Page 20 of Worth the Wait
And if by chance his route took him past the street where a certain red Peugeot had been parked earlier…
Well. That was no one’s business but his.
But as he jogged past, the car was gone. Of course it was. He’d known it would be. Freddie wasn’t the type to hang around.
Still, he scanned the street as he passed, breath misting in the cold. Couldn’t be sure ithadbeen him. Not really. But years in the military had taught him to trust his instincts. Tofeelwhen someone was watching. And Nathan had felt it. Felthim. And even if the car was gone, there was no mistaking the feeling that had crept down his spine earlier that night. Or the familiar scent ghosting on the air when he’d stepped out onto the drive.
He’d know Freddie Webb anywhere.
Even after all this time.
He jogged the long route, cutting down past the war memorial and along the seafront, where the wind slapped harder, and the salt stung his lungs in all the right ways.He looped around the crumbling pier for a five-k, maybe a bit more, and ended up outsideOh My Cod!the only fish and chip shop in Worthbridge stubborn enough to stay open on a Sunday. Most places shut their fryers down after Saturday night. Part tradition, part survival. ButOh My Cod!kept going, same as always. Grease-stained windows, neon ‘OPEN’ sign illuminated above the door, and a bell ringing with defiance every time someone walked in.
Nathan queued behind a couple of teenagers and a woman in scrubs, sweat cooling on his back, the scent of hot oil and vinegar already making his mouth water. It was one of the few places in town that hadn’t changed. And for tonight, that felt like something close to comfort.
“Two cod, sausage in batter, large chips, please, love.” Nathan leaned forward, peering through the fogged-up glass, eyeing the crispiest fillet.
“Nathan bloody Carter.”
He looked up. “Mandy.” He surprised himself with how quickly the name came back to him. Yeah, he clocked the peelingOh My Cod!apron withMandy Fry Queenbadge plastered on her, but that wasn’t why he remembered the woman. Or girl, as it was back then.
“You crawling back to town just to see me?”
Last he’d seen her was behind the youth club bins. Lip gloss, cherry flavour. Breath hot on his cheek. A win on the pitch, a kiss with something to prove, then five minutes later she was off with that striker from St. John’s. Better hair. Better stats.
What had hit harder was the bit after, though.
Freddie. On the kerb. Knees tucked in, pretending he hadn’t seen. Waiting.
Nathan swallowed, the air thick with fryer grease. He hadn’t understood it then. Didn’t have the words. Just afeeling. Guilt, mostly. And Freddie’s face…not angry, just… quiet.
“Didn’t think I’d see you back in Worthbridge.” Mandy fished out a golden slab of cod and dropped the fish onto paper. “Heard you went into the army.”
“Yeah.”
“You on leave, then?”
“Left. Indefinitely.”
Mandy wrinkled her nose. “Oh. Sorry. Tanya—you remember Tanya Keane?”
He didn’t, but he nodded anyway.
“Her husband’s out in Estonia, part of that NATO forward presence thing. Says they’ve been sending lads in and out of Ukraine to train the locals. Were you there? Left cause of injury?”
Nathan didn’t flinch, but he felt it. Right in the leg, where the cold always settled into the scar first. He didn’t want to have this conversation. Not here. Not with someone who once dumped him for a boy who scored more than him. On and off the pitch.
“Not exactly.”
Mandy picked up on the tone and changed gears. She grabbed the scoop and tipped a mound of chips beside the fish. “Salt and vinegar?”
“Yeah. Both. Cheers.”
She doused the lot, then wrapped the paper up with the speed and precision of someone who’d done it a thousand times. “So where you living now?”
“Back at my old man’s for a bit. Working in his garage. Trying to sort something more permanent for me and the boy now he’s going to Worthbridge Academy.”
“Oh, yeah! Forgot you had a kid. What’s his name?”
