we couldn’t and avoided a hell of a lot of extra drama.’ He looked up from the dog, straight into my eyes. ‘Honesty is key, really, isn’t it?’
I nodded, the action feeling stiff and unnatural as I agreed with him, feeling like guilt was written all over my face as Nate sat there, telling me he valued my honesty when all the time I knew I was living a lie.
18
Eloise smiled and gave a little wave to a customer over by the door. As she turned to look at me, the mischievous expression on her face told me there was only one person it could be.
‘Stop it,’ I said, trying not to smile, which would only encourage her.
‘What?’ she shrugged.
‘You know what.’
Eloise maintained her innocence. ‘Probably ought to go and serve him though. Wouldn’t want him marking us down on TripAdvisor for lack of attention, would we?’
I tucked my pad back into my apron as I walked towards where Nate was waiting. Suddenly, Corinne rushed past me, heading towards the door and coming to a halt in front of Nate, her wide, youthful smile beaming out at full wattage. I stopped, still a few steps short of where Corinne now had her hand on Nate’s arm, laughing with him as though they were old friends. He was looking down at her, concentrating on her words, and possibly her newly plumped, pillowy lips, enhanced today with a bright, scarlet red. As she turned to lead him to a table, conveniently in her section of the restaurant she caught my eye, and gave a smaller smile, this one brimming with smug satisfaction.
I turned back to where Eloise was now at the till station.
‘Corinne’s a conceited madam if ever there was one,’ Eloise said, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder. ‘She’s always been thoroughly spoiled by her parents. She’s a nice looking girl but her attitude, and ego, both need some serious adjustment.’
I shrugged. ‘It doesn’t really matter who serves him. And if she’s fawning all over him we can probably be sure of that good rating on TripAdvisor after all.’ I gave her a nudge with my hip.
Eloise was less inclined to be persuaded. ‘From him, maybe, but you know we’re going to be left to pick up the slack on all her other tables now the Australian god has arrived.’
I looked over in as casual a manner as possible. Corinne was leaning forward, hanging on every word that Nate said. And from the looks of it, he was actually giving her quite a few to hang on to. He was clearly feeling more comfortable in himself and his surroundings these days. His body language was far more relaxed than it had been on previous visits to the restaurant and a lot more relaxed than when he’d first arrived in the village. Corinne said something, resting her hand on Nate’s arm as he laughed in response.
Turning away, I squished down the strange feeling in my stomach and resolutely denied that it might actually be jealousy. Which was ridiculous. Of course it wasn’t jealousy. Nate and I were friends. Nothing more. He’d already told me, perhaps unnecessarily bluntly, that he had no interest in beginning anything during his stay here and I’d been more than happy to agree. Of course, that was when I’d thought he was a total arse and wouldn’t have spent a moment longer with him than I absolutely had to. Without any direct consultation with my brain, other parts of me had apparently now decided that spending more time with Nate McKinley might actually not be the worst thing in the world. In fact, it might be really rather nice. All of which was stupid because I most definitely wasn’t the type to have a fling. I’m not sure I entirely knew how to have a fling. What constituted a fling anyway? Was there a set length of time where a fling ticked over into ‘short term relationship’ territory? And if so, what was it? Did it vary from continent to continent?
‘Well, you’re deep in thought.’ Ned’s voice startled me.
‘Oh! Sorry. Miles away.’
Ned nodded. ‘Everything all right?’
