‘It’s OK to cry,’ I soothe. ‘Gran says tears are a sign that something special’s happening.’
Out of nowhere he laughs and his eyes shine through the tears. ‘Is something happening? I have no clue.’
‘Why don’t you call him?’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, why not? Call him now. Thank him for the cookie and ask him if there’s anything he wants to say to you, something he can’t say at work, and that’s why he’s acting out?’
Daniel gulps. ‘But he’s such an annoying little prick.’
‘Is he, though?’ I say, smiling. ‘Or is he under your skin because you like him and you’ve been denying it, quite rightly trying to maintain your authority?’
‘Don’t.’
‘Don’t what?’ I say, all innocence.
‘Don’t say this is just like so-and-so in some awful melodrama you once read and that we’re destined for each other…’
‘Me?’ I interrupt, hand on my chest, mock-horrified. Thatdoessound like me. The old me. ‘Look, those books have clearly taught me nothing. What Idoknow is, you’ve been talking about Ekon non-stop for weeks. I haven’t seen you this animated about anyone since, well…’ I let the word ‘me’ float away unvoiced, but he knows what I’m saying. I reach into his shirt pocket and hand him his phone. ‘Have you got a signal out here?’
He looks at the phone, smiling and confounded at the same time, but he takes it. ‘What?Ringhim? I never ring anybody. Not a text? I should text, right? What do you think? Oh God!’
‘Breathe. Just breathe. I think you should ring him. You can pick up a lot from the tone of someone’s voice that you just don’t get in a text.’
‘And you’ll be OK waiting here?’
‘I’ll be communing with nature. Me and my waterfall,’ I say. We smile nauseatingly at each other the way we always do, and he does a nervous sort of wriggle dance, then walks off along the beach, phone to his ear.
The waterfall sings to me and for a few moments I just breathe in the salty sea air, fresh and warm, and I listen to the gulls up on the cliff and the waves over pebbles behind me. The sun’s beating down on my shoulders but there’s a summer breeze cooling me too.
This is nice, I tell myself. This is the kind of golden moment I came here for, if only I didn’t have this heavy rock in my chest, dragging me down.
Daniel’s up on the sea wall now, still absorbed in his phone call, I can just make out that he’s smiling, head down, scuffing and kicking his slip-ons absent-mindedly on the stones beneath his feet while he talks.
My mind flits to Elliot alone in the shop and in spite of my self-righteous anger I feel guilty for leaving him to fend for himself. What if he’s run off his feet? Can he handle the shop and café on a sunny day like today? It’ll be getting lots of footfall, I bet. But my best friend’s here, and dammit, I’ve earned a bit of respite from the horrible tension of being stuck in the same building as Elliot.
No, Elliot can get on with things alone for a while. It’ll be back to business soon enough once Daniel leaves for Land’s End in the morning.
After a few moments Daniel’s back, and he’s doing a coy kind of pout behind his dark sunglasses.
‘So?’ I say.
‘We’re meeting for coffee next week, and not in the staff canteen either. We’re goingoutout, on Saturday.’
I frighten a nearby seagull with the little squawk of happiness I make, and we hug, and Daniel can’t contain the smile that’s making his cheeks glow. I haven’t seen him like this for years.
‘I asked why he always acts out so much around me and he said, “can’t you tell?” He said he’s liked me for weeks and I’ve missed every signal.’
Another bout of delirious squawking from me. So what if it’s juvenile? This is the kind of grade A romance the old me would get high on. I’ll make an exception in Daniel’s case because he really does deserve some romance in his life. I grasp his arm and we turn back for Up-along. I need to pick up my overnight stuff if I’m sleeping at the Siren tonight.
We walk side by side, heads tipped together.
‘So, a date, huh?’ I say. ‘With Ekon the hot nurse. Tell me you’re not going to work outallweek long for it?’
‘Oh, you know I am.’
The sun is already making its mid-afternoon descent over Clove Lore when we burst through the doors of the bookshop, laughing and conspiratorial, happy and relaxed.
