Page 25 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
They stood, grinning stupidly at each other for a moment until Nora remembered what she was doing and finished undressing. She sat on the edge of the dock and lowered herself in, allowing her breathing to become regular before she pushed off.
‘How cold is it?’ Archie asked.
‘Really not too bad.’ The chilly water felt like tiny needles pricking at her bare skin, but she loved that feeling. And she was so used to it she knew that in a couple of minutes, her skin would begin to feel warm, at least until she got out and then it would be so cold that she’d barely be able to feel whether the towel was drying her off or not.
He began strolling around the edge of the lake as she swam, keeping pace with her.
‘We had the results of the water test back,’ he said.
‘And?’
‘It’s perfect. Couldn’t be cleaner.’
‘I knew it,’ Nora said.
‘I was wondering whether you’d like to go out for dinner with me.’
It was so unexpected, that Nora turned to look at him, interrupting her stroke and resulting in her splashing around for a moment until she got back into the rhythm. She’d rather not have been swimming in the lake when he’d asked her, but she realised Archie had probably only got up the courage to ask because she wasn’t looking right at him. The same way as the best conversations they’d had so far had been sitting side-by-side on the dock.
‘I’d like that,’ she said, once she’d recovered herself, smiling as she noticed out of the corner of her eye Archie stop and grin before he started walking again.
‘Amazing,’ he said. ‘Should I book somewhere? How about Friday?’
‘That would be lovely. I’m sure you know more places than I do. I haven’t ventured further than Oliver’s coffee shop yet.’
‘I’ll have a think about where we might go,’ he said.
Archie kept pace with her as she looped the lake, and then offered her a hand up from the dock when she climbed out.
‘Good god, you’re freezing!’
Nora laughed. ‘It’s the best feeling in world. Sorry, do you mind? I need to get my costume off.’
‘Of course.’ He turned his back and walked away, taking an interest in the tumbledown section of wall that Nora climbed over every day.
Nora dried herself in record time, struggling as she always did to pull her clothes on over her cold, damp skin. Her dry robe was last, cosseting her in its warming fleecy layers.
‘I’m done!’
Archie came back over and suggested they find somewhere drier to sit, so they walked to one of the wooden platforms further along the lake edge, and sat together with their legs dangling over the water. Nora pulled the flask out of her bag and handed Archie the cups to hold while she poured the tea.
‘Thank you,’ he said, wrapping his hands around it. ‘So, how did your kiln testing go the other day?’
Nora was touched that he remembered. ‘It went better than I expected, to be honest. It only took two test firings and then another just to check. So I’m back in business.’
‘That must be a relief.’
‘It definitely is. I’ve got an order I need to start working on this week and I’d started to think I might have to move the deadline. I hate doing that. It’s so important to me that we deliver when we say we will.’
Archie nodded and they sipped their drinks.
‘So, going out to dinner. Is it a date?’ She’d been wondering since the moment he’d asked. It seemed like the only explanation, but she wanted to know for sure.
‘Would it be alright if it was?’
‘I should tell you that I’m quite recently out of a long-term relationship. That’s not to say I don’t want to go on a date. I do. I suppose all I’m saying is that it wasn’t part of the plan.’
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve been on anything remotely resembling a date. We don’t have to think of it like that. I’d like to be friends, if nothing else. Shall we call it a first foray into our friendship for now?’
