‘Taylor’s family own the cabin I rent,’ Jack explained. ‘I came across her down in the swimming hole on the beach last night.’
‘I see.’ She stared at me. ‘And now here you are.’
‘Yes, here we are,’ I confirmed cheerfully, ignoring her clear insinuation that I had engineered this meeting. ‘But I didn’t know Jack worked here until Ray dragged me in off the street to eat.’
‘A decision I have come to regret,’ Ray said.
The waitress chose that moment to arrive with our food, forcing Hannah to step to one side so she could put Ray’s bowl of chowder and plate of cheesy garlic bread down on the table.
‘Hannah,’ she said warmly. ‘Welcome back.’
‘Lucy.’ Hannah hugged the waitress. ‘How is everything?’
‘Great. Jack’s doing an amazing job of running this place.’
Hannah smiled up at Jack. ‘Of course he is. I never doubted he would.’
‘Are you sure you won’t join us?’ Jack asked Hannah again as Fiona headed back to the kitchen for the rest of our order. ‘There’s nothing to eat upstairs.’
She shook her head. ‘It’s fine, Jack. I’m not hungry. I’ll go and unpack, freshen up, then do a shop later.’
‘Do you need a hand with your bags?’
She looked briefly tempted, but shook her head. ‘No, you eat. I’m fine. Can we catch up later?’
‘Of course.’
‘Enjoy your lunch,’ Hannah said, as the waitress arrived with our food.
‘She seems nice,’ I said, as Jack took a seat again.
He nodded. ‘Yeah, she is.’
‘How do you two know each other?’
‘Her husband Alex and I were old friends.’
My ears pricked up, sensing a scandal. An illicit affair, perhaps. Enough to destroy a friendship. ‘Were?’
‘Yeah, he uh, he died.’
‘Oh.’ I hadn’t been expectingthat. ‘So she’s…?’
He nodded softly. ‘Widowed.’
‘Damn.’ Immediately I felt bad for prying. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘No, it’s fine. But I’d rather not talk about it. Hannah is still grieving. I don’t want to risk her or one of the staff hearing us, if that’s OK.’
‘Of course. Totally understand. Let’s just eat.’
Ray slurped his chowder. ‘Ahead of you there.’
There was an awkward silence while we ate. The food was insanely good. My tuna was fresh and perfectly marinated, served with rice, cucumber and avocado and a sesame dressing.
‘So,’ I said finally, trying to break the silence and remind him of the fun banter we’d been having before Hannah had arrived. ‘You got the fish tacos. That was going to be my next guess.’
Jack laughed, and I was relieved to hear it. ‘You really expect me to believe that?’
