“Sure,” he says, shrugging. “Whatever. ForLynn.”
He hands over the two trays of drinks, and Ryan and I each take one back to the lido, and then I see him. Ash, standing in the hall of the entrance talking to Samira. When we push through the double doors, I hear them both laughing, before they swing around and he offers up one of the sweetest smiles I’ve ever seen.
“Ash,” I say, “you’re back.”
I haven’t seen him in days, and my only knowledge of his whereabouts was a few messages saying he was going to be away.
“Ah, yeah, I went to London to do somethings, ended up staying the week,” he says, being careful not to mention he was working, but the implication is clear. “Just needed time to myself.”
“Mara thought you were away with Kate,” Samira says bluntly, and while I want to be mad at her, I’m kind of glad he needs to respond.
“Oh, no,” he says, his face reddening slightly, as I feel mine burning as well. I breathe out. Relieved. At least they aren’t at that place yet.
“The Mocha Mamas are already here, so can you drop those down and then come back? Ash’s got someone he wants us to meet,” Samira says now.
“Oh, sure,” I say, looking at Ash, who gives me a wry smile and scratches the back of his shoulder, like he’s trying to be nonchalant.
I rush downstairs with Ryan and we drop the coffees on the table behind the ladies and their toddlers, all of them craning their necks and gasping as we arrive.
“Oh, thank you,” says a taller lady with braids piled high on her head. “Best coffee on the coast.”
“I just love this fresh mint tea,” says another, sipping carefullyas she sways from side to side, her newborn baby in a sling around her chest.
“So how do you normally do this?” I say. “Do you pay separately, or do you pay all together? I don’t have a huge amount of change.”
“Pay?” says the braided lady, scrunching her face up.
“Yeah, for the coffee. Sorry, Lynn’s not here and I’m not sure how it all works,” I say, as apologetically as I can, while trying to wrap this all up and get back upstairs to Ash and his surprise.
“Lynn never normally asks us for money,” says the lady now, looking awkwardly to the other ladies in the group. “Sorry, I think we assumed it was part of the program or something? A council thing. I mean, it’s the main reason we come, for the good coffee and the view.”
“A council thing?” I reply, confused. I don’t understand, but I don’t want to pry further. It’s only twenty quid, and I can speak to Lynn about how she funded it later. “Look, um, never mind. You guys enjoy your session and pop up if you need anything, okay?”
As I make my way up the stairs, I get a strange feeling, as though a fog is lifting. Lynn paid for their coffeespersonally. She must have. I’ve never seen any receipts, so it’s the only explanation. And what was Ryan saying this morning about Lynn buying a membership for his grandfather?
I shake the thoughts out of my head. I’ll have to go and look through the books later and try to figure out what I’m missing here. I see Ash standing in reception, this time joined by a slick-looking man in bright white sneakers, jeans, and a black T-shirt.
“Hi,” I say, rubbing my fingers on my shorts to remove any ice-cream stickiness before we shake hands.
“Mara, this is my cousin Chris. He’s an interior architect,” Ash says.
“He can bring all your ideas to life,” says Samira.
“Oh,” I say, looking at Ash, who grins broadly.
“Nice to finally meet you, Mara,” he says, the emphasis onfinally.
“Hi,” I say.
“I asked Chris if he could come down and hear about your ideas for the lido, and maybe you two could work together to come up with something that the folks in the town can visualize? I just thought it could be my way of helping out the cause.” He puts his hands into his jeans pockets, and then I see how tired he looks. Drawn around the eyes. I want to ask him how he’s doing, but it is not the moment.
“So anyway, you guys should talk,” says Ash now.
“Why don’t you all go upstairs and sit in the office,” says Samira, shooing us through the turnstiles. “Gerry is out,” she says to me, and I nod, relieved.
“I don’t need to come with you, I’ll just be a third wheel,” says Ash, nodding at Chris. “Mara can take it from here, I’m sure.”
Chris pats Ash on the shoulder. “Great to see you again. It’s been a while.”
