Page 23 of The Wedding Pact
As they exited the pizzeria, Flynn asked, ‘Should we get rings? Prop ones, I mean?’
August thought it about it for a moment and then chuckled. ‘No, I don’t think we should. You know we’d forget to put them on, or worse, we’d forget to take them off and then be unlucky in love for a year and be wondering why nobody was hitting on us.’
‘Good call. If the landlady comments about the lack of rings we can just say they’re being cleaned.’
Outside, the air had grown cool, the streets close to empty, it being a Sunday night. A breeze ruffled the leaves of a nearby tree, and August and Flynn’s goodbye suddenly felt as awkward as their hello had.
‘I’m really glad I met you today,’ Flynn settled on. ‘You saved my bacon.’
‘Right back atcha,’ August said. And with that, they turned to go their separate ways, before she called after him, ‘Flynn?’
‘Yep?’
‘I’m sure you’re going to be kept super-busy with your new job and all your new workmates, but if you need someone to hang out with over the next couple of weeks, just drop me a message.’
Sadly, he feared he wouldn’t have much time for hanging out at all, but it was something he didn’t want to dismiss out of hand. So he simply smiled, nodded, and said, ‘I’d like that.’
Chapter 17
August
There was a breakfast spot in Bath that August could always count on to make great coffee, and even better pancakes. On Monday morning she’d hauled herself out of bed super-early in order to meet Bel before her friend had to get to the practice where she worked as a dentist. For two self-proclaimed morning people, both had arrived late, dashing in the door and making snap-decision orders at the counter.
‘I’mstarving,’ declared Bel, sitting down at the table by the window, the dawn light just beginning to paint the pane of glass a soft peach.
‘Same,’ August answered. ‘I had a piece of toast to keep me going before I left home, but now I’m famished again.’
‘I just had, like, a tiny bowl of cereal. Just in case the food took a while.’
‘That’s good thinking. I mean you’ve probably got a busy day at work and breakfast is important. I had peanut butter on one of my bits of toast and cherry curd on the other. Oh, I guess I had two bits.’
‘Cherry curd sounds nice. I had an apple too, just for some vitamins. Oh and a Pop Tart but that’s just like having a biscuit with a cuppa.’
‘Exactly,’ nodded August. ‘Let’s hope our food arrives soon.’
Bel removed her jumper as the waiter set down two big white mugs full of creamy coffee. ‘It’s hot out today. So what did you want to chat about? How are you doing?’
‘I amgood.’
‘You are?’ Bel looked puzzled. ‘Did you and James get back together over the weekend?’
August sipped her coffee and shrugged her shoulders. ‘James who?’
‘Yas, James who!’ Bel laughed. ‘But seriously, when we spoke on the phone on Saturday you were pretty cut up about him dumping you—’
August cleared her throat pointedly.
‘Sorry, aboutyoudumpinghim. Now you’re all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Are you drunk already?’
‘No, it’s like seven-thirty in the morning! I wait until at least nine.’
‘Then what is it? What changed?’
Their pancakes arrived, two steaming stacks on wide white plates. ‘I had some time to think,’ August explained. ‘James was but a blip and not worth wasting any more energy on.’ Even though the words were coming from her mouth, August wasn’t entirely convinced by them. She and James had been growing closer over the four months since their first date, and it still stung her heart, and her pride, that he’d broken the news that he was done with getting to know her. So yes, in theory, she was grateful not to be wasting energy on someone who wasn’t genuinely interested in a future with her, but her soul still needed a little feeding before it caught up. With that in mind, she became impatient for the bottle of syrup Bel was hogging. ‘You know, for a dentist you eat more sugar than anyone I know.’
‘I know, right?’ She continued to pour on the syrup for what felt like an age, before relinquishing it to August. ‘But don’t shame me, and don’t tell my patients.’
‘Oh, I’m not shaming you,’ August said, starting her own waterfall of syrup upon her pancakes. ‘And I am one of your patients.’
