‘A little tip from someone who’s been there,’ she says, leaning in. ‘You need to learn to delegate. Still, I know it’s all very new to you. Hopefully you’ll pick things up soon enough. Anyway, my training partner will be here any minute – we’re in the Fairlawn mixed doubles tournament next month . . . so if you could leave us to it.’
She actually shoos us away. Jeff looks venomous.
‘I’m afraid I booked this court, Denise,’ he replies, which causes Denise to sigh and repeat everything she told me earlier about this court being hers and hers alone at this time on a Saturday, by decree of some unspecified higher authority, presumably the gods of tennis.
‘Oh, here’s my partner now,’ she exclaims, adding smugly: ‘He’s a plastic surgeon, by the way. Anexcellentone by all accounts. Oh, Sam!’
Obviously, I knew there was a chance of bumping into Sam at some point if I returned to this club. I didn’twantit to happen, and I also wasn’t going to be so pathetic as to let it stop me coming here. But when I see him heading towards us, I stupidly find myself looking away, trying to avoid eye contact.
As I bend down to rifle needlessly in my tennis bag, I can’t help replaying what Denise just said. A plastic surgeon?That’swhat he did with his medical degree? All that idealism he was supposed to have had! All that earnest determination to ‘help people’ and save lives! Did he seriously end up doingboob jobs?
‘Sorry I’m late, Denise. Oh, I didn’t realise you’d arranged doubles . . .’
I still don’t stand up, but glimpse enough to notice that he’s wearing a pale T-shirt, with navy shorts over muscular thighs.When the hell did he get legs like that?
‘I didn’t. Just a mix-up. These people are going now.’
She gets out her phone and with a tippy-tap of a manicured nail, satisfies herself with whatever it says, before brandishing it at Jeff.
‘Let’s just go,’ I mumble, standing up behind him and attempting to pull him by the elbow.
‘Just a minute,’ he says, pulling out his own confirmation. He thrusts his mobile at Denise. This, it seems, is iPhones at dawn.
She peers in and reads it out loud. ‘Court five. 3.30pm 25 April.ROSEBURYtennis club.’ She looks at him with a sly pout. ‘Would that beRosebury in Middlesborough, as opposed toRoeburyin Manchester? Sorry, Jeff!’
Jeff inhales. ‘No problem. We’ll just . . . go,’ he says, in a strangulated voice. He turns to Sam first and offers his hand. ‘I’m Jeff by the way. Pleased to meet you – albeit briefly.’
‘Sam,’ he replies. Only as he goes to shake with my brother, it’s not Jeff he’s looking at. It’s me.
‘And this is my sister—’
‘Jules,’ Sam finishes.
I step out from behind and manage to smile.
‘Hello, Sam,’ I say, feeling blood rush to my temples. ‘Long time no see.’
Chapter 15
The way Sam is looking at me makes me feel like I’m standing on stage in the glare of a spotlight and have suddenly forgotten my lines. I am illuminated, augmented, wondering if the whole world can see the goosebumps that have erupted on my skin.
‘Mummy!Mummm!’ We turn to look as Nora’s young student calls out. ‘My strings have broken!’
Denise sighs, grabs a spare racquet from her bag and with a ‘Coming!’ breaks into a dainty jog towards them.
‘How are you, Jules? I didn’t recognise you at first . . . you know, when you were calling me an idiot.’ He says it in a jovial tone that suggests this is some kind of shared joke. Still, it sends a shot of heat to my temples.
‘Oh, yes, sorry about that. I hadn’t recognised you either, obviously,’ I say, forcing an unconvincing laugh.
‘It’ll be the beard,’ he says, with a grin.
‘Probably,’ I reply, though I’d rather not dwell on the beard, which adds a new level of masculinity to his face that I was unprepared for. I don’t know why facial hair makes him even more handsome than I remember, but for some reason it makes me think of a documentary I once watched about mating peacocks. The moment the male’s feathers were on show, the females were all over him.
‘Iwasactually in the midst of an emergency, too,’ I add, in a bid to break this chain of thought. ‘Ireallyneeded to get out of my drive.’
He is suddenly concerned, a little ashen actually. ‘Oh God, sorry. Hope everything turned out okay?’
‘I mean . . . nobodydied!’ I force another laugh, then shake my head. ‘It’s a long story. I was always being blocked in historically, but then we got yellow lines opposite and it basically solved the problem. Until you came along, that is.’
