Leo tore open the lid of a box filled with bright green rope that had been sitting on the top of the counter waiting to be slotted onto the hooks next to the orange rope and went over to do just that as the rain hit pause but the wind continued to batter the walls and the windows. When the door opened he expected a bedraggled customer, but instead it was Nina, and despite the battle she’d obviously had with the weather she was beaming.
‘How did it go?’ he asked, finding a fresh towel from beneath the counter and handing it to her for her hair.
‘Walt is absolutely over the moon, Leo.’ She rubbed at the blonde strands until she’d got the worst off. ‘Oh you should have seen his face.’
‘Making him happy makes me happy.’ And making her happy made him that way too. Did she feel the same?
‘He’s already asking about Adrian moving into the cabin, what he’s going to do about teaching. You know Walt, he wanted to know everything.’
Leo didn’t mind one bit. ‘It’s good he’s interested.’ Now and again he thought about how disinterested her own parents had been in the minutae of Nina’s life and her brother’s, but Walt more than made up for the shortfall. ‘Just make sure he asks if he needs any jobs doing at the bungalow, that’ll take a worry off your shoulders.’
‘There is one thing.’
‘Go ahead.’ He leant against the counter. With Adrian taking charge of any customer brave enough to venture out this afternoon, he had time to spend with Nina.
‘He won’t want to be a burden, but he really could do with a handrail on the walls by the front step, they’re really slippery and I’ve got visions of him not being able to stay upright if he ventures outside, especially in the winter.’
‘Consider it done, I’ll talk to him and get one put in.’
‘Thank you.’
‘What have you got there?’ he asked when he noticed she’d taken something out of her bag wrapped in foil.
‘My homemade carrot cake for you guys.’ She looked over to where Adrian was laughing with a customer. ‘Wow.’
‘I know, right.’
‘He looks happy.’
Leo took her arm, moving her over to the side of the shop out of sight of Adrian and the customer. He wanted a little bit of privacy. ‘I wanted to thank you again for what you and Walt did with the cabin.’
‘Thankus? Don’t be silly, we couldn’t be happier. Me and Grandad.’
He shook his head. ‘You could’ve easily taken the higher offer, there are a lot of people who would’ve done, and I wouldn’t have held it against you at all. It was a substantial amount of extra money on the table.’
‘Neither of us wanted to do that to you. This place is in your blood, this place is you, it’s Adrian.’ They both began to smile when they heard Adrian and the customer talking about lessons on a river versus lessons in the sea. ‘He’s back.’
‘Yeah.’ Leo stepped closer to her, a magnetic pull making it impossible to do anything else. ‘The question is, what are you going to do now the cabin has had its makeover and has a buyer? Will you relocate down this way or are you leaving again, never to return?’
‘What do you want me to do?’
The magnetic pull hadn’t let up in the slightest. ‘I wanted you to go far far away from me when you first got back here.’
She gulped. ‘And now?’
‘Now …’ He reached out and hooked her hair behind her ear, his palm caressing her cheek and staying there. His pulsed raced as the body heat between them drew them even closer, their faces inches apart as they looked deep into one another’s eyes.
‘I’ve missed you,’ was all she said.
‘I’ve missed you too.’ Her mouth came tantalisingly close, but then the customer and Adrian moved over to the till. ‘Almost sprung,’ Leo whispered, not wanting the moment to end. But they moved over to the shop floor and he didn’t miss the knowing look his brother gave him.
When the customer went on his way Adrian eyed the package wrapped in foil on the counter. ‘What do we have here?’
‘Carrot cake, Camille insisted I didn’t leave it all there with her and Walt.’
Adrian and Leo both helped themselves to a slice. ‘You made this in your cabin?’ Adrian asked Nina.
‘I did. Well, I made it inyourcabin,’ she said.
