‘I don’t bloody believe you, Ed Duke. First you have the audacity to invite friends to joinourholiday without even telling me. You let me go back from the boat on my own and left me all day. And then I come here and you’re practically licking the face of somebody ten years younger, who undoubtedly can still have children.’
Ed held Gracie with both arms now.
‘Hey, stop it. You know how much I think of you.’
‘Do I? Do I really? I hardly know you, Ed. And my gut is telling me this isn’t the way I deserve to be treated.’
‘Don’t be irrational. It’s all cool.’
Skye appeared from outside. She was obviously drunk.
‘Chill out, sister, we’re just having fun.’
Gracie thought she was going to internally combust. Rather than cause a scene, she scurried down the alleyway from the pub and into the street. She marched to the Town Quay, sat on a bench and took a massive deep breath. It was windy now but somehow the extreme of the weather made her feel better. The high tide was sending waves sloshing noisily against the moored boats. She sat until she could stand the cold no longer, then looked over to The Galleon. The outside areas were almost deserted now and she could hear whoops of delight as the band starting playing up again.
Maybe she had overreacted? They had only been talking, for goodness’ sake. But a cheated heart is a paranoid one and she trusted her instincts. She had sensed their attraction from the start and as for saying ‘she’s a pretty girl’ – what a bastard! And where was he now? A man who cared would have followed her out. It was all suddenly very clear, Edward Duke wasn’t the man for her.
If she had had her own car there, she would have left. She reached for her phone. She had to call Noms. She would calm her, tell her what to do, tell her everything would be all right. There was a message on her answerphone. She struggled to hear what it said over the noise of the wind, but when she found a sheltered spot and could, she put her hand to her heart.
‘Gigi, it’s me, Lewis. I’ve had an accident, in the car. Don’t worry, nothing too serious, just had to have an op to reset my arm as it’s broken. But… but I just wanted you to know that you were the first person I thought of when I came to. And I know you’re seeing someone now, but I wanted you to know…His voice cracked… that I still miss you… I miss you so much.’
FIFTY-ONE
Gracie sat drinking tea with Noms at the kitchen table. Boris was sleeping soundly at their feet. Jack was at a friend’s house.
‘Feeling better?’ Noms enquired lovingly.
‘Do you think I overreacted?’ Gracie groaned.
‘He was just talking to the girl, but I’m with you on the gut-feeling thing. Has he contacted you since he asked where you’d gone?’
‘Yes. He said that he was sorry he had made me feel that way and to get on the train back down there, but that was it. I can’t believe he’s staying down there on his own. The “friends”’ – Gracie made her fingers into inverted commas – ‘were only around for the weekend, supposedly.’
‘He might come back early, you don’t know,’ Naomi said lightly.
‘Maybe, but he does love his windsurfing, and he hasn’t had a holiday for ages because he was waiting for his court date.’
‘Well, you can cut him some slack for that then, poor bastard. He must be under such stress.’
‘I know. But it wasn’t just the girl thing, it was everything. I don’t think he’s the man for me, Noms. I need someone who cares a little bit more. Someone a bit more thoughtful.’ Gracie sighed loudly.
‘We both know men don’t think like us, though, Grace. He probably won’t even realise why you’re upset.’
‘Well, that’s no excuse. He should have taken my feelings into consideration – and more importantly, I didn’t like the way it made me feel.’
‘OK, I get that.’ Noms got up and opened a packet of chocolate digestives.
Gracie took the one offered. ‘If somebody can upset me after such a short time together, well then, I can’t see a future in it. A good relationship is about being happy, not about feeling hurt and sad. And if I’m totally honest, the rape thing… well, that’s also been on my mind.’
‘I didn’t think you doubted him for one minute about that.’ Noms wiped crumbs from her mouth with her hand.
‘I didn’t – I don’t, but the fact that it’s going to trial, well something untoward could have happened, is my thinking.’
‘Oh, I don’t know, Grace. Truthfully, though, it has been worrying me a bit, too.’
‘He was so kind when I fell over, and in bed he has been nothing but gentle with me. He’s not a bad person, I know that. But I saw a different side to him this weekend.’
‘Well, maybe see what happens when he comes back.’
