What is going on with you, Eleanor?
‘And secondly, I don’t believe you for a second. Women always used to fall at your feet.’ She eyed him shrewdly. ‘It’s the freckles, I reckon.’
‘That was in my youth, dear Eleanor,’ he moaned dramatically. ‘These days it’s a very different story. I mean, look at our friend Heidi, for instance!’
‘I’m sure underneath those multiple layers of ice-cold steel her shrivelled heart beats a little louder for you,’ she remarked sarcastically, as they joined the group of guests waiting for the coach.
‘Unlikely,’ Fin replied. ‘The pictures turned out pretty great, though. I did some editing last night.’
‘I had no doubt they would,’ she replied truthfully. ‘I mean, she looked better than me and I’m about fifty years younger than her.’
‘Don’t be stupid. Look at you. You’d give Heidi a run for her money any day.’ He smiled.
Eleanor’s stomach did a strange little flip and her neck suddenly felt very hot.
‘Aha, here it is!’ Fin pointed at the large white coach turning into the car park. ‘It’s hardly rushing, is it? I could havehad time for a quick power nap at this rate. Come on, let’s try and get the good seats at the back.’ He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the vehicle.
‘You’re such a child.’ Eleanor laughed, trying to shake off the odd tingling feeling in her chest.
‘I never got to sit at the back at school. So now every time I get on a coach, I make it my mission to get the back seats.’ He shrugged as though this were the most normal thing in the world to admit.
Eleanor felt a pang of guilt. ‘You told me you didn’t mind sitting at the front.’
‘What?’ he asked, clambering on to the coach.
‘At school. When we used to sit at the front, you said you didn’t mind it. That you didn’t like the back seats.’
‘Oh.’ He paused mid-step, his foot suspended in the air. ‘Well … your travel sickness was so bad you couldn’t sit anywherebutthe front. I told you that so you didn’t feel bad.’
‘Fin!’ A childish annoyance quickly replaced the guilt. ‘You shouldn’t have done that.’
‘It was no big deal.’ He leapt up on board and was halfway down the aisle when he stopped suddenly. ‘Wait, do you still get sick? Do we need to go back?’ The panic on his face was comical.
‘No. I’m fine. Just find a seat and sit down, there’s a queue behind me,’ she scolded, sounding scarily like her mother.
‘OK, let’s go here,’ he announced proudly. ‘Do you want the window?’
‘Sure.’ She shuffled into the seat. ‘Now, some rules for today …’
‘Here we go,’ he scoffed, falling in beside her.
‘What do you mean by that?’ She scowled.
‘Nothing.’
‘Yes, you did, or you wouldn’t have said it.’
‘I’m just saying, it wouldn’t be right if we went somewhere or did something without you trying to organize and plan everything. You like to be in control, that’s all.’
‘No, I don’t,’ she protested.
‘Yes, you do.’ He grinned. ‘It’s not a bad thing, don’t worry.’
‘I’m not worried,’ she huffed, adjusting her dress unnecessarily. ‘Anyway, all I was going to say was don’t, whatever you do, let me do shots tonight. Tequila and weddings are never my friend.’
He relaxed back in his seat and stretched his long legs out. ‘Gotcha. Absolutely no tequila.’ He raised an eyebrow at her cheekily. ‘Anything else before we set off?’
She shot him a deadly look. ‘No. That’s all.’
