Chapter17
Star was just closing her flat door behind her and about to head downstairs when she heard a motorbike noisily revving outside of her market unit. Already late for her date, she ran downstairs, straight past the motorbike and down Ferry Lane to the estuary front and Frank’s Café. As she got to the end of the market stalls, the motorbike pulled up alongside her and the rider pulled off his black visored helmet and shook out his hair slowly and deliberately as if in some kind of romance movie.
Star started laughing. ‘Oh my God, I didn’t realise it was you.’
‘And I must have totally missed you walking past me. I wanted to surprise you and save you walking down the hill.’ Conor Brady smiled his lopsided smile. ‘Here.’ He handed her an old green open-faced helmet. ‘Hop on.’
‘I thought we were going for a walk and I haven’t been on a motorbike for years and—’
The voice of Florence Sibley suddenly crossed her mind.‘Don’t be afraid to jump in.’
Star took the old-fashioned helmet, popped it over her white beanie hat and allowed Conor to do up the strap. Leaning in closely, she could feel his warm breath on her face. Just the nearness of him and his leather-gloved fingerstouching her neck caused the butterflies to awaken in her stomach, alerting a need she hadn’t felt since Jack.
‘Why can’t I have a trendy helmet like yours?’ she asked.
‘Because it’s the only spare Frank has.’
‘I didn’t even know he owned a motorbike.’
‘We are men of mystery, we Bradys. Part of our appeal, don’t you think?’ Conor said, stepping back.
Star felt herself reddening. ‘I’ll only get on this thing if you go slowly, you hear me? And if I bash you once, that means go slower and if I keep bashing you after that, that means stop. OK?’
‘OK.’ A look of amusement spread across Conor’s face.
‘Where are we going anyway?’
‘It’s a secret.’
‘Thank God I wore jeans. Why do men never think about practicalities?’
‘I guessed even you wouldn’t wear a ball dress on a walk.’ Conor smirked. ‘Now, will you just get on the fecking bike.’ Star did as she was told. ‘And make sure to hold on tight to me and not my rucksack or you’ll be off and on the floor quicker than your knickers if I have my way.’
‘What did you say?’ But the din of the motorbike engine starting up drowned out her words.
Conor took Star by the hand as they walked up the steep path towards Penrigan Head. ‘See? I told you we were going walking.’
‘I’m surprised I can actually put one foot in front of the other after going through those country lanes on that bloody bike.’
Conor laughed. ‘I wasn’t going that fast.’
‘You’ve got a visor! My cheeks were wobbling so much they were playing a tune.’
‘NowthatI would like to see.’ He peered at her bottom.
Star tutted. ‘You’re a rude boy.’
‘And you have a dirty mind.’ Conor pulled her arm. ‘Come on, let’s get to the top. We can have a coffee there to warm us up.’
After fifteen minutes of solid walking, they reached the end of the cliff path, which flattened out to reveal a jaw-dropping vista. The grey winter sky mirrored the calm sea below, where coastal birds bobbed up and down on the white-tipped waves as if on some watery fairground ride. On spotting a shoal of fish darting under a rocky shelf at the bottom of the cliffside, the birds dived at them, shrieking their approval.
The couple set up camp between two large rocks and sat down on a blanket that Conor had stored in his rucksack. Star sipped a coffee from a flask that Conor said he had found tucked away in a drawer in the kitchen above Kara’s shop.
‘Nature lover and Boy Scout,’ Star said. ‘I have got you wrong on so many levels.’
‘It’s not only you who likes to think of themselves as more than just a pretty face, you know,’ he told her.
Star nursed the plastic cup warming both her hands. ‘It’s so nice to get out of that wind.’
