Maybe it’s fate, or maybe it’s a coincidence. It’s beautiful either way.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The following evening, Tom comes into Seaglass while I’m behind the bar, mixing up cocktails for sunset-seekers.
The vibe is perfectly chilled. Lorde is spilling from the loudspeakers and the sun is streaming in through the open balcony doors onto tall round tables surrounded by people on bar stools. I’m glad Tom gets to see it like this. It was practically empty the last time he came in, when it was tipping it down.
‘Hello!’
‘Hey,’ he replies, seeming as happy to see me as I am to see him.
He’s wearing an olive-green T-shirt that fits perfectly across his broad shoulders and his skin is the colour of golden honey.
‘I’m just finishing these up and I’ll be with you.’
He smiles and props his elbow on the bar top while I pour the contents of my cocktail shaker into three coupe glasses. I can feel him watching me as I pinch three tiny lilac violas off the plants on the counter and lay them gently on the foamy tops of my passionfruit martinis.
My customer carries them to her friends at a nearby table and I hear them gushing over how pretty the edible flowers look.
‘It’s nice to see you in here again,’ I say to Tom as I wipe down the bar top.
My insides feel practically balmy.
He’s regarding me with equal warmth and Rach’s words come to mind:He can’t take his fucking eyes off you.
I thought of those words yesterday at the foundry too.
‘Would you like a drink?’ I ask him with a smile.
The girls nearby are getting out their camera phones.
‘I’d love a pale ale. Which local ones do you recommend?’
‘Lou’s Brew? It’s named after the landlady at the Drifty. Have you been into the Driftwood Spars’ microbrewery?’
‘I went in a couple of days ago. God, I love it here.’
Every time he says it, I like him a little more.
Finn could never seem to get away from St Agnes fast enough.
‘You planning to exchange that for another one?’ I nod at the battered paperback copy ofThe Call of the Wildthat he’s put on the bar top as I decant his bottle of beer into a glass.
‘Thought I might, if that’s okay?’
‘Absolutely. That’s what they’re there for.’ I’m pleased that he’s using our book-swap service. ‘At least you won’t have to carry a bunch of books home with you.’
‘I’d have to leave them here. I only brought a rucksack with me.’
‘The rucksack you were carrying when you came in that first time?’
He nods.
‘You fit all your belongings into that one tiny bag?’ I’m astonished.
‘It’s actually kind of a big rucksack,’ he replies with achuckle. ‘Will you have one?’ he asks me hopefully as I ring up his order.
‘I can’t drink back here, but hang on. Libs?’ I call down the bar. ‘I’m taking my break now, okay? You good?’
