Scones Away!

‘Charlie?’

‘Yes?’ She waited, the ice cream suddenly heavy in her stomach. Oliver seemed to be searching for the right words, but then he leaned towards her. His kiss was gentle and Charlie found that, after a beat, she was kissing him back. It felt good, comforting, but nothing like the sensation of Daniel’s lips on hers. That rush of adrenalin and desire. She shouldn’t be doing this. She stepped back.

Oliver’s smile downgraded from self-assured to tentative. ‘Was that OK?’

‘It was lovely.’ It wasn’t a lie.

His smile widened and he took her hand again. They walked off the boardwalk, back onto the path, only to find a small boy giggling up at them. ‘You made smoochies,’ he said, pointing an unapologetic finger. ‘Eww!’

‘You won’t feel like that when you’re older,’ Oliver said calmly, and pulled Charlie away.

After Oliver had failed to persuade Charlie to go on the zip wire that hovered terrifyingly over the Eden Project, Charlie drove them back to Newquay, the windows of Juliette’s car wound down to let in as much air as possible. When she pulled up outside his temporary digs, he turned to face her.

‘Come to the beach with me? There’s an area where dogs are allowed.’

‘I’m not sure,’ Charlie said. ‘I left Juliette on the bus, so I should just check …’ she pulled her phone out of her bag and saw that there was a message from her friend.

Doing an evening session with Belle on the beach. Hope Ollie was fun! Xx

Charlie bristled. ‘Beach sounds great,’ she said, forcing a smile.

Ten minutes later, she was showing Oliver how to skim stones across the breakers while Marmite bounded in the shallows, treating each new wave as if it was a tiny, Yorkipoo-eating monster.

‘You’re not holding your hand right. It needs to be more like this.’ Charlie stood behind him and twisted his hand. ‘And then, in one, fluid motion you need to go like this.’ She demonstrated with her own stone, which skipped across the water three times before it disappeared.

‘Right.’ Oliver narrowed his eyes. ‘So I go like this, then like this. And then …’ He threw his stone, and it skimmed once before disappearing.

‘Yes!’ Charlie gave him a high-five. ‘It can only get better from there.’

‘I wouldn’t be so sure. I’ve never been that great at sports.’

‘Skimming stones is hardly a sport, though I can get competitive about it. I won’t today, obviously, as it’s your first time. But next time, Oliver, you’d better watch out.’

‘Next time?’ He took her hand. ‘You think there might be a next time?’

Charlie swallowed. ‘There could be. If you show enough promise.’

‘Then I will try very, very hard.’

They walked at the edge of the sea, their shoes in their hands, while the summer evening played out beautifully around them. Charlie liked Newquay. It was always full of people laughing, surfing, jogging along the beach. There were families paddling, a few still swimming, the sky turning pink just above the horizon. A group of twenty-somethings were trying to light a bonfire on the beach, which made her think of Daniel.

‘What is it?’ Oliver asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You squeezed my hand.’ He released his grip. ‘Luckily I still have the use of all my fingers.’

His grin was usually calming, but Charlie couldn’t match it.

‘No shrugging,’ he said. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Juliette is spending the evening with the yogis.’

‘And that’s bad because …?’

‘Because they’re Daniel’s.’

‘Daniel owns the yoga group?’

‘You know what I mean. I’m sure he set it up to piss me off, and now Jules has gone over to the dark side.’

‘You’re making this all very black and white.’

‘It is! He’s suddenly decided he doesn’t like my food market, and he’s sabotaging me.’ They started walking back to the car.

‘Or maybe the yoga has been organized for months and he forgot to tell you. Or he’s seen the positive impact your events are having on Porthgolow and has decided to put resources in to continue your good work, and bring even more people to the village? Look, I’ve only met Daniel briefly, and I told you before that there was something about him I didn’t like. But if you’ve got to know him, then why don’t you just talk to him? Get everything out in the open.’

‘Every time we see each other we end up sniping.’

They had stopped outside Oliver’s temporary home, and he glanced at the upstairs window, gave someone a quick wave and then ran his hand through his hair. By the time Charlie looked, there was nobody there.

‘Ask him to move the yogis further down the beach,’ Oliver said, shrugging. His cheeks were fiercely red, and she wondered if his tanned skin had finally had enough sun. ‘Surely it could accommodate you all?’

‘If that’s the case, why didn’t he set them up at the other end of the beach in the first place?’

‘Just talk to him, Charlie. And let me know if Saturday’s still happening.’

‘Of course it is!’ Charlie said, aghast. ‘There’s too much momentum to stop now. You will come, won’t you?’

Oliver brushed his lips over her cheek. ‘You know that I’m entirely at your disposal.’

‘Brilliant! Thank you, Ollie. For that and – and for today.’ She smiled, wondering if he would kiss her properly again, wondering if she should let him when, only two weeks ago, she had been kissing someone else. If she really wanted to take things further, she would have to tell him about Daniel, that it had been a one-off, an aberration. But Oliver just squeezed her hand, gave Marmite a quick stroke and let himself into the house.

As Charlie drove back to Porthgolow, her mind refused to settle. Was it just a misunderstanding, another slip from Daniel that had resulted in the yoga group taking up her part of the beach, or was he playing games with her? Of course Oliver was right, and the only way of finding out was by talking to him, but the idea of facing him again after the hot tub evening made her palms clammy. She would just have to go ahead with the food market as usual; they’d been there first and what, realistically, could Daniel do about a whole load of vans and trucks driving onto the beach? If he didn’t want a horrible accident on his hands, then he would have to be the one to give way.

The yogis looked serene, sitting on the beach equal distances apart, their shadows stretching long and thin behind them in the evening light. Charlie tried to make Juliette out but, from this distance, she could be any one of a number of dark-haired women. She slowed when she passed Myrtle’s pop-in, indicated, and was about to turn up the hill when she saw a figure leaning against Gertie, his attention focused on the water.

His muscled calves were tanned below khaki shorts, his dark hair blowing in the sea breeze. A German shepherd sat placidly at his side, his tail twitching. Charlie’s heart began to pound. She had to face him sometime, and if she did it now they might be able to avert the impending disaster.

She swung into The Seven Stars car park, attached Marmite’s lead and climbed out of the car. Daniel’s gaze was fixed firmly on the horizon and she felt a stab of satisfaction that she might be surprising him for once, but when she was ten yards away, Marmite barked and raced over, first sniffing Jasper and then putting his paws on Daniel’s leg.

He looked down and then crouched to ruffle the ecstatic dog. As he stood, he caught Charlie’s eye and grinned. She stopped, taking a moment to compose herself.

‘Charlie, I wondered if I might bump into you here.’

‘Why, because I’m going to have to spend the next day and a half trying to work out how to fit twenty food trucks in among a group of flexible yogis?’

His lips twitched. ‘No, because this is your bus.’