Page 52 of A Seaside Escape
Mallory raised her eyebrows. ‘Oh. Right.’
Greg huffed, ‘Truth be told, she was ready for moving in permanently and getting engaged. I mean, for fuck’s sake, I’d only known her a few days.’ He laughed, his eyes sparkling. ‘Anyway, let me go clean myself up. I’ll be back in a minute.’ He ran up the stairs two by two.
Moments later he came back down in dry jeans with a T-shirt flung over his shoulder and a towel in his hand which he was rubbing through his hair. His chest glistened from the raindrops that had seeped through his other top.
‘So, good time?’ he asked, pulling the dry T-shirt over his fuzzy towel-dried hair.
‘Brilliant,’ she replied.
‘Make any new friends out there?’ He combed through his hair, scraping it back off his face.
‘Yes quite a few actually. I was even given a guy’s number.’ She smiled, and her cheeks heated as she remembered Carl who she had kissed.
Greg smirked and shook his head. ‘Why do you sound surprised?’
‘Oh, I don’t know. It was nice. I’d forgotten what it’s like to have someone give you their number.’
‘So, did you call him?’ Greg was frowning.
‘No, he wasn’t my type.’ She followed Greg to the kitchen where he put the kettle on.
‘Oh right. Do you have a type then?’ he asked inquisitively.
‘I didn’t think so. But anyway, he wasn’tit, that’s for sure. Too… oh I don’t know. I just didn’t fancy him.’
Greg chuckled and shook his head. ‘I’ve something to ask you, anyways.’ He handed her a cup of coffee. It was fresh and smelled delicious.
‘Oh yeah? What’s that then?’ She took a sip, but winced as she burned her lip.
‘Too eager! I made it with hot water and everything, you know,’ he teased.
She scrunched her face at him. ‘Ha ha.’
‘Anyway. It’s my birthday next weekend and I thought we could maybe have that beach barbie we’d talked about foryourbirthday.’ He looked hopeful. ‘I know that was just a ruse to get you to cheer up whilst I was planning youractualbirthday, but I do quite fancy it.’
‘Oooh, thirty-eight then, eh? BBQ sounds good. Who shall we invite to come along?’ Mallory also liked the idea of a beach party.
‘Oh, leave that with me, I’ll sort it out,’ he insisted. ‘You just get ready for around seven and I’ll pick you up.’
‘What’s up with the Landy? Looked serious out there.’
‘Oh, it’s nothing. Just a wee oil leak. I think I sorted it. Not bad for a twenty-year-old car.’ He took a sip of his coffee. ‘So, what did you get up to whilst you were away?’ he asked.
‘We shopped, we looked around all the touristy things, went to the beach, watched home movies. It was so lovely and relaxed.’ She smiled, recalling the things she had done.
‘Well, you look… I don’t know… refreshed?’
‘Thanks, I feel it. We had a kind of memorial service at Sam’s mom’s place.’ She clasped her hands around her mug. ‘It was very touching. All his friends were there and they said some amazing things about him. We all wore bright colours and released lanterns. It was really beautiful.’
Greg nodded and looked thoughtful. ‘Sounds great. Did it help you? You know, to be around his friends and family?’
‘Definitely. I felt like I said a proper goodbye. Not like at the cremation where I was so numb I couldn’t even cry.’ She looked at her mug and felt awash with sadness and regret.
‘Must’ve been lovely.’ He looked wistful.
Mallory had an idea, but was hesitant about mentioning it. ‘Hey, how would you feel about doing something similar for Mairi?’ she asked bravely, hoping it didn’t upset him.
Greg’s eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean?’
