Page 44 of Where the Waves Kiss the Shore
“I wondered where you were off to. It’s cold.” Kasia’s lips had a blue tinge.
“Were you waiting for me? You didn’t need to do that.” She swam close. “Let’s get out.” It was freezing cold out of the watereven without the wind, so they grabbed their dry robes and hurried back to the warmth of Joey’s tower.
“You can change here.” Joey swung open the door to a side room with a bed and a small closet. They indicated a door at the far end of the room. “Shower’s in there.”
Kasia turned to Tierney, who waved her on. “You go first. I’ll wait by the fire.” There was no way she was going into a cramped space to get naked with Kasia.
Joey got busy mashing potato. “What’s going on with you two?”
Tierney pulled her arms inside her dry robe and wriggled out of the wet swimsuit. “Nothing. Kasia works for my family. I’m not going there.”
“That’s exactly how it looks when you’re staring at her with big puppy dog eyes.”
Tierney checked the door was still firmly closed and moved closer. “Shut up, will you? She’ll hear you.”
Joey shrugged. “I’ll say the same to Kasia. You two need to work out what’s going on. It’s getting more obvious by the minute.”
“We already went there, Joey. It didn’t work out.”
“Why are you whispering?” Joey waved toward the door. “Kasia ran away from that situation just as fast as you did. You never talked about it properly, and it’s clearly not resolved. Sort it out.”
Their abrupt manner was so uncharacteristic Tierney was taken aback. “What’s biting you?”
“You two have the chance to be happy together. You shouldn’t ignore it.”
“I massively disagree. We have the chance to hurt each other. I should walk away now, but I have to stay and do what I promised with the hotel.” She paced around the small space and Joey dropped the oven mitt to grasp her arm.
“Sit down, you’re making me dizzy.” They guided her to a chair at the table. “Just talk. See how she views it.”
Tierney jumped up when the bedroom door opened.
“Sorry I took a while. I couldn’t get warm.” Kasia’s lips still lacked their regular pink color, and her skin was paler than usual.
“I’m sorry if I made you stay in too long.” Tierney avoided her eyes as she squeezed past to get to the bedroom, glad of a few minutes alone.
When she emerged, Kasia had settled close to the fire, apparently lost in watching the flames. She didn’t turn as Tierney approached.
“Food’s ready.” Joey bustled in, carrying a large pot in each hand.
Kasia roused and they all sat at the table. The earlier intimate mood was replaced with an awkwardness Tierney was sure she had generated all by herself. The food was delicious, so for a while they were quiet as they devoured the succulent stew. When she finished her meal, Tierney glanced up. Surprisingly, Kasia was glaring at Joey. Joey, however, grinned back. She had clearly missed something. Just as clearly, she was sure she didn’t want to know.
“When we’re done, I just need to go and check something on the boat. It didn’t sound right on the way over.”
“We’ll get cleaned up here, won’t we, Tierney?” Kasia wiped her mouth with a napkin. “It’s the least we can do after that feast.”
“Itwasgood.” Tierney emptied the last of the potato onto her plate. If she carried on eating, she wouldn’t be left alone with Kasia. She knew deep down Joey was right though. If she really was concerned about hurting Kasia, it made sense to talk it through. She just didn’t want to have the conversation. Finally,when she felt she consisted mostly of potato, she put down her knife and fork in defeat.
Kasia got up and gathered their plates. Joey squeezed Tierney’s shoulder before they threw on their coat and swung open the door, letting in a blast of icy air. “Won’t be long.”
Tierney let out a long breath before she followed Kasia to the kitchen. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make this weird. I really do appreciate what you’ve done for the hotel in Granny’s memory.”
She picked up a cloth and started drying. If she focused on the mundane, perhaps she could have a sensible conversation.
“You didn’t make it weird.” Kasia scrubbed at a plate with intensity before she handed it over. “We’re both feeling this. Poor Joey’s stuck in the middle watching us make hard work of it all.” She handed over another plate. “I wasn’t expecting to find you so irresistible.”
Startled, Tierney glanced at her, then looked away quickly. She should say something about it being mutual, but she couldn’t get the words out.
Kasia pulled the cloth from her grasp and dried her hands. “Nothing to add?”
