by Nell Dixon
“Don’t suppose you could give me a ride to the airport tomorrow?” Will asked.
“Fine.” It would be worth it to make sure his brother actually got on the plane.
He crossed into the hall and pulled the spare pillows and duvet from the cupboard. “Here, the sofa pulls out into a bed.”
“Thanks, bro.”
Dan shook his head and made his way to his room. It was only when he’d showered and got into bed that he realised he would miss seeing Erin at the café tomorrow. He cursed himself for not getting her number. A quick glance at his watch told him it was too late to try calling her at her digs. Mrs Fuller didn’t like to be disturbed late at night.
Fortunately, it was Friday tomorrow and he hadn’t any clients booked till the afternoon. He’d intended to use the morning to catch up on the pile of paperwork that had engulfed his desk. Now it looked as if he would have to call in and take a half-day off in order to run Will to the airport. His brother’s knack of stuffing things up was about to spread into Dan’s life again.
CHAPTER THREE
Erin still had a smile on her face when she woke the next morning. She hummed happily to herself as she dressed for her shift at the café. Her hair and make-up received special attention and she wore her favourite earrings.
“Mmm, don’t we look the biz this morning?” Kelly raised an eyebrow as Erin sashayed into the café.
“Can’t a girl make an effort every now and then?” Erin grinned back at her.
Kelly followed her into the kitchen where Erin took off her coat and pulled on her blue Tabard ready to begin the food preparation. “I don’t suppose this extra effort has anything to do with a certain young man who took you to a concert yesterday, does it?”
“Might have.” Erin smiled as she washed her hands at the sink before opening the fridge.
“Well, come on, spill the beans.” Kelly followed her over to the preparation area, her tabard rustling across her generous hips as she walked.
“Oh Kelly, it was lovely.” Erin heaved a blissful sigh as she popped the top off a tub of butter.
The oven timer sounded and Kelly muttered a mild curse under her breath as she hurried to pull a fresh tray of brownies from the stove. “And? Come on, Erin, details, girl.”
“The concert was great and the band played all the…”
“Never mind the band!” Kelly interrupted her with a snort. “Get to the juicy stuff. What happened between you and Dan?”
“Mmm, let’s just say he’s a really good kisser.” Erin laughed at the expression on Kelly’s face.
“You are one fast worker, Erin Peters. I take it we can expect to see Dan this morning then?”
Erin’s face heated up. “Yep.” Her heart fluttered with excitement.
Kelly chortled as she cut the brownies into slices and placed them on a rack to cool. “It’s good to see you with a spring in your step. Dan’s a nice boy.”
The café doorbell pinged. Erin wiped her hands on a cloth and hurried through to see who had arrived. Her spirits dipped when she saw the new arrivals were the two early morning fishermen who always called in for a plate of toast and a pot of tea. She had secretly hoped Dan might drop by early before he started at the office.
Erin made the fishermen their drinks and loaded the toaster, sneaking peeps out of the window whenever she got the chance. After last night, she couldn’t wait to see Dan again. It had been such a wonderful evening.
The morning wore on and the weather outside turned windy, as if a storm might be heading their way. The sea looked grey and sullen with white horses whipped by a stiff breeze crashing onto the sand like frothy soapsuds. The beach was deserted and only a few of the bolder residents of New Bay braved it down to the sea front.
Erin popped into the staff cloakroom to freshen up her lipstick and give herself a quick squirt of perfume as the time approached when Dan usually called in. But the morning dragged by with no sign of him.
The usual lunch rush came and went without any trace of Dan and Erin’s optimism wore off along with her lipstick. The day that had started out so promisingly had gone flat.
“Where is he?” she whispered to Kelly as she collected another plate of sandwiches to take to a customer.
“I don’t know, honey. He doesn’t usually miss.” Kelly frowned, her good-natured face troubled.
Erin cursed herself for not getting Dan’s mobile number. There had seemed little point when she saw him in the café everyday. Except now he hadn’t turned up. Her heart sank. Maybe he’d changed his mind about her and was too embarrassed to come in.
She carried the sandwiches out to her customer at the corner table and glanced out of the window for what felt like the millionth time that day. Brad was headed up the steps from the beach towards the café with his surfboard tucked under his arm. He placed the board in the special storage rack and continued towards her.
“Hey, dudette.” He opened the door to the café, allowing gusts of cold air to swirl inside along with a generous sprinkling of sand from the beach.
“Hi Brad.” Erin pushed the door shut behind him.
“Whoa, cue the long face. Thought you’d be flying high after last night. Saw you and my man, Dan, making out in a blue car.” Brad grinned and nudged her gently with his elbow.
Erin groaned. It appeared her humiliation was public if Brad had seen them.
“We haven’t seen Dan today,” Kelly said. She’d been standing behind the counter listening in to the conversation.
Brad padded across to the counter and sat on one of the chrome stools. He twirled around to face Erin, his long, wetsuit clad legs spread out in front of him. “I thought I saw him a few minutes ago down by the rock pools with the little dudes.”
“What little dudes?” Erin and Kelly asked in unison.
Erin flushed. Why was she even bothering to ask? It was obvious he must be avoiding her or he would have come into the café.
Brad helped himself to a chocolate fudge brownie. “The little dudes from the kids club.”
Erin sucked in a breath. It appeared Dan had even more hidden depths than she’d first thought.
“What kids club?”
Erin was glad that Kelly had asked, since it saved her looking too interested.
Brad took a bite of the brownie and chewed while he considered the question. Erin suppressed a sigh. It was always hard work getting information from Brad that didn’t involve waves, tides or surfing.
“Dude runs some kind of kids club. Got any hot chocolate, Kelly?”
Kelly shrugged her shoulders at Erin and began to make Brad his drink. Erin wandered back to the window and peered out to see if there were any figures on the beach. The rock pools were at the far end of the cove near the cliff, tantalisingly out of her sight. Her shoulders drooped. Dan hadn’t called in at the café before going to his group, and he’d missed his usual morning coffee break. He couldn’t make things much plainer that he wasn’t interested in her.
* * * *
Dan checked his watch. Erin was almost due to finish her shift at the café. With any luck the other youth leader would soon arrive to take over from him and he could walk up to meet her. He dug his hands deeper into the pockets of his windcheater and watched the kids as they scrambled about amongst the rock pools.
His day had started badly and steadily worsened. Will’s flight had been delayed and Dan had been reluctant to leave him at the airport without ensuring he actually caught the plane. His brother had been known to change his mind at the last minute and suddenly take off for somewhere else that had taken his fancy.
By the time he’d seen Will through the departure gate and made it back to New Bay he’d been late for his first client. There hadn’t been any opportunity to slip down the road and see Erin. His last client had taken longer than he’d thought, and he’d promised Rose, his co-worker with the youth group that he’d take the first hour of the beachcombing session.
Dan looked at his watch again, Rose was late. One
of the teenagers called him and he splashed across the shallow pools to see what she’d found. He’d changed clothes at the office before going to meet the kids at the youth club. He always kept an old pair of jeans, a sweater and some waders in the boot of the car.
“Woo-hoo! Dan.”
He turned to see Rose panting her way along the concrete walkway at the head of the beach. He took another furtive glance at his watch. Erin had probably left the café by now, and he didn’t fancy calling for her at Mrs. Fuller’s. Erin probably thought he’d stood her up when he’d failed to call into the café this morning. She might not even want to speak to him.
“Phew, sorry I’m late.” Rose puffed her way across the sand towards him.
“That’s okay.” Dan forced himself to reassure her even though he wanted to race off to speak to Erin. He called the children from the pools so Rose could take them back across town to the youth club.
“Thanks for looking after them. I got held up on my way to the club.” Rose shepherded the kids to lead them off the beach. Dan strolled alongside her, reining in the length of his stride to match his colleague’s shorter legs.
“Problem?” Dan asked.
Rose’s cheeks glowed crimson as she marched alongside Dan. “No, not exactly.” She pulled her left hand from her pocket and spread her fingers so Dan could admire the brand new sparkling ring on her engagement finger.
“You’re engaged! That’s fantastic. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off celebrating with Tom?” Dan paused to give Rose a hug and kissed her on the cheek.
“It was a bit sudden. He’d planned to ask me tonight over dinner, but he couldn’t wait so he arrived at work as I was about to leave. I’m seeing him later.” Rose beamed up at Dan.
“I’m really pleased for you both.” They arrived on the main street and paused on the side of the road.
“I’ll take the kids back. I’ll talk to you later about the carnival plans.”
Dan left Rose to supervise the youth club as they jostled each other on the curb and headed back toward the promenade. He walked quickly, bracing himself against the keen wind blowing in from the sea. He hoped he wasn’t too late to catch Erin before the café closed.
As he rounded the corner he bumped into Kelly.
“Has Erin left?”
“She went home twenty minutes ago. Where were you today? Erin’s convinced you’re avoiding her. You’re not avoiding her, are you?” Kelly gave him a sharp look.
“No! Far from it. I’ve been trying to get here all day to see her.” Dan sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair in frustration.
“Well, you’ve got some explaining to do.”
“I know. I’ve not had a good day today. Do you know if Erin planned to go straight back to her digs?” It looked as if he might have to run the gauntlet of Mrs Fuller after all.
“I’m not sure. I think she had a few errands to run in town.”
Dan cursed under his breath. Something in his expression must have worked to soften Kelly’s heart as she opened her purse and pulled out a piece of paper.
“Here’s Erin’s phone number. Give her a call.”
For the first time that day, Dan’s heart lifted. “Kelly, I could kiss you.”
“Humph, in my opinion, it’s someone else you should be busy kissing.” She winked at him and walked away, chuckling to herself.
* * * *
Erin was almost back at the boarding house when her phone rang. She fished in her bag to pull it out. She glanced at the display but didn’t recognise the number on the screen.
“Erin?”
Dan’s voice sounded in her ear, low and sexy despite the wind whipping around her as she walked briskly towards her front door. Her heart leapt then steadied as she remembered the scene she’d witnessed only a few minutes ago. Dan changed from his work clothes and kissing a plump, pretty girl on the corner of the high street.
“Hello, Dan.” She was proud of the way her voice stayed so calm.
”I’m really sorry I didn’t make it to the café this morning.”
She gritted her teeth. He couldn’t have been that sorry if he’d already found another girl.
“That’s okay. I didn’t really notice.” Ha, that told him. If he had called to do the old let’s-be-friends-but-I-don’t-want-to-date-you bit, she’d beat him to the punch. A girl had her pride after all. She’d had her fill of two-timing cheats at university, and of the guys who wanted a trophy girlfriend. She might be blonde, but she wasn’t dumb.
“Are you back at your digs?”
The wind blew her hair across her face, and she tasted the familiar salty tang on her lips. What an idiot she’d been to fake running an errand in town in the hope of running into Dan. She’d run into him all right, but not the way she’d wanted to.
“I’m almost home.” It was tempting to add, “and I’m not coming out,” but that would have been childish. Dan might be a cheater, but at least she’d found out early. It would be better to keep her cool and let him trip himself up. “Where are you?” she asked.
“I’ve just left my youth club kids with Rose, the other helper, and I’m walking towards Mrs Fuller’s.”
Erin glanced up at the bay window of her lodgings. The net curtains moved. “I’ll meet you outside.”
Her phone was hardly back in her bag before she spotted Dan coming around the corner to meet her. Her pulse skittered at the sight of him and she told herself firmly not to be so silly. He might be a really good kisser, but he was also a cheating rat-bag.
“Hi.” He sounded out of breath as he bent his head to kiss her lips.
Erin dodged out of the way, leaving him with a puzzled and slightly hurt expression in his dark eyes. “Mrs Fuller is watching.” Erin explained. “Let’s walk down by the beach.”
She set off at a purposeful pace, flicking her hair out of her eyes as she strode along. Dan fell into step beside her.
“When I got home last night my brother was in my flat.”
Erin’s pace slowed. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”
“Will’s a couple of years younger than me. He’s been away for a while.”
She glanced at Dan in surprise. Never in a million years had she expected him to tell her something like this. “Oh, is he staying?” Her cheeks coloured as she asked.
“No. I had to take him to the airport this morning and make sure he caught his flight. He’s staying with Mum in Spain and hopefully will keep out of trouble.” He kicked a small pebble from the path as he walked.
“Are the two of you close?” It explained why he hadn’t called into the café. But it still didn’t explain why he’d been cuddling another girl, she told herself, and squashed her sympathetic feelings.
“We were when we were young.”
They reached the seafront and paused at the railings to look out at the ocean. Erin tucked her hair behind her ears and snuggled down a little deeper into her coat. She sensed there was something more about his brother that Dan didn’t want to tell her. “I saw you in town earlier,” she blurted out. She decided to give him the opportunity to come clean.
“Why didn’t you come over?” He turned his back on the sea and leaned against the rails, fixing his gaze on her face.
“You, erm, seemed busy. You were with someone.” Erin stared out at the horizon, aware of the dark eyed intensity of his stare.
“I had the youth club kids with me.” He sounded genuinely puzzled.
She sneaked a peek at his face.
“There was a girl with you.” Erin schooled her voice to stay calm and disinterested, even though she longed to scream and stamp her feet.
“Rose? She’s my co-worker.” A frown creased the centre of Dan’s brow. “You should meet her, she’s a great girl.”
Erin stared at him in disbelief. “No offence, but I don’t think so.” She tossed her head and began to walk away along the seafront.
“Erin! Wait up!” His footsteps sounded behind her as he hurried to catch he
r up.
“Is there something I’m missing here? Was there a test today, and I flunked it?” Dan demanded.
“You were cuddling and kissing on the street corner.” Erin whipped around to face him. Hurt and disappointment tugged at her in equal measure. To her surprise, Dan grinned.
“What’s so funny?” She blinked back the tears that threatened to escape. It wasn’t like her to feel so vulnerable; normally she prided herself on her strength of mind.
“You are! Why didn’t you just ask me? Rose got engaged earlier today. She told me her news, showed me her ring and I gave her a hug and a congratulatory peck on the cheek.”
Erin stared at him. Great, now she felt really stupid. Perhaps her experiences at university had affected her more than she’d thought.
“Am I forgiven? I’m sorry I laughed at you. I was simply relieved. I thought I’d blown everything, and I didn’t know what it was that I’d done.”
“I’m sorry. I should have had more sense. I’ve never had much luck with boyfriends so I guess I was too ready to jump to the wrong conclusion.” She frowned. “Dan, I need you to be honest with me. I’m not very good at trusting people and when we went to the concert, I never expected well…”
Dan wrapped his arms around her, and she snuggled close to his chest, the warmth of his body shielding her from the stiff sea breeze.
“I would have called you from the airport, but I didn’t have your number. I would have probably thought the same if it had been you in some other guy’s arms.” He kissed the top of her head and she smelt the soft musky scent of his aftershave mingled with the salty air of the sea. “I’m cautious where Will is concerned. I didn’t know he would turn up last night. When I said he’d been away, I should have said he’s been in prison.”
Erin stared at him. “Prison?”