‘No!’ She spoke with a little more force than she’d intended, not wanting to sound super-keen while feeling super-super-keen. ‘I mean, you’re not spoiling my morning, interrupting my thing, not at all.’
‘I’m Edgar. Ed.’ He touched his fingers to his chest as if English might not be her first language. It made her want to laugh. In fact she wanted to laugh anyway, she felt a little giddy.
‘I’m Tawrie, Taw.’
‘Tory? As in Thatcher? Old Etonians and privilege?’
Resisting the temptation to scoff, and not for the first time, she explained, ‘No, Tawrie as in the river Taw, T-A-W. The river.’
‘I’ve never heard it as a name. It’s ... different! And different is good. There were three Rebeccas in my class at school.’
‘There were three Tawries in mine.’
‘Were there?’
‘No.’ She smiled, happy that he’d taken the bait. ‘Actually, my dad chose it. Could be worse, we might have lived by the Mississippi and then everyone would sing at me wouldn’t they. “Mrs M, Mrs I, Mrs SSI Mrs SSI Mrs PPI!”’Edgar stared at her and she felt her face colour. ‘Did you not learn that rhyme at school?’
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘We did maths and English, art, that kind of thing. No river poem songs.’
He was funny too.He was funny!
‘Where are you staying?’ It was her turn for questions.
‘Fore Street.’
‘Oh okay, well we’re neighbours. How long are you staying?’Forever? Say forever!
‘Not sure.’ He shrugged and she caught the double blink that gave away more than his vague response, wondering what was behind it. Was he nervous, hiding away? She understood the desire to do both.
‘Well, I have to get to work.’ She hated the thought and could have quite happily stayed there all day, getting to knowpink shirt man, Edgar.Ed.
‘Where do you work?’
‘The Café on the Corner, it’s my cousin’s place.’
‘Maybe I’ll pop in?’
‘Sure, it’s by the quay, on the, erm, on the corner.’
‘I guess the clue is in the name.’ He stared at her.
‘Yep.’ She swallowed, nerves filled her up and it took all of her energy not to give him her number, arrange a time and place to meet, pin down the detail. Luckily this was Ilfracombe and it was pretty hard not to bump into people.
‘Taw ... Tawrie.’ He spoke her name and seemed hesitant, shy even. She felt her gut bunch with desire, the sound of her name on his lips was something quite fabulous. ‘Tawrie,’ he began againand she stared at the man who displayed similar nerves. Could it be that he was feeling the same?
‘Yes, Ed?’ She took a step towards him and looked up at his face, speaking his name as deliberately as he had hers.
‘I-I’m not sure how to say this.’ He licked his dry lips and her heart jumped.
‘Just say it!’ She giggled like the swishy-haired girls who had always felt alien to her, like the blonde who had held a curling wand as if it were gold.
‘Tawrie ...’ He took a breath.
‘Yes, Ed?’
‘You’ve dropped your knickers.’ He pointed at the grey blob that sat by her foot and as she stooped to gather them into her hand, she made a wish that when she righted herself he had disappeared, but no, there he was and he was laughing.
‘You’ve been a right dizzy tits this morning, what’s the matter with you?’ Connie as ever cut to the chase as Tawrie concentrated on using a fresh cloth to wipe the drips from the bottles of ketchup that got sticky after a day on the job.
