Page 99 of Kate and Clara's Curious Cornish Craft Shop
‘Pretty much the same really …’ I smile.
‘Hilarious,’ Jack says sourly. ‘No, really, what do you honestly think?’
‘Fishing for compliments again, are we?’ I ask lightly, but Jack’s face is serious. ‘I think you’re a highly complex man,’ I add, desperately trying to think of the right words. ‘Your tough exterior doesn’t suggest at all your more sensitive side I know you try to keep hidden.’
‘How do you know I have a sensitive side?’
‘Because I’ve seen it – when you’re with Ben, or my Barney, or when we’re watching Clara and Arty. That’s the real you, Jack, not the Jack you want people to think you are.’
‘Seems like you know me pretty well already.’
‘Nope, I think there’s much more to discover.’
‘I really want to kiss you right now,’ Jack says in a low voice, his eyes not moving from mine.
‘Ireallywant you to as well …’
‘Let’s get out of here then,’ Jack suggests. ‘And find somewherea lotquieter.’
I nod, and I’m about to stand up when someone comes over to our table.
‘Kate, I thought that was you,’ Julian says, beaming at me. He glances at Jack. ‘Hi! Jack, isn’t it?’
Jack nods.
‘Sorry to disturb you both, but I wanted to give you this, Kate.’ He hands me a small carrier bag. ‘It’s your vest top. You left it at mine the other day when you got dressed in a hurry.’ He glances at Jack again to make sure he’s following this.
I look at Jack too, and I’m in no doubt whatsoever that he has understood Julian’s meaning completely.
Thirty
‘Jack!’ I say, leaping up as he begins to reverse back from the table as if he’s going to leave. ‘It’s not what you think!’
‘What do I think, Kate?’ Jack asks, a stony expression clouding his face.
I stare at Julian. ‘I thought we were supposed to be friends?’ I say. ‘And yet you do this.’
‘I don’t understand?’ Julian asks in confusion. ‘What’s going on?’ He looks between Jack and me, and then at the bag lying on the table between us all. ‘Oh! I see how this looks. No, Jack, nothing inappropriate took place that day … nothing at all. You have my word.’
‘I bet you’d have liked it to though, wouldn’t you?’ Jack asks accusingly. ‘I’m not stupid. I didn’t get what you meant that day, as you know I had other things I was dealing with at the time, but you were desperate for me to know that Kate was at your cottage in a state of undress. I didn’t pick up on your crude clues as I thought you were simply fetching coffee.’
‘Wait, you bumped into Jack when you went to fetch our hot chocolate?’ I ask, puzzled. ‘I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you say when you came back, Julian?’
Julian shrugs.
‘My point exactly,’ Jack says, folding his arms in such a way that his biceps become even more prominent.
Julian looks sulkily at Jack. ‘You were the one who said I shouldn’t mention it to Kate.’
‘I didn’t know you were going to see her in a matter of minutes, did I?’
‘Stop it, you two!’ I demand. ‘And lower your voices, people have noticed us. Let’s try to discuss this quietly like the civilised adults I’m sure we can be. Take a seat, Julian.’
Only a couple of people had actually glanced our way, but I needed to calm this situation down fast. Jack was right, Julian pretty certainly had had other things on his mind that day, but he didn’t need to know I thought that too.
Jack unfolds his arms and reaches for his pint again, while Julian sits down on a spare seat opposite mine with his hands clasped loosely together on the table.
‘Right,’ I say, as calmly as I can. ‘Now we’ve established thatnothingwent on between Julian and me,’ I look pointedly at Jack, ‘may I ask why you didn’t want Julian to say anything about bumping into you that afternoon? It strikes me as a bit odd.’
