Winter at Wishington Bay

by Maxine Morrey

  ‘No. Not really.’

  ‘So that’s what you do all day?’ I asked, climbing the stairs as I noted Nate following behind me. ‘Study air crashes?’

  ‘Sort of. More study the best way to try to prevent them.’

  ‘That sounds like a pretty important job.’ I caught his shrug. ‘What’s that for?’

  ‘My wife used to say I should have been a pilot or something because it was more glamorous and exciting.’

  I placed the caddy on the hall console and picked out an organic polish spray and cloth. ‘Glamour isn’t everything. Plus, I think airline pilots are overrated. I’ve dated one or two in my time.’

  His mouth twitched.

  ‘I assume in your job you generally got to go home to her every night, unlike a pilot? That seems like a pretty good benefit to me,’ I said, giving the dresser in the master bedroom a quick spritz as Nate took a seat by the window and looked out at the sea, the sunlight making the wave crests sparkle as they broke on the sand.

  ‘Actually, I think that was one of the many downsides for her.’ His tone was laced with sarcasm.

  I looked round and met his gaze. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.’

  Nate shook his head and gave that pretend smile. ‘You didn’t.’ He made no attempt to move but I got the impression that a change of subject might be appreciated.

  ‘You know Holly meant for you to sleep in here as your trips clashed?’ I said, motioning to the room that had remained untouched since he’d arrived.

  ‘I know. I just felt a bit weird and the guest room is really nice. Certainly more homely than my apartment. Or a hotel room.’

  I smiled without looking up, catching the reference I’d made in my little speech the first time we’d met about him being better off in some faceless hotel chain room.

  ‘She worked really hard on the whole house, so you’re right. Every room is lovely.’

  ‘Yeah, Gabe said something about her having transformed this place.’

  ‘Totally. I only came here a couple of times before Gigi passed away and it was really nice. Holly had had the bathroom and kitchen updated for her but the rest was stuck in a little bit of a time warp.’

  Nate turned away from the window and back to me. ‘You’d never think so now.’

  ‘No. She really seemed to find her niche. She’s quite in demand for her interior design services now.’

  ‘Gabe worries about her working too hard.’

  I gave a little head waggle. ‘It’s understandable. She was a total workaholic when she came back here. The only reason she finally returned was because her boss put her on an enforced sabbatical after she had a major panic attack in his office.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes. Ned and Carrie were really worried about her but I think she was in denial about it all,’ I said, dusting the deep windowsill next to where Nate was sat. ‘And of course, once Gabe witnessed her having one, all his “doctory” instincts kicked in.’

  ‘Plus the fact he had the total hots for her.’

  I grinned. ‘Yes. I think that certainly contributed to his attentions. He told you that, huh?’

  ‘He was gushing. It was pathetic.’

  I flicked him with the duster. ‘I think the word you’re looking for is romantic.’

  ‘If you say so.’

  I rolled my eyes at him and continued with my work. ‘Anyway, he just gets a little protective, knowing she has this tendency to be a workaholic. But she does love what she’s doing now. I think she’ll be OK. Holly doesn’t want to ever go back to how she was, and she’s an intelligent woman. She pulls back when she needs to.’

  ‘That’s good to hear. I’m looking forward to getting to know her better.’

  ‘She’ll be thrilled to hear that.’

  ‘To be fair, she doesn’t know I’m an arse yet.’

  ‘Oh God, you’re not going to let me forget that, are you?’

  He gave a small headshake. ‘Nope.’

  I straightened the bedclothes and decorative cushions and dusted the bedsides.

  ‘So, what’s wrong with next door?’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Earlier, you said if it’d been up to Gabe I’d have been next door and fending for myself. Isn’t that where Gabe was living before? He never said that there was anything wrong with it.’

  ‘There isn’t. It’s just not had the Holly touch yet.’

  ‘So that’s still in the time warp?’

  ‘Very much so.’

  ‘What are they planning to do with it? Holly owns it too, right?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said, shooing him out of the room now that I’d finished. ‘I don’t think they’ve decided yet. She bought some paint and just plans to decorate it throughout to start with and then go from there. Whether they keep it or sell, it’s still going to need painting. Once that’s done, she might have a clearer idea of what to do with it.’

  ‘It must be hard. I mean, I know this was her grandmother’s house, and Gabe said her gran was kind of everything to her.’

  ‘Yes. She was. She lost her mum young and, from what I understand, their dad didn’t cope so well.’

  ‘Difficult situation.’

  I nodded, agreeing as I entered the guest room. The bed was already made, as always.

  ‘I feel weird you cleaning up after me.’

  ‘I’m employed to do it. And if you feel weird, don’t watch,’ I teased.

  I picked up a sweatshirt from the chair, preparing to fold it, but Nate whipped it out of my hands.

  ‘I can do that.’

  I gave him a look and took the clothing back.

  ‘Don’t you have a book to write?’

  ‘I have writer’s block.’ He shrugged before turning. ‘What’s that beeping noise?’

  I finished straightening the room as I answered. ‘The soup maker. I’ll be down in a minute to sort it out. You can heat up the one I brought earlier for your lunch, though,’ I said, glancing at the clock.

  ‘What about your lunch?’

  ‘I’ll grab something when I get back home.’

  ‘It looked like there was quite a lot in that tub.’

  ‘Enough to keep you going for a few days. Nothing like some warming soup to comfort a body on a chilly day like this.’

  ‘And what about comforting your body?’

  9

  My head snapped round and for once it was Nate’s turn to blush. ‘That came out very differently to how it sounded in my head.’

  ‘I imagine so.’

  ‘Let me start again. Can I reiterate my request of earlier and ask you to join me for lunch? There’s obviously plenty.’

  I took a step down the stairs and glanced back up.

  ‘There’s really no need for you to do that.’

  ‘I know. But… I’d really like it if you would. I mean, if you have time of course. Sorry. I didn’t think. You probably have plans. I—’

  ‘No. I don’t. I just… It was unexpected.’

  Nate gave me a glance as we got to the bottom of the stairs. ‘Wow. I really am that bad, huh?’

  ‘No! Don’t take it like that. I just know you like your peace and quiet and your own company.’

  He followed me through to the kitchen and watched as I unplugged the soup maker and removed the lid, releasing a waft of delicious smelling steam into the bright room.

  ‘That smells good.’

  ‘It does, rather, doesn’t it? It’s one of my favourite recipes. It’s the same as the one I’ve brought you, so I hope you like it. It’s just so much quicker to make in the soup maker. I must treat myself to one of these at some point,’ I said, as I unplugged the machine and took a couple of empty tubs out ready to decant the steaming liquid into. Beside me, Nate emptied the container I’d brought with me into a pan and began gently heating it through on the hob.

  ‘I’m sure I will. Everything of yours I’ve had the pleasure of tasting has been amazing. Even if I haven’t been gracious enoug
h to tell you until now.’ He grabbed a second bowl and put it down alongside the one I’d prepared earlier, his eyes meeting mine in a silent question.

  ‘Are you sure?’ I asked.

  ‘Very.’

  ‘Then that would be lovely, thank you.’

  And there was that laugh again. Unexpected and rumbling and incredibly sexy. ‘That’s generously polite considering our rocky start.’

  I smiled, trying to push the sound of his laughter away from regions it had no business affecting.

  ‘It’s never too late for a new start.’

  ‘Do you believe that?’

  I placed the now full bowls on the counter in front of the breakfast bar stools and motioned for him to take a place as I grabbed the fresh bread I’d seen sat in a bag from the local bakery on the side.

  ‘I do,’ I said, placing a spoon beside his bowl as he busied himself tearing off a couple of hunks of bread and placing them on the side plates I’d added.

  ‘’Scuse fingers.’

  ‘No problem.’

  ‘Don’t you?’ I asked, referring back to his question. ‘I mean, new starts and all that?’

  ‘You were right. This is delicious.’

  ‘I know. And stop changing the subject.’

  He gave the briefest of grins round his mouthful before swallowing.

  ‘You caught that, huh?’

  ‘Yes. So spill.’

  ‘Probably not the best thing to say to a man with a full bowl of bright orange soup in front of him.’

  ‘Oh, you seem the together type. I bet you’ve never dropped anything on an expensive tie in your life.’

  He continued eating but gave a small shake of his head.

  ‘See? Together.’

  ‘Or boring. Depending on how you want to look at it.’

  ‘What’s boring about coordination?’

  He shrugged. ‘Everything. Nothing. I don’t know. Just a bit… dull, I guess. And you’re this vibrant, sparky woman that I’m expecting to be entertained by having lunch with possibly the most straight-laced man you ever met.’

  Ha! If only he knew. Next to some of the men I’d met, Nate was positively a party animal. But I couldn’t really explain that, without explaining other things I wasn’t ready to. Instead I fixed him with a look for a moment, then reached across and tore off another piece of the soft, white bread. ‘Let me know when you’re done with that pity party over there and we can get on with having an interesting conversation.’

  He drew up a little beside me. ‘Pity party?’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ I nodded, my mouth full of bread.

  ‘I am not having a pity party!’ He actually sounded quite affronted.

  ‘Oh, of course you—’ As I looked up, I saw it. I saw the look in his eyes. And I realised he wasn’t at all. He believed it. Believed that he was boring and had nothing of value to offer anyone in conversation. My thoughts went back to what he’d said on the walk home, about his wife being the chatty one, his job being fairly solitary and obviously quite a sober one. And then, of course, there was the fact that she’d left him. Is that the impression he had of himself? That she’d moved on because he was boring? I hardly knew him and yes, he was serious but I’d seen flashes of something else too. And I’d heard that laugh – a laugh that still felt unfamiliar. As though it had escaped in a moment when his concentration had drifted for a second. But then it got reined in and put back where it belonged. I could see there was far more to Nate McKinley than he was currently showing. And far more than he believed there was.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, wanting the tension now obvious in his shoulders to loosen as it had earlier.

  ‘It’s fine.’

  Clearly it wasn’t.

  ‘No, it isn’t. I was… mistaken. And I’m trying to apologise. Sometimes people say things for attention. I should have known you’re not the type to do that.’

  Nate continued eating. ‘You hardly know me. Easy mistake to make.’

  ‘I’d like to change that. I mean about knowing you. If you’d let me.’ He slid his glance to me briefly. ‘You know, just so I don’t mess up again and we’re not left sitting here so rigid that I think I might actually snap. Kind of like we are now.’

  He gave a brief nod of agreement as he finished his soup. I reached over to the pan and poured a little more out into his bowl.

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘You’re too lean.’

  It was his turn to give me a look. ‘I’m twice your size.’

  ‘I’m small boned. Eat.’

  ‘I don’t know about small boned. Bossy, though, I could agree with.’

  ‘Oh, shush and eat or I’ll put a sea slug in your bed.’

  ‘I make my own bed.’

  ‘And you think that’ll stop me?’

  He slid his gaze across again but this time I could see a glimmer of humour. ‘Probably not.’

  ‘You’re not boring, Nate. Don’t let anyone make you feel you are.’

  ‘It’s not others. It’s me,’ he answered, too fast for me to believe the truth in his words. It was like a defence. An automatic answer, and my mind went back to what he’d said earlier about Gabe being a good judge of character. I already knew from Holly that Gabe and his family had done their best to like Nate’s choice of wife but it’s hard to watch someone you love change and be manipulated. But there’s also nothing you can do when that person is so head over heels they don’t see any faults. It’s an impossible situation. And one that often doesn’t end well – one way or another.

  Nate cleared the bowls and held out a hand when I made to dismount the breakfast stool. ‘Coffee? Or would you prefer tea?’

  ‘Tea. Please.’

  ‘Thought so.’ There was a hint of amusement in his tone and I frowned.

  ‘What does that mean?’

  He turned and leaned on the counter as the kettle behind him boiled, his long legs crossed loosely at the ankles, cosy thick socks on his feet.

  ‘That accent. It couldn’t get more upper-class English. I kind of feel like I should be in a butler’s uniform waiting on you.’

  I swallowed.

  If only he knew…

  ‘I just went to a good school. They were up on that sort of thing. I guess it stuck.’ That was true, at least. ‘And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not wearing a uniform.’

  ‘Maybe I should have had Gabe put that in the contract.’

  I threw him a look but felt my traitorous cheeks try to colour.

  ‘I didn’t think women blushed any more. It’s kind of endearing.’ He moved and took two mugs from the cupboard, setting them alongside the kettle.

  ‘And men aren’t supposed to make comments about frilly maids’ uniforms! So, we’re even.’

  His laugh rumbled clearly this time, and when he turned it was like a different person. Now the resemblance to his brother, despite the difference in colouring, was clear. His eyes crinkled the same way, the smile was almost the same, but a little more off kilter which made it all his own, but the joy that Gabe tended to radiate, even more so since meeting Holly, was there. I’d met their parents a few times when they were over earlier in the year and we’d chatted on and off when they’d come to the restaurant. They were warm and welcoming and relaxed, and for the first time, Nate seemed a part of them.

  ‘I’m not sure why you’re laughing but as you’ve been wound like a spring since you got here, I’m at least relieved to see you relaxing a little more.’

  ‘I’m laughing because I hadn’t mentioned anything about the maid’s uniforms being frilly. That was all you!’

  ‘Oh pfft!’ I said, trying not to blush again as I swept crumbs from the breakfast bar with the side of my hand.

  ‘True. I was thinking more of a lab coat style.’

  ‘Oh, you were.’ My tone was disbelieving.

  ‘Yep.’

  He had such a brilliant straight face that I literally had no idea if he was now telling the truth or not.

  ‘R
ight… well. Anyway. This is going to have to do when it comes to uniforms and just because I speak a little differently from you—’

  ‘A lot differently from me.’

  ‘Whatever. I’m still good at my job.’

  ‘That was never in dispute. I’m just curious as to how you ended up in Wishington Bay, waiting tables and cleaning grumpy blokes’ houses.’

  ‘You’re saying I don’t seem the type?’ It wasn’t the first time I’d been questioned in a similar vein.

  ‘Something like that, maybe.’

  ‘Never judge a book by its cover and all that.’

  ‘I’m not judging. I’m curious. Two very different things.’

  ‘What did you do to that dog?’ I asked, stepping over Bryan’s basket as Nate dragged it into a pool of sunlight, while the dog remained unmoving inside it, upside down, feet in the air, snoring softly. ‘Are you putting rum in his dog treats or something?’

  Nate grinned. ‘Nope. Just having fun. It’s a long time since I’ve had a dog to play with.’

  ‘I don’t suppose your lifestyle really allows for one.’

  ‘Not really, no. But probably more so than Gabe’s did at the time he got Bry and he still made it work. And my wife was at home most of the time so it wouldn’t have been out of the question.’

  ‘Sometimes we mean to do things and never get round to them.’

  ‘Serena wasn’t keen.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Yes. And you told me off for changing the subject earlier, now you’re doing the same.’

  I stood up from loading the dishwasher and left the soup machine soaking with some hot soapy water inside to deal with later.

  ‘There’s not a lot to tell really. Marriage. Divorce. Time to start again.’

  ‘And you what? Got in the car, pointed it in a direction and kept going until it was running on fumes?’

  I was surprised that he’d remembered my explanation of how I got here. ‘Pretty much,’ I said, pulling a face.

  ‘And you stayed?’

  My smile was soft as I looked out of the window up the bay. ‘Wouldn’t you?’

  When he replied, his voice was just as soft. ‘If only it were that easy.’

  I turned back and gave him a smile, understanding that sometimes things were a lot more complicated, even when we didn’t want them to be.