Both of us jumped as someone started pounding on the outer door.
Chapter 32
We pulled back fromeach other and Cooper’s frown neatly mirrored my own. The interruption, cutting off our first kiss, was most unwelcome, to say the least.
‘Who the hell is that?’ Cooper muttered, then looked pained, probably thinking about Adelaide. Cooper got up and I followed him back into the gloomy living area. Charlie shot past us both, barking manically at the sudden intrusion.
To my shame, I was about to say ‘Who cares? Ignore it!’ when the banging came again, even louder. Accompanied by an irritatingly familiar voice.
‘Oh, my God!’ I groaned. ‘It’s Richard.’
‘The soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend?’ Cooper looked torn between annoyance and amusement. ‘How does he even know you’re here?’
‘God knows, but I really don’t want to deal with him right now.’ No, right now I wanted to thread my fingers through Cooper’s grey-dusted hair and kiss the crinkles at the corners of his eyes, run my hands under his jumper and just be here with him. Richard had taken enough of my time already, three whole years of it. Couldn’t I have just an hour or two before he had to make his presence known again?
‘What do we do?’ I asked softly. ‘He might not know for sure that I’m in here – he’s probably bluffing.’
‘I have you on the “find my phone” app,’ Richard called through the door. ‘There’s no point pretending you’re not here!’
How was he doing that? This was probably the first and only time in our relationship where I suspected him of being able to read my mind. He’d really picked his bloody moment on that one. I made a mental note to delete that app and possibly make an entirely new account, just to be safe.
‘I don’t think we can hide in here forever,’ Cooper said, clearly slightly amused by the tantrum Richard was throwing outside, sputtering and harrumphing at his door like he was a middle-class wolf and we were the two little pigs.
‘We could try?’ I whined.
‘We could… but I haven’t done a food shop in a while and the boat’s engine’s knackered, so we’d be stuck in here starving to death. Probably better to face it head-on.’
I gave him a look.
‘I realise that’s incredibly hypocritical,’ he said, raising both hands in surrender. ‘But even so.’
The knocking and bellyaching were suddenly replaced by a general scuffling and muted conversation. For a second I thought I heard Emma out there, and prayed she was seeing Richard off so I wouldn’t have to deal with him right now, in front of Cooper. Then the female voice outside rose imperiously and I realised it wasn’t Emma. It was Adelaide.
‘… will you move? My brother’s in there, I don’t care what you…’ Someone slapped the boat’s door with the flat of their hand. ‘Jarvis! Jarvis Cooper, I know this is your boat – come out and face me like a man, or I’ll wriggle through a porthole!’
I looked at Cooper. He looked at me.
‘Jarvis?’ I sputtered, struggling not to full-on giggle.
‘Tabitha,’ he said pointedly, though his ears were turning pink.
‘Still think I should face it head-on and open the door?’ I asked, folding my arms.
‘I… yes. I think we both should.’ Cooper looked at the door, then winced. ‘Or we could switch things round on them? I take yours, you take mine?’
‘If it were a physical fight, I’d say you’re on, but I think we should probably talk to them,’ I sighed. Then I held out my hand for his. ‘But we can do it together? Moral support?’
‘Is that not going to upset him, a lot?’ Cooper looked more amused at the prospect than reluctant.
‘I think it probably will but it’s no worse than what I walked in on,’ I pointed out.
Cooper took my hand and we moved towards the door. Opening it was like coming out of a cinema screening at midday. For a moment there was so much bright autumnal light that the two figures on the deck were blurry dark shapes. Then they resolved into a red-cheeked Richard, and Adelaide, who looked markedly more put-together. She was carrying a bottle of apple juice and I realised she must have gone into the newsagent’s to buy it, and any of the busybodies currently gossiping in there would have told her about the boat. Even if they’d only told her when it had shown up, that had to be enough of a clue for her to look into it.
She looked surprised to see me. I felt a small flush of pride, maybe I was actually good at subterfuge. Conversely, Richard looked grimly satisfied to have his suspicions confirmed and he even shook his head at me as I stood with Cooper in the little doorway. Richard ignored Adelaide entirely, though I caught her giving him a look of distaste out of the corner of her eye. Clearly, she wasn’t impressed with his performance.
‘Jarvis.’ Adelaide’s shoulders slumped a little and she raised a half-smile for him. ‘Do you have any idea the places I’ve been trying to find you?’
‘I know, Addy… I’m sorry,’ Cooper said. ‘I wanted to—’
