Page 3 of Prudence
When Mam went to use the bathroom, I confessed to Nell that PJ had just asked me out. I’d never been particularly interested in him, but he was good looking in a laid back, musician sort of way. His band often played gigs at some of the local venues and community events.
“Do you mean the guitar-playing stoner boy who lives next door?” Nell had replied, aghast. “Goodness, no, Milly. You can do so much better than that.”
Her opinion had sealed the deal, and I’d told PJ the very next day that I couldn’t go out with him. I wondered what Nell would think of Derek. He wasn’t anything like PJ, and his father was one of the most successful hoteliers in the country. People from far and wide came to stay at the prestigious five-star Balfe Hotels. I had no idea what Derek was going to do when he finished school. Though coming from such an esteemed family, he probably planned on going to college.
I was still lost in thought when a car horn beeped. My heart pounded when I turned and saw Derek’s Audi. He wore sunglasses, his dark hair stylishly mussed. Something about the texture had me feeling the odd urge to run my fingers through it. He lowered the window as I approached, gripping my backpack. He also looked really good in his navy school jumper and white shirt.
“Hello again.”
“I was just thinking,” Derek began, “since I drive by you on my way home almost every day, and your house is on my route, it would be rude not to offer you a lift.”
“Um, that’s very kind, but I’m actually not going straight home. I have a couple errands to run first.”
“That’s okay. I can take you.”
Was he serious?
I swallowed thickly. “Are you sure? Because I have to shop for groceries, then pick up a prescription for my dad.”
“That’s fine. Get in,” he answered breezily.
Feeling like I might be imagining this—because honestly, one of the most popular boys in town offering to take me grocery shopping was not on my bingo card—I climbed into his car just like I had the day before. It was different this time, though, because I wasn’t distracted by wet clothes, and the luxurious leather seats felt soft and sumptuous beneath me. It also smelled like his sage and sea salt cologne, which was a little heady.
“I’m just going to Tesco,” I said, feeling shy, and Derek nodded, putting the car in gear.
“Where’s your, um … Don’t you have a brother?”
“Tristan,” Derek confirmed. “He has rugby training most days after school.”
“Ah, I see.” I paused, running my teeth over my bottom lip. “You don’t play?”
“Nah, I’ve never been much into team sports. I prefer running and swimming, sometimes tennis.”
“I love to swim, too, but I haven’t gone in a while.”
“You should stop by the hotel. We have a twenty-five-metre pool and a sauna, plus a larger gym than you’d typically find. I go a couple times a week.”
Well, that explained how he was in such good shape. Derek couldn’t be any older than nineteen, but his arms were more muscular than any of the boys I’d ever ogled at the beach with Tara and Celine during the summer.
“I might do that,” I replied, though I had no intention of following through. The very idea of donning a swimsuit in front of Derek Balfe had my nervous system going haywire.
We fell into silence for a few minutes before we arrived at the supermarket. Derek got out first then walked around to open my door, and I came over a little breathless. No one had opened a car door for me in recent memory, and I was struck by the gentlemanly gesture.
“Shall we?” Derek asked, motioning toward the shop entrance. I swallowed down my nerves and nodded. I was about to go grocery shopping accompanied by the hottest guy I’d ever spoken to. Now, if only I could concentrate on what I needed to purchase instead of being distracted by his ridiculously handsome face, that would be a great start.
2.
Derek
Milly had no idea, but I’d been aware of her since we were kids. She saved me once, and I’d never forgotten. In my mind, she was the angel who’d come to my aid when I was a little boy and spiralling.
It all happened one day at our primary school when my younger brother, Tristan, had fallen on the tarmac and badly scraped his knee, blood running all down his leg. Mam had drilled it into me that I needed to look out for my younger siblings, and I went into a panic because I knew I should’ve told Tristan not to run through the yard so fast. But he’d always been so full of energy and impossible to control.
Tristan was sprawled out on the ground, crying and holding into his scraped knee, and I was about to go call for a teacher when a girl appeared. Her long, dark brown hair was tied in a neat ponytail, and her intelligent blue eyes matched the clear sky above us. The sun lit her up from behind, outlining her in bright, heavenly light like she was an angel who’d come down from on high. That day, shewasmy angel, my saving grace. From her satchel bag she produced a miniature first-aid kit, an eager expression on her face.
“Let me see,” she said as she bent to inspect Tristan’s knee then sucked in a harsh breath. “Oh, that’s a bad one.” She proceeded to pull out various accoutrements to clean the wound, wiping away the blood before sealing it all up with a blue plaster dotted with yellow smiley faces. “I’m going to be a doctor when I grow up,” she’d announced confidently when she was done, pleased with her handiwork, and I pretty much fellin love right then and there. There was something about how sure of herself she’d been, how capable, that had my nine-year-old heart thumping that much harder. Her patching up Tristan’s wound also meant that Mam wasn’t going to chew me out for not looking after him that day.
“Do you still want to be a doctor?” I asked randomly, dragging my mind back to the present. Milly and I walked through the dairy aisle at the supermarket, and I’d insisted on carrying the basket for her. She dropped a block of cheddar into it then peered up at me in surprise.
