Page 54 of You Only Live Once
A short time later, we spread out the blanket that Jack had brought, and Clive was lying on his own rug to the side of us. He’d had a little sniff at the food, been told to lie on his blanket, which he had done and got a treat for, and was now happily snoozing in the shade of a large oak tree, its fresh green leaves bright against the blue sky above. Little shafts of sunlight filtered through as the leaves shimmied in the soft breeze, catching Clive’s golden fur and making it almost glow.
‘Wow. This all looks amazing, Jack. There’s quite a lot here for one person, had I not come…’ I looked at him questioningly.
He grinned, then looked down, concentrating on spreading brie on some beautifully crusty bread, before topping it with wild rocket and handing it to me.
I took it, giving him a small smile as I did so. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I’m not trying to seduce you. I’m not that deluded. You’ve prepared enough food for me since I’ve been staying. It’s the least I could do.’
This was true, but it was nice cooking for more than just me. I did it for Felix and the crew from time to time, but I’d always enjoyed cooking and there was a definite pleasure to be gained from the appreciation of food prepared by somebody else.
‘And yes, you’re right. This is quite a lot for one person. I admit, I did hope that you would be accompanying us today on our walk. After our…’ he paused, ‘disagreement, I was pretty certain that you wouldn’t, so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you and say that I’m really pleased you came.’ He gave Clive’s side an affectionate rub. ‘We both are.’
‘Thank you. I’m glad I came too. It’s been lovely and I’m really excited to finally come and see the area I’ve read about so often. I have my own picture of it in my mind now rather than relying on adaptation’s interpretations.’
Having eaten our fill, Jack and I took a tip from Clive and lay back on the blanket, side by side. Considerately, Jack had thought to bring a cushion each for our heads and obviously I had a book, which was currently resting on my chest as I gazed at my surroundings.
‘You OK?’ Jack asked.
‘Yes, fine, thank you. Just absorbing it all.’
‘Good.’
I rolled my head to the side and noticed that his eyes were closed, the long dark lashes throwing shadows on the light tan of his cheeks. His hands rested, one on top of the other on his broad chest, which moved slowly up and down in an even, rhythmic movement. I looked away and then, after a few seconds, looked back. His breathing deepened, soft, slow and even as he drifted into sleep. I found my page and began to read.
When I opened my eyes an hour later, it was to find that my book had dropped off onto the blanket and I’d turned onto my side, as had Jack. My arms were tucked in front of me and one of Jack’s muscular ones was slung across me. Oh, crap. Now how did I get out of this?
17
I began to try to shift from my position with the least amount of movement possible in order to avoid waking Jack. The last thing I needed right now was for him to wake up to find us like this. Either Jack would make jokes about how I’d orchestrated it, and tease me when I denied it, which I knew he would be able to goad me into no matter how hard I tried not to be drawn in, or there was the opposite end of the scale, where he woke up and felt horribly awkward and we’d both try to pretend it hadn’t happened, while knowing all the while it had. I wasn’t sure which was worse. Possibly the second scenario. The teasing at least would get boring and he’d eventually stop. Awkwardness could last a lot longer. The ideal situation, though, was that he never found out, so I continued with my stealth moves, stopping in my tracks, and holding my breath as he made a sound in his sleep and moved again. Unfortunately, his shift in position undid all my work and set me back at the beginning. I needed a new plan.
‘Oof!’ Jack sat up hurriedly as Clive put his paw and a certain amount of weight on a more delicate part of his anatomy. ‘Clive, mate! What you doing?’
‘Sorry,’ I said from where I was now also sitting up. In the confusion and, probably, shock, Jack had moved so fast I was pretty sure he hadn’t noticed anything except where the dog had stood, admittedly encouraged by me with a strategically placed treat that I’d managed to wriggle out from the nearby picnic basket. Yes, I know it was a low trick, so to speak, but desperate times call for desperate measures. ‘Don’t blame him. That was my fault, I’m afraid. We were playing and got a bit carried away.’
Jack eyed me for a moment, sitting hunched and with his green eyes sparkling even more than usual, but this time I was pretty sure the cause was pain rather than merriment and the unshed tears of a paw to the groin. He gave a tight nod. I did honestly feel quite bad. I hadn’t meant for him to be hurt, just a bit uncomfy momentarily in order to extricate myself. Hopefully there wasn’t any lasting damage.
‘Must have nodded off.’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you get a nap?’ His eyes drifted to the book on my lap. ‘Or just read?’
‘No, I think I managed a nap too. All this fresh air and good food.’
Jack smiled a little less tightly now and nodded. ‘It can do that to you. Throw in some warmth and peace and it’s the perfect recipe for a snooze.’ He looked up to the sky. ‘Those clouds have built since we’ve been asleep, though.’
My gaze followed his. To the west of us, the wispy white clouds of earlier had grown in both height and volume, filling the sky, shot through with the odd dark streak.
‘Is that bad?’
‘Could mean there’s some rain on the way. They did say on the radio there was a chance of storms later today. Might be an idea to begin packing up and heading back to the car, if that’s OK with you?’
‘Of course it is.’
‘You still up for that roast on the way home?’
I looked down at my stomach. ‘If I can find room!’
Jack laughed. ‘I’m sure you’ll manage. Seriously, this place I have in mind is great. You don’t want to miss out.’
