Her shoulders dropped. “I know. I love watching sports but I have no hand eye coordination. That could’ve been so much worse.”
“Yeah, I could’ve been someone trying to actually break in rather than someone just trying to find out if you wanted to go to the Puffin Inn to watch the rugby.” I removed the cricket bat from her hands. “Was this Joel’s?”
“It was. He played football as well, but cricket was his favourite sport. He had trials for Glamorgan once, which he never let anyone forget about. I take it you’ve heard about what happened?” She sat down on a garden chair.
I managed to pull my eyes off her tits.
“I have. Amelie told me and Liv saw me when I was on my way here. When did you know someone was around here?”
“My phone did an alert but I’d left it on the kitchen table and I was upstairs. I need to make sure I keep it near to me – need to get in that habit. I’m expecting the cavalry – and there they are.” She stood up at the same time as footsteps sounded on the same path I’d taken. “It’s okay! False alarm!”
Two men I didn’t recognise opened the gate, obviously knowing how to get in.
“All okay?” one of them said. “I’m Nick O’Hara – you’re Romy and you’re Cassian, I think?”
“That’s us. Sorry. I didn’t hear Cas knock over the music – really stupid idea. Sorry to have wasted your time.” Romy looked utterly embarrassed.
Nick shook his head. “Fine by us. Here’s our ID so you know we are who we say we are. You should check if anyone claiming to be security comes round, don’t believe them.” He glanced up at me.
He was a big bloke, broad, tall and looked rather like a mountain. I wouldn’t want to cross him when I’d done something wrong, but right now he didn’t look a threat.
“My wife, Katie, had a similar situation where someone was looking for her – that was how we met. Don’t believe anyone until you’ve verified their ID, and we’d rather have false call outs than something happen. We’ll reset the perimeter and leave you to it.” He gave me a grin and shook his head. “Thought you’d just moved here? Fast worker, aren’t you?”
“He’s just a friend.” Romy shook her head. “I asked and he said no.”
Nick looked at me and raised his brows, silently asking a very good question.
What the fuck were you thinking?
Romy did want to go to the Puffin Inn to watch the rugby. She told me she’d not wanted to hang around town like she was planning to because she didn’t want any more questions about what’d happened and whether Mia had said anything about her mother. The girls were away for tonight, a spur of the momentagreement between Romy and Joel’s mum to give them a break away while the town calmed down about what’d happened.
I sat outside in the garden while Romy got changed, the image of her in that bikini forever pinned on the underside of my eyelids.
Did I say it? Did I tell her I’d noticed how she looked? Did I tell her she was punching well below her weight if she was interested in me?
I half thought about it during the first half of the game, Wales narrowly being beaten by England. Romy knew a lot of people in the pub. She was chatty and sociable and had something to say to most people. She also understood the game, which didn’t surprise me.
We ate lunch there, fending off questions about Cara and Mia with just a few words. The girls were safe with Joel’s mum. Romy’s house was secure, as we’d just proved, and Wales did indeed end up victorious. The celebrations continued into the late afternoon, more locals joining us, Finn Holland and his little one, Roe and Freya, Thane with his twins who knew exactly who held the power, and I became splashing around in a sea of conversation and in jokes and memories that went a long way to making me feel like this could be where I was meant to be, even though it was still early days and I was being cautious.
We walked home after dinner, just as Amelie was getting the barbecue out. We talked more about sport and then the town and Mavis, and about the town meeting that’d been called for Tuesday evening, held in the school assembly hall.
“I wish I had more time to exercise. I can’t play sport well – you’ve seen my batting skills and you were hardly a small target to hit – but I’d love to join a team. Women’s cricket maybe, or netball in winter.” She looked out to the sea. “I did fancy starting wild swimming – there’s a group that swims out every Sunday morning at nine – but it’s what to do with Heidi, and Mia now.”
“Do you get any time at all?”
She gave me a slight grin. “Joel’s mum takes Heidi to swimming lessons on a Saturday usually, so all I have to do is have her ready for nine. Heidi loves being with her and it gives me a day to do things I can’t normally, like go for a run, or have a really long shower with no one shouting for me.” She beamed and laughed lightly. “Not going to lie, the run usually doesn’t happen and I take a bath instead.”
All I was picturing right now was her in a bath, suds covering skin I hadn’t seen yet.
“Want to run together?” The question was definitely beer fuelled, even though I’d only had a couple of pints.
Her laugh was incredulous. “Seriously? You’ve run loads. I’m like a quick two K round the town when Heidi’s on a play date. You did a half marathon four months ago. I’ll hold you back.”
“That’s not the point.” Because it wasn’t.
“I won’t be at my finest, I’ll have no make-up on, and I sweat when I run.” She was shaking her head.
I laughed, a proper, entertained laugh. “The point is to sweat. And I don’t care about make-up. Come for a run with me.”
