Shrugging off the thought of her leaving, he said, ‘You’ll have to pop over and see it. My camera stuff, I mean. Not the house. The house is nothing special.’
‘At least it’s yours,’ she countered.
‘There is that,’ he agreed.
‘And you promised to show me the canal.’
‘So I did. Would you like to go on Sunday? I warn you, it’ll be an early start.’ He paused. ‘Or will you be too busy unpacking?’
‘I’ve got one suitcase. It’s not going to take long.’
‘Do you think you’ll like living in Picklewick?’
She considered the question. ‘I’m not sure. I love being at the farm, but I’m kind of in holiday mode at the moment. It’s going to be a big jump to move from Birmingham to a little village. I’m worried it might be too sedate, if that’s the right word.’
He laughed. ‘I’m sure you’ll be able to manage being sedate for a couple of weeks.’
‘Yeah, I’m sure I will.’ She laughed too, but it sounded strained, and he wondered whether she regretted her decision not to return to Birmingham immediately.
As he tried to figure it out, he felt a prickling on the back of his neck and glanced over his shoulder to see a familiarface staring at him. His heart sank. This was the last place he expected to see Lacey, considering she didn’t like the food.
Her gaze drilled into him, and he squirmed uncomfortably. She was with one of her friends, and he couldn’t help thinking how this must look, him being here with another woman barely two months since he’d proposed.
Ashton managed to tear his gaze away, and as he caught a waiter’s eye, he tried to make it appear as though that was what he’d intended all along. ‘Could we have some water for the table, please?’
‘So, the canal,’ Carla was saying, oblivious. ‘Is it far from your house?’
‘Nothing in Thornbury is far from anywhere else,’ he joked weakly. ‘It’s bigger than Picklewick, but it’s not city sized.’
‘It’s got everything you need though, right?’
‘I suppose.’ He could still feel the weight of Lacey’s stare. She must think that he’d either got over her very quickly or Carla was a rebound relationship.
He swallowed hard and risked another glance. This was the first time he’d set eyes on her since he’d proposed. He’d phoned and he’d messaged, to no avail. She hadn’t answered his calls or returned his messages, yet now there was a jealous expression on her face that had no right to be there.
Then it occurred to him that her expression mightn’t have anything to do with him, and he scolded himself for thinking the world revolved around him. Clearlyherworld hadn’t, because if it had, she wouldn’t have dumped him. Right now, she was probably thinking he was a sad fecker and that she’d had a lucky escape. Maybe she was even feeling sorry for Carla.
Ashton had no appetite for dessert and was eager to leave. Despite it being early still, Carla didn’t appear to want to linger either. They had been in the restaurant for one hour and fifteen minutes, tops. Some date this was turning out to be.
‘Fancy a walk?’ he asked impulsively. ‘I thought we could stroll along the towpath.’
Carla glanced at her feet. ‘I’m not really dressed for it.’
He followed the direction of her gaze. She was wearing strappy sandals with heels, so there was nothing for it but to take her home, unless… ‘Want to pop back to my place?’ he asked, as they made towards the car.
She was smiling. ‘For coffee?
‘If you want, or I can open a bottle of wine.’
She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head. ‘You reallydomean coffee.’
‘Why? What did you—?Oh.’
‘You’re blushing.’
‘I’m not.’
‘It’s cute.’
