Page 21 of An Ill Wind in Seabury
‘Maybe it’ll help you move on, though?’ he muttered, mooching through to the bathroom, cranking on the shower and holding his hand under the torrent of water to test the temperature.
George shook his head. He was overthinking this. Today was just turning into one of those days. Everything was going to feel wrong, no matter what he did… so he was just going to go for a drink andseeif this woman was the same person. Justsee.That was all. Then he could decide if he was going to say anything to her.
Ten minutes later, he smelled a lot fresher and was wearing his least crumpled shirt.Notthat he was making a special effort or anything… that’d just be daft. After all, the last time he’dseen Claudia, her hair had been wound into rainbow bunches, and her sweeping fringe had sported lime green stripes. An experiment that shouldn’t have worked but somehow managed to make her look dangerously cute.
Claudia had always been in the middle of some kind of rebellion against her mother. A habit that her funny, down-to-earth father had encouraged as much as possible.
George huffed out a sigh. He needed to stop thinking about the past. He needed to stop worrying about anything other than what was happening right now… and right now he was simply going to check if Lionel was doing alright with his difficult guest… and maybe catch a glimpse of her while he was at it.
‘George, my boy,’ said Lionel, standing up and striding towards him the minute he walked through the door. ‘I wasn’t expecting you this evening, but I have to say, I’m very glad to see you’re in one piece.’
‘One piece?’ said George in surprise, accepting Lionel’s hearty handshake and hug with some surprise.
‘I hear the harridan in number thirteen tried to take you out with her tank?’
George laughed. He couldn’t help it. It wasn’t really a laughing matter of course, but it was astounding how fast news spread in Seabury.
‘Yes, there was almost an… incident?’ said George, choosing his words carefully. ‘Still, no harm done. To me, at least. I hope she’s okay?’
‘Okay?’ tutted Lionel. ‘I’m not sure that’s the word I’d use to describe her. But she made it back here alive, if that’s what you’re asking?’
George nodded.
‘Not sure what happened to the SUV, though. Word on the grapevine is that she was seen walking down the hill past the allotments, and the vehicle’s not in any of the likely spots this evening.’
George raised his eyebrows. ‘I really hope it isn’t in a ditch somewhere… or ploughed into the front of someone’s house.’
‘Who knows,’ said Lionel ominously. ‘I know the Pepper boys called Kate after your little visit earlier to warn her and Lou to be careful when they took Trixie out on the sandwich round!’
‘I should have thought of that!’ said George, his eyes going wide. The thought of Lou or Kate coming into contact with the SUV while they were riding The Sardine’s delivery tricycle didn’t bear thinking about.
‘No harm done,’ said Lionel, patting his shoulder. ‘From what Matt told Charlie earlier, it doesn’t sound like you were in any kind of state to worry about that, anyway.’
‘Yeah,’ George felt a blush stain his cheeks. ‘I was a bit shaken up, I have to admit.’
‘Not surprised!’ said Lionel. ‘I would have been too, especially as I hear there’s a chance our guest of honour may be your blast from the past after all?’
George made an instant mental note to kick both the Pepper brothers in the shins at his earliest possible convenience. Normally, he was pretty careful about what he fed the Seabury grapevine, but the brothers had really caught him at a vulnerable moment earlier.
‘Well… apparently her sister—the one who’s marrying Rory—is called Freya. AndmyClaudia had a sister, and I’m pretty sure she was called Freya too.’
‘What are the chances?!’ said Lionel, raising a bushy eyebrow. ‘Even so, I can’t exactly see the pair of you runningoff into the sunset in some kind of rekindled, second-chance romance!’
Lionel had to stop for a long minute because the thought made him smile… then giggle… then he started to laugh so loudly that it echoed off the reception walls.
‘When you’requitefinished!’ chuckled George, eyeballing Lionel, who was now bent double, trying to catch his breath as he dabbed at his eyes with a red and white spotted handkerchief.
‘Sorry. I am sorry, my boy!’ said Lionel, straightening up and making a visible effort to control himself.
‘I’m very glad my single status is such a good joke.’
‘That’s not the joke,’ said Lionel, still laughing so hard that tears poured down his cheeks. ‘You deserve all the happiness in the world… it’s just the idea of you finding it with that stroppy knickered old trout that’s tickling me…’
Lionel dabbed at his eyes again, staring up at the ceiling in an attempt to stop his shoulders shaking with mirth.
‘Sorry.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Right. Right… I’m going to behave now. Promise.’
George smirked. ‘Sure. So, question is, is the stroppy knickered old trout still in residence?’
