When he cast a greedy look at her, her skin crawled. Hugging her towel to her chest, she answered sharply, ‘Well, you’d know all about racing ahead andcoming first, wouldn’t you, Justin.’
‘I’m just used to being a winner, Aria’ he replied, his voice icy. She’d clearly rattled him with her comment. ‘I’m not evenswimming competitively anymore, yet I still expect to grab a trophy. Have you seen Lu-Lu? She has my clothes. She should be more aware of how cold top athletes get after an event.’
Aria remembered Justin’s fiancée claiming a six-year menstruation cycle to get out of doing P.E at school. ‘She might not have realised you were so fast in the water. Let’s hope you don’t get disqualified for exceeding the speed limit,’ she joked, causing one of his eyebrows to shoot up. His lack of humour reminded her she was definitely over him, and she was struggling to remember why she’d been so upset he’d moved on. He’d undermined her many times and chipped away at her confidence over the course of their relationship. She’d been playing with the idea of doing her A levels or a foundation course and applying to uni, when Justin persuaded her to stay and enjoy the ‘university of life’. Her dad was unhappy about it, but conceded she was old enough to make her own decisions. After some stupefyingly boring years as a lifeguard, Justin’s marriage proposal and invitation to join the family firm moved her onto a new path. But the engagement came to an abrupt end when he dumped her, then jumped ship into Lu-Lu’s arms. Looking at him now, Aria decided, if she put aside the shock of being cheated on and the sting of being instantly replaced, she’d been lucky. She could so easily have ended up with a boorish husband who droned on about mobile homes while bragging about his latest motor. Of course, she hadn’t thought that when she jumped on a train south to escape the gossip and hide the shame around being dumped. Already feeling pushed out by Felicity, she’d been bereft and alone. Taking the first job she saw, she’d accepteda flat-share next to a factory that threw luminous green light into her room all night. Thinking she’d give it a month, she stayed till her dad died.What a waste of my life.Aria swerved the changing rooms in case Lu-Lu was hanging around clutching Justin’s sweaty jacket. Instead, she shrugged herself out of her wetsuit as far as the waist and tied the sleeves together. It could dry on her body along with her bikini top in the pleasant sunshine, and she’d nip in and change after that. She diverted from the main tent when she saw her stepmother holding court with some middle-aged women. She didn’t want to be pinned into a corner while they all gave her the pitying looks and asked how she was,really. Looking around for a better escape route, she spotted Sophie accepting a giant hot dog from Cal at his food truck. Tiger strained at his lead when he saw Aria and the bun wobbled dangerously in her friend’s hand.
‘They are top quality extra-large German frankfurters. No one else has complained about the price.’ Callum scowled at Sophie, while she flounced off to the condiments table. ‘And please note that is branded sauce!’
Sophie ignored Aria’s questioning look. ‘Oh, there you are, we’ve been looking for you everywhere. Feast your eyes on this – apparently it is the largest and best quality sausage in all the land,’ she said, holding the bottle of ketchup above the bun like a dagger. ‘Although you need an actual mortgage to pay for it,’ she exclaimed loud enough for Cal to hear.
‘What’s your beef with him?’ Aria asked, to be informed it was actually pork. Realising she was hungry, Aria ordered one with extra onions. She was already regretting the decisionto keep her bottom half in her wetsuit - her thighs chafed in the material, she was struggling to keep it up around her waist and it wasn’t the most flattering outfit in the world. But she was definitely more hungry than cold or embarrassed. She tied the arms tighter and accepted Tiger’s lead. He licked her fingers happily, pleased to be reunited, while Cal handed her the hot dog. She bit her bottom lip in anticipation of the food.
‘Well done on the swim,’ Sophie said. ‘Want help with sauce?’
‘Mustard. Drench it, please.’ As Sophie went overboard, even for Aria’s spicy tastes, Nic walked over to the van, greeting Cal like he was a bestie and introducing his associate. She tried and failed to overhear the name. When Nic turned and flashed them a smile, a layer of water warmed up in her wetsuit – getting extra toasty between her thighs.
‘How did you do in the race?’ he asked, walking over to them. At least he wasn’t calling ithisrace.
‘Well, I finished,’ Aria stuttered, waiting for him to be as mean as Justin, relieved when no insult followed. But he stuck around, leaving her holding the hot dog as though it was a land mine in danger of exploding.
‘In line for the big prize?’ Nic’s companion asked her.
Sophie jumped in. ‘A prize was unnecessary, you know. Most people are in it for the fun or the exercise. And you don’t need to give money away to boomer tourists as they’re all loaded. Can you believe there was a fight over a twenty-pound bottle of olive oil in the shop the other day? They wanted to make a salad dressing they’d seen on a cooking programme.’
‘I can’t bear a naked lettuce,’ Nic’s friend said. While the rest of them shared opinions about the perfect dressing, Aria turned away to take a cheeky bite of the enormous sausage.
‘Are you playinghide the hot dogright now, Aria?’ Sophie said, nudging her elbow and causing mustard to blob onto her bare stomach, just above the wetsuit arms.
Aria grimaced, casting around for a serviette.
‘I can help,’ Nic said, rooting in his pocket, and checking the condiment table before coming up short. While Sophie muttered about Cal saving money, Nic stepped in front of Aria and pushed his thumb across the splat. Then, he lifted it to his lips, mirroring her action at the hut. Aria stood stock-still, every nerve in her body recalibrating. When he followed his action with a wide grin, she felt lightheaded. If the wattage of his smile wasn’t enough to slay a girl, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, ‘That was hot.’
She felt his breath on her lobe and her cheeks burned up like the mustard he’d just consumed. What this man did to her without trying made her wonder what he could do if he really put some effort in. But she was confused. Hadn’t he told her a while back he hated mustard?Why the hell was she thinking about condiments? This man was the enemy. Right?
She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed as her ex commanded everyone’s attention with his internal loudspeaker. ‘Still a disaster around food, pet?’ Walking up to her, Justin put his hand on her shoulder like she belonged to him. Lu-Lu had clearly been lugging around a full bag as he was now dressed in running shorts and a vest, his blond hair buried under a cap. Earlier, she had averted her eyes from hisbody, but in the safety of the group, Aria sneaked a peek and decided he had cartoon thighs next to Nic’s more natural physique.
Perhaps trying to explain his behaviour, Sophie explained to the group that the Lakeland king of caravans was a former boyfriend of Aria’s and a classmate of them both. ‘Middle-class white male overachiever, head boy, head of swim team, cricket, rugby, yadda yadda. We’re not talking helicopter parenting, we’re talking military chinook. He’s in line for inheriting the whole caravan shebang. How many sites, Justin?’ she drawled, while Aria signalled at her to stop giving him a platform.
But the over-the-top intro pushed Justin to show his true colours. ‘The Hetherington passion for business is indeed hereditary, and we are royally skilled at providing the best in luxury Lakeland holidays. I say royal, as we are hoping a certain someone might open our latest iconic park. You should all come for a tour. We are toying with the idea of self-drive cars and have some top DJs lined up for our Foam-O – the soapy disco that stops you getting FOMO.’
‘In a minute, he’ll be telling everyone his GCSE results,’ Aria murmured as he chuntered on.
‘He only got three. And one of those was in talking shite in an incredibly loud voice,’ Sophie whispered back.
‘And can I introduce the woman who will one day be the queen of the empire?’ Justin turned and clicked his fingers. With her ring finger encased in the kind of diamond Aria hadn’t been offered, Lu-Lu glided forward like she was on rollers. She held out a hand with French polished nails, as ifwaiting for them all to kneel and kiss it. Aria braved a look at Nic who responded with a twitch of his lips.
‘So, he hooked another duck at the fair?’ Sophie whispered to Aria. ‘More of an obvious prize, yeah? I’d say she’s a giant Pokémon toy, whereas you were more a pot of bubbles or a cardboard glider. Or maybe a fish in a bag!’
Aria choked on a bite of hot dog she’d sneaked into her mouth as Justin informed them lovely Lu-Lu would be helping him run the growing empire. ‘She’ll be moving into Hetherington HQ after the wedding, designing and overseeing the new aqua pool and beauty salon before popping out our kiddiewinkles. We have plans to take over more of the north and west shore for our leisure facilities, if we can wrestle them from the hungry mouths of the Londoners gobbling up our town.’
Lu-Lu blinked her big old eyelashes. ‘You wouldn’t believe how successful Ju-Ju has become since we—’
‘Luxury mobile accommodation is becoming the go-to for families across the country.’ Justin talked over her. ‘Inglemere and surrounding towns will be the number one hotspot for holidays when the nation realises cruising was fine for the noughties but rather tired now.’
‘By luxury mobile accommodation, you mean caravans?’ Nic said, smooth as anything.
‘Ooh, alpha males at dawn,’ Sophie whispered to Aria. ‘With man-bags from Louis Vuitton.’
‘Oh, they’re so much more than caravans,’ Lu-Lu said. ‘Do you remember how luxurious the beds were, Aria? Ju-Ju and I spent a lot of time last summer…’
