It now seemed like the most important thing in the world.
“Seriously?”
I nodded. “Show me the good places to run here. I’ve been doing the same route since I moved in.” Which wasn’t entirely true, because I’d driven out to Llandwwyn and Rhosneiger, but locally I wasn’t sure of the distances and the tides here. Running with someone who knew the area would be useful, but that wasn’t the point: I wanted to spend time with her, to work out whether I could be doing the right thing.
“Okay. Can I confirm in the morning though? Just in case Mia wants to come home early.” Romy was quietly cautious.
“Sure. Will Heidi’s gran be okay with, you know, me?” This puzzled me. My own ex-mother-in-law had been okay. She’d stillhad younger step-kids, so my ex hadn’t been her entire focus. From what I’d learned, Joel had been an only child, so Heidi would be his parents’ only grandchild. That meant for some scrutiny if anything happened between me and Romy, which I was no longer discounting. If she was still interested.
“She will. Joel’s mum’s always been really good. Joel was always really relaxed and I think he got it from his mum.” She smiled, toying with her hair with her free hand. “His dad wasn’t around. After he died, his mum was really about me and helping me out. She’s been amazing, so don’t worry – if she thinks I’ve gone for a run with a man she’ll be sending me flavoured condoms.”
Her cheeks coloured a shade that seemed to match her hair.
“Good to know.” I could’ve flirted with her more with that, but we hadn’t reached that point.
Yet.
We were quiet. The sound of the seagulls and the crashing of the waves the only noise in a silence that didn’t feel like it needed to be filled.
“Will Heidi be okay with you going running with her head teacher?” This was an aspect I had thought a lot about after Thursday when I’d turned her down.
“She won’t think anything of it. She’s too young for big opinions, unless it’s about vegetables.”
“She’s a good kid. You should be proud of her.”
“I am. She was a shitty sleeper until she was about two, but since then she’s been a really good kid. I’m expecting her to wake up on her thirteenth birthday and have developed horns and a tail.”
We carried on talking about life, the universe and everything, including books and films and more bands we’d both seen, until the sun had well and truly set and Puffin Bay had gone to sleep. Knowing that she would probably wake up at the same time asnormal, and we had a run scheduled for the morning, I made a move to leave, the sky above us speckled with stars.
“What time roughly tomorrow?” I pushed my hands in my jeans pockets, wanting to touch her.
“Just after nine? But I’ll send you that text. Or will nine be too early?”
“That time’s fine. I’ll set an alarm.”
She walked over to me, her empty glass on the painted table. “Thank you for today.”
Her green eyes shone, her pretty lips curved in a smile. She was less than a metre from me.
“Thank you for coming with me. And I’m sorry about the gossip that I know will happen.” Because it would. Small towns did this. The one I had moved here from had been just the same and that hadn’t even been as small.
Romy shrugged. “It’s fine. The question I get asked more than anything is about when I’m going to start dating again. There’s no one who thinks I should still be in mourning for Joel. And Joel would never have wanted me to have been on my own for so long. He was a good man.”
“I’m sure he was.” I took a step closer to her, one of my hands escaping from my pocket and lifting up to her face. I brushed my thumb over her lips, her face tilting up towards mine. “I know I said I didn’t want to go out for a meal with you, but that was a lie because I do.”
Her eyes widened. Any thoughts of why Cara might be missing were completely gone.
One kiss. I could take one kiss. One kiss wouldn’t be something stolen, would it?
I bent my head to hers as her arms went out slowly to loop around my neck. Our lips met, the kiss soft and slow, her lips parting after a few seconds, letting it deepen. My hands had found her waist, fingertips pressing softly there. It was temptingto move my hands, to see how she felt, but not here and now, not in her garden where a neighbour could look out and intrude on something that should be just for us.
“See you tomorrow.” I whispered the words when we finally pulled apart.
“Just after nine.”
THIRTEEN
Romy
