The Wedding Proposal

by Sue Moorcroft

  I very proudly filled up the water on the Shady Lady, yesterday. Lucas does it most days but he was busy because his girlfriend, Kayleigh, is here. She’s been here for a week but I’ve only met her once. I expect he’s showing her around the island.

  Elle paused, debating whether to ask Simon why he thought it was that Lucas seemed to return alone to spend every night on the boat. Lucas had told her that he and Kayleigh liked their own space but … the Lucas she used to know had definitely woken in the mornings ready for action. Heat flooded her at the memory of Lucas’s hands and mouth on her skin, waking her for languorous early-morning love-making. Or urgent early-morning love-making. Or a shake-down in the shower, if that’s all they had time for.

  Separate sleeping arrangements? Not likely.

  With a glance around the room to check none of the kids was wearing that I-need-help-with-this-task-but-don’t-want-to-ask-for-it look, she returned to her e-mail.

  I’ve been swimming from Tigne seafront, near that footbridge to the big shopping area, The Point. The Point’s too much like any shopping mall anywhere for my taste and I’d rather mooch around Sliema or Valletta. The temperatures are in the mid-30s, which is pretty hot for June (and everyone tells me it will be even hotter in July and August) so I stop often for ice cream.

  I took your advice about the open-top buses and have been on two tours. Really fascinating! The only other touristy thing I’ve done is a harbour cruise, which was brilliant. Doesn’t Valletta look amazing from Grand Harbour? For that matter, doesn’t Grand Harbour look amazing from Valletta? So fabulously blue with the white wakes of boats criss-crossing it and everything from massive ocean liners to little fishing boats.

  Malta is such a fantastic place, Simon. Thank you for making it possible for me to live here. Even if Lucas is here to complicate things.

  Hugs,

  Elle xxx :-)

  Simon’s reply pinged into her inbox only forty minutes later.

  To: Elle.Jamieson

  From: Simon.Rose

  Subject: A little bit jealous

  Elle,

  You make me ‘homesick’ for Malta! The weather is boiling here in California, too, but I suppose the difference is that I work in it whereas I’m always on vacation when I’m in Malta. Now I’m longing to be sitting up on the flybridge of the Shady Lady with a Cisk (or five) and a pastizzi.

  So, it’s Kayleigh who’s turned up to be with Lucas, is it? Now that’s ver-y in-ter-est-ing. I met her at Geoffrey and Fiona’s place at Christmas. Nice girl.

  Glad you’re having a great time.

  Made any new friends? Especially of the male variety?

  xxx

  Deciding not to react to this mention of Lucas’s parents, and still underemployed as her charges worked through their tasks, Elle went straight back:

  To: Simon.Rose

  From: Elle.Jamieson

  Subject: The male variety

  Why is it interesting that Kayleigh is Lucas’s gf? She seems nice. I suppose I want to hate her but she’s too easy to like. So I’m being noble and telling myself that I’m happy he’s chosen someone good.

  I have two male admirers. Carmelo and Oscar. Carmelo is eight and one of the kids at the drop-in centre. He’s pretty much a fixture here. I don’t think he can have much of a home life. When school finishes for summer at the end of next week I expect that he’ll be here 24/7. He’s followed me to the boat once or twice. He has such sad eyes: I feel bad for him.

  Oscar, he’s a fellow volunteer, an incredibly tall guy, about six-and-a-half feet. He does a lot of the active stuff with the kids – table tennis and weights, etc. He’s made it obvious that he’s interested but he’s creepy. Especially as I think he was responsible for the porn I found on the machines when I first got here! Even leaving that little discovery aside, I find it hard to like him. His eyes crawl all over me and he doesn’t bother to try and hide that he’s ogling. Eww.

  E xxx

  To: Elle.Jamieson

  From: Simon.Rose

  Subject: The male variety

  Watch out for the Oscar dude! Tell him that if he’s a sex pest I’ll come over there and – oh, wait, you said he’s big? Set Lucas on him. :-)

  x

  Elle grinned as she signed out from her e-mail account. A couple of the girls, Kimberley and Giorgina, were fidgeting and whispering from behind adjacent machines.

  Elle pushed away from her desk and rolled her chair over to join the girls, interrupting a fit of stifled giggles. ‘So, how are we getting on?’

  ‘Finished,’ they chorused. Kimberley and Giorgina were fine examples of beautiful blossoming Maltese womanhood. Dark and glossy hair was piled up behind their heads and secured by neon-coloured clips; their sultry brown eyes were made up to look even larger and more dramatic than nature intended. Elle felt insipid beside them.

  She ran her eyes over what they’d done. ‘Really great! Kimberley, you might want to make all your headings consistent. Do you remember how to set up a heading style? If you made all these big headings Heading 1 and the smaller ones Heading 2, it would work well. Giorgina, I’m not sure that employers will be keen on a curly purple font.’

  Giorgina giggled behind her hand.

  ‘Can we do Facebook?’ requested Kimberley, with a sigh. The session was nearly over and, despite open windows and a whirring fan in the corner, it was stultifying enough in the internet cafe to shorten attention spans.

  ‘Of course. Just make those changes first,’ Elle encouraged.

  On the other side of the room, Aileen was ‘encouraging’ Paolo, one of the brasher kids. Paolo treated education of any kind like a joke. But Elle was fast learning that treating something as a joke was a classic defence mechanism of a kid who wasn’t getting enough support.

  Aileen had been a great help in showing Elle the trick of getting teens to co-operate by saying yes to their requests without letting them get away with tasks undone. Her genial but authoritative approach was easy for Elle to emulate. Already Elle was prefacing instructions with a few words of positivity, such as ‘This is straightforward’ or ‘You’ll enjoy this’, because that’s how Aileen seemed to get results. The computer room was more classroom-like than the rest of the centre but even when Elle wasn’t running workshop sessions she was helping, encouraging, teaching. She was growing to value the sense of doing something more useful than just making money.

  At the end of this workshop session most of the teens slipped away, leaving space for the younger children who came in after school. Quiet, saturnine Axel came up to check his e-mail during his break time, greeting both women politely before settling down at a machine.

  Aileen swivelled on her chair, stretching her limbs and reaching for her handbag. Her handbag and sandals matched, and she reminded Elle of a forties movie star, carefully set hair waving back from a conspicuously powdered face. Elle always half-expected Aileen to tie on a headscarf and hop into an open-top sports car.

  ‘Your Carmelo will probably be dashing in at any moment.’ Aileen took out her powder compact as if reluctant to brave the world outside without a fresh coat. ‘He’s got a real pash on you.’

  Elle laughed. ‘What’s a pash?’

  ‘A passion. A crush.’ Aileen put away her powder and got out her lipstick.

  Sighing, Elle agreed. ‘I’m afraid he has. He’s a lovely boy but I’m not exactly sure whether I should be discouraging him. And if so, how.’

  ‘Talk to Joseph. He’s a whiz with little lost kids like our Carmelo.’

  As Aileen left, Elle made a round of the machines, closed down open documents and signed out of a couple of Facebook pages abandoned negligently by their users. She passed a few minutes with Axel, who was shopping online for books for his e-reader, then gathered up her bag and slung it over a shoulder. With a brief good
bye, she ran down to look for Joseph.

  She found him sitting on the back doorstep talking to Maria.

  Elle hesitated. ‘Am I interrupting?’

  Joseph waved her forward. ‘Nothing more important than deciding whether to buy new school stationery now or wait to see if there are any offers when the time comes to go back to school. Something on your mind?’

  ‘It’s about Carmelo Tabone.’

  ‘Ah.’ Joseph smiled and exchanged a look with Maria.

  It was stupid to feel self-conscious but Elle felt herself going pink. ‘I was just talking to your mum about Carmelo. She – well, I – well, both of us – we feel that he’s suffering from a bit of a crush. On me.’ She licked her lips. ‘I don’t know how to handle it. I don’t want to do the wrong thing and hurt his feelings, but, obviously – I – i-it’s not appropriate—’ She halted, irritated that her stammer had put in an appearance.

  Sombrely, Joseph nodded. ‘Thank you for being careful of his little heart. I’m afraid that Carmelo is seeking affection.’ He paused. Then, delicately, he added, ‘His mother cannot always look after him as we’d wish her to.’

  Elle’s heart gave a great squeeze. ‘Poor little boy. What about his Nonnu?’

  A shrug. ‘Unfortunately, his mind is very old.’

  ‘Then I can see he might not be a help.’ Elle sighed. ‘Carmelo follows me home sometimes, Joseph; how should I handle it? The first time, I took him on board the boat for a drink, but I took care that we stayed in public view and that someone else was there. Since then, I’ve either pretended not to see him or taken him a drink in the gardens.’

  Both Joseph and Maria sighed. ‘It’s hard for him.’ Maria shook her head, sorrowfully.

  Joseph smiled at Elle. ‘Continue to be sensible in your own conduct and remember your training. But be his friend. Carmelo needs friends.’

  A great lump snuck up into Elle’s throat. ‘Thanks,’ she managed.

  When Elle left the centre she had seen no sign of Carmelo, so she wasn’t altogether surprised, arriving at the boat overheated and slightly headachey because she’d forgotten her hat, to find him on the quayside near the Shady Lady. It was new behaviour, getting one step ahead of her, but there was a schedule on the wall showing when she was due to be at Nicholas Centre. He was a fiercely bright kid, easily able to work out that if she wasn’t in the internet cafe she might be at the boat.

  He was perched on the kerb around the garden, his attention on the Shady Lady’s open door. As Elle watched, she saw Kayleigh emerge, a bottle of drink in each hand. Her thick hair shone in the sunlight and swung either side of her face.

  Elle paused. Till now, it had seemed as if Lucas had been keeping Kayleigh out of Elle’s path and Elle had assumed that he felt safer that way. Having lover and ex-lover together in one place wouldn’t be comfortable for anyone concerned so Lucas’s separatist strategy wasn’t something Elle was about to dispute.

  But here Kayleigh was, speaking to Carmelo, gesturing towards the gardens and handing the little boy a drink. Carmelo turned and fell into step beside her. His shorts drooped and he hitched them up before he twisted the top from the bottle, tipping back his head to drink enthusiastically. His hair looked as if it hadn’t been cut for months.

  Elle altered her trajectory in order to intercept them in the dappled shade of Gżira Gardens. ‘Hi,’ she called, brightly.

  Carmelo’s head swung around and a smile burst like a splash of sunshine across his face. ‘Kayleigh gave me Fanta.’ He held up the bottle of orange pop.

  ‘That’s great.’ She exchanged a smile with Kayleigh. ‘And now you’re going to play in the gardens?’

  ‘You, too?’ Carmelo looked hopeful.

  ‘I can watch you for ten minutes,’ Elle temporised. ‘Then I have to go to work.’

  ‘OK.’ Carmelo was never demanding.

  Nothing in his life had encouraged demanding behaviour, Elle supposed. Her heart squeezed. ‘There’s a swing free,’ she said. ‘Maybe Kayleigh would hold your drink while I push you?’

  ‘Fine by me,’ put in Kayleigh.

  Carmelo dashed off to secure the swing before anybody else got it and the two women followed. ‘I doubt that he needs to be pushed,’ Elle commented, apologetically. ‘But I thought he’d enjoy it.’

  ‘There are many interpretations of the word “need”,’ observed Kayleigh. ‘I’d say his need, in this case, is for your company. Whether he can work the swing alone is immaterial.’

  ‘I think so, too.’ Elle flashed a look at the other woman. ‘It’s obvious that kids are your thing.’

  Kayleigh shrugged. ‘I help meet the needs of kids who are so sick they break your heart. You’re making life better for some kids whose problems might be less easy to diagnose.’

  They reached the spot where Carmelo waited, glancing back eagerly over his shoulder. ‘Hang on tight.’ Elle grasped the black rubber swing seat and pulled it backwards, as high up its arc as she could manage. ‘Ready?’

  ‘Go!’ shouted Carmelo. And whooped and giggled as Elle thrust him into the air, leaning back so that he could see her upside down as the swing swooped, forward and back. Elle caught the seat every time he returned and shoved it with all her might. The play apparatus was in the full sun and she was soon wiping sweat from her forehead.

  Kayleigh grinned as the swing arced forward once more. ‘I have a lot of time for anyone who helps children. And you don’t even get paid.’

  Elle waited for Carmelo to make the return journey and soar away again. ‘He’s a good kid and his home life’s tough. It’s good to see him laugh. Besides, it’s you who gave him a drink and brought him over here.’

  ‘Only because Lucas thought you’d be back any time. We were just filling in time waiting for you. It’s you Carmelo wanted to see.’ Kayleigh, too, timed her comments to coincide with the furthest part of the swing’s arc, so that Carmelo couldn’t overhear. She nodded between the trees. ‘Here comes company.’

  Elle turned and saw that Lucas was strolling up to them, three bottles of water in his hands. He offered one bottle to Elle. ‘Thanks.’ She stood back to take the drink gratefully. Swinging was thirsty work, especially having already walked through the streets baking in the early-afternoon sun.

  Lucas gave his own bottle into Kayleigh’s keeping and moved to take over the swing. Soon Carmelo was squealing gleefully as Lucas’s height and strength sent him to new heights.

  Elle watched the easy athletic grace of Lucas’s movements as he flung his arms up to catch the swing, the play of his muscles as he propelled Carmelo forward. He didn’t contribute as Kayleigh continued the conversation about working with children, nor comment when Kayleigh asked whether she could visit Nicholas Centre, and Elle agreed to ask Joseph.

  Becoming restive at his silent presence, Elle finished her drink. ‘Thanks for the water, Lucas. I’d better get off to the Seadancer.’

  Lucas nodded. ‘See you later.’

  Shortly after Elle departed, Carmelo asked to get off the swing. He drank the rest of his Fanta and then clambered around on the climbing frame for a while. His wide smiles and wild giggles had faded away, as if Elle had taken the fun from the afternoon with her.

  Lucas and Kayleigh retired to a shady bench. Kayleigh threaded her arm through Lucas’s. ‘Are you cross with me for getting friendly with her?’

  He shrugged.

  ‘I’m not trying to freak you out or piss you off. I just like her and what she’s doing. I’d like to see that centre. Maybe I could do something for the kids, too. Maybe we could.’

  ‘Maybe,’ he agreed, neutrally.

  He glanced across at the Shady Lady and the flash of a yellow dress as Elle disappeared inside.

  ‘Are you still in love with her?’ Kayleigh asked softly.

  ‘Drop it.’ Then
, because it wasn’t Kayleigh’s fault, he said, ‘Please. Just give me a break, Kay.’

  They sat in silence as Carmelo’s climbing became gradually less purposeful, until it wasn’t so much climbing as fidgeting while he watched the Shady Lady. His patience was rewarded when Elle emerged, her hair hidden by her hat, her gaze disguised by sunglasses, khaki shorts showing legs that were becoming tanned, her breasts moving slightly under a white T-shirt.

  Carmelo bounded from the climbing frame and raced to join her. She smiled at him, saying something that made him laugh as he skipped along beside her. She glanced into the gardens and waved goodbye to Lucas and Kayleigh. Carmelo copied her, throwing them a brief salute before turning all his attention back to Elle.

  Kayleigh sighed. ‘Any particular reason you’re keeping me away from the boat? Away from Elle?’

  ‘You’ve just been with her.’

  ‘Only because me hanging out with Elle is so obviously not what you want that you’re making me curious.’ After a moment she added, ‘If you’re not being honest with me, I hope that you’re at least being honest with yourself.’

  Chapter Eleven

  After checking it was OK with Joseph, Elle had arranged for Kayleigh to visit the Nicholas Centre on Thursday afternoon, when she’d be there herself.

  She hadn’t realised that Lucas would consider himself invited along.

  Although she quickly realised that she had been stupid not to have anticipated him keeping his girlfriend company if he happened to have a day off, her heart jumped to see him waiting in the hallway outside Joseph’s office beside Kayleigh.

  But she managed to compose herself to greet them both and make the introductions to Joseph, who provided his usual quiet welcome.

  Elle wasn’t sure whether to stay or go as Joseph launched into a tour of the centre, weaving in its history and aims as he began in the games room, bringing in the towering Oscar. She’d just decided to fade away to where she’d left a group of kids in the computer room gathered around Lino, who was battling minotaurs on a level rarely seen in the Nicholas Centre gaming community, when Carmelo appeared behind her.