Page 35 of Fast Track to Forever
His question gives me the ick. No real reason for it, but I don’t want to talk about Kat with him, especially if she doesn’t like him. I turn to John instead. “John, you've spent more time with my folks this holiday than I have. How do they feel about Kat?”
John chuckles. “You know they've always liked her. Now they know you've had a crush on her all along, they like her even more.”
I smile. Good.
“Enough about me, though. How's your life, Nikos? What do you get up to?”
“A bit of this, a bit of that. I tried teaching for six months. Didn't love it. Then I went into the tourism business. I'm still at the Gondola. It's got its advantages.”
“Oh?”
“Always get to meet new people. Tourists. …Girls.” He winks over a shit-eating grin and punches John in the shoulder. “Know what I mean?”
“Must pay very well to afford those golf clubs,” John mutters.
Nikos hears him and turns. “And what do you do, John?”
“I'm a paramedic. I don't get much time off so coming down from Auckland for the holidays is a treat. The next big break will be for our wedding.”
“And I wouldn't miss it for the world,” I reassure him. I’m excited to return home for the wedding. I’m not as looking forward to leaving the place that feels like home as I thought would be.
I pull into the carpark at Glenorchy golf club and stretch my hands. “Let's hire some gear and play, folks.”
It’shotter than usual and the sun is high up in the sky. The heat is ratcheting up the frustration and annoyance for everyone and the tempers are boiling like the air. The fizzy drink gives me extra energy. Nikos is annoyed we didn't hire a golf cart and are walking everywhere. He’s making it really hard to charm him. I can’t imagine he’ll say anything good about me and my family to Kat’s parents.
“All this walking is harming my golf swing,” he mutters.
I sigh. “My friend, John is thrashing the both of us. He's winning by miles. I'll drown my sorrows when I get home.”
John sinks another birdie, and I throw my can in the recycling bin. “Okay, I think we've probably had enough. It's 4 p.m. now, and by the time we get home, it will be close to dinner.”
Nikos sulks.
I turn towards him. “What's wrong?”
“If only we'd have hired a cart, I would have won. I'm sure of it.”
I shrug. “Oh come on. Winning is not everything.”
His eyes look feral. “Rich for you to say. Mr. World champion. Mr Multimillionaire. Mr gets the girl. “
John raises his eyebrows and grabs his clubs and mine. “I'll return these to the hire place, then meet you by the car.”
I nod. “I don't know what your problem is, Nikos. You've been acting very strangely. We've always been good friends, and now you're behaving like we're in some sort of competition.”
“There's no competition,” Nikos mumbles. He picks up his expensive golf caddy and heads for the car.
Chapter 13
Kat
The fan is whirring away,fighting the heatwave with all its might. A stack of wedding magazines collapses under its own weight, splaying on the wooden floor of the lodge. I know what I have to do. Daryl is my friend. I inhale courage and spit out the question.
“Christelle said I should have my own online shop. What do you think?” My heart is in my stomach as I ask Daryl. He would never bullshit me.
He claps his hands together, a look of excitement on his face. “That's wonderful, darling. You could have an Etsy. Or a Shopify. I can help you with marketing and SEO.”
“So you really think I could do it?”
