‘Why not?’
‘I don’t know, I just didn’t really feel like going out after all.’
I was a bit freaked out by Siân’s teasing that it was a date so I made excuses about needing a chilled one.
‘In that case, we’ve got a lot to pack in today,’ he says with a grin, half jumping and half striding off a ledge onto the stony shore.
‘You can’t show me all of Wales in a day.’
‘No, but I can show you a chunk of Mid and North Wales. We’ll go further afield next time.’ He places our helmets on the ground. ‘If that’s okay with you,’ he adds with a bashful smile, coming back to help me.
‘I suppose it could be,’ I tease as he clasps my forearms with his strong hands and steadies me while I climb down.
On the other side of the lake is a tower that looks like it’s part of an old castle, with tall, round, grey stone walls and a conical green roof. A forest rises up behind it, and the water is so still, it reflects a mirror image of the trees, tower and sky.
As he unzips his black jacket, Ash tells me that it’s astraining tower, built at the turn of the twentieth century to extract water from the lake. He’s wearing a dark grey long-sleeve T-shirt underneath, with chunky black boots and black trousers. He’s definitely giving hot biker.
‘So how have you been this week?’ I ask as I remove his rucksack.
‘All right,’ he replies.
‘Have you spoken to Beca?’
He shakes his head as he takes the rucksack from me and starts getting out the picnic supplies. ‘She’s not answering my calls.’ He sounds down.
‘What have you told your parents about your break-up?’
‘My father? Nothing. He hasn’t asked and we don’t talk aboutfeelings. My mother, only that it’s over.’
‘Bet she was disappointed.’
I remember him saying that she wanted him to get together with Beca when he was younger.
‘Sometimes we have to disappoint our parents,’ he says wryly. ‘Speaking of disappointing our parents, how did yours cope when you broke away from the family business? I still don’t know anything about that.’
‘Yeah, I don’t really like to talk about it,’ I reply morosely.
He looks concerned. ‘They took it badly, huh?’
‘That’s an understatement. My mum basically disowned me.’
His eyes widen. ‘Holy shit. I’m so sorry.’
‘My dad and I speak and text occasionally, but I don’t think my mum will ever get over it. I’m still standing, though.’
‘Yes, you are,’ he agrees tenderly.
‘Can we change the subject? I try not to think about them if I can help it.’
He’s still looking concerned, but he obliges me. ‘Tell me about your apprenticeship. What was it like, working at Wisley?’
We chat about me for a while and then move on to talk about his motorbike travels around Europe, and it’s nice – it really is like catching up with an old friend.
‘I told Siân I’m seeing a girl from my old work, by the way,’ I say as we pack away the remnants of our lunch.
He looks troubled. ‘She’s going to be upset with you when she finds out you’ve lied.’
‘Then she’d better not find out.’
