Page 24 of An Ill Wind in Seabury
A strange mix of ice and fire raced through her system. That near miss earlier had been withGeorge?!A thousand horrific images flitted through her head as the reality of how close she’d come to causing a tragedy hit her squarely in the chest. Her horror must have shown on her face, because George frowned.
‘I know it’s not high-flying or anything, but it suits me,’ he said, his voice tight.
‘It’s not that,’ said Claudia quickly, horrified that he might think she’d turned into as big a snob as her mother. ‘It’s just… are you the only postie in Seabury?’
George nodded, still frowning.
Claudia’s heart stuttered.So… it had definitely been him. ‘In that case, I owe you a huge apology.’
‘And a pair of clean undies,’ he said, a small smile appearing on his face. ‘I can’t deny it—youdidmanage to shave at least a couple of years off my life this morning.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ said Claudia. ‘But wait… you knew it was me?’
‘I had an inkling,’ said George. ‘But it was only when I visited Matt and Ewan, and they told me about Freya and the fact that you’d just paid them a visit, that I started to connect the dots.’
He knew the Peppers?Urgh, this was going from bad to worse. She could only imagine what the brothers had told him about how she’d behaved!
Well, there was no point worrying about that right now, was there? Claudia knew she had an awful lot of apologising to do for her behaviour today… and she might as well start as she meant to go on.
‘Let me buy you a drink,’ she repeated, with a note of pleading. ‘It’s the least I can do after my attempt on your life. Actually… have you eaten? Can I tempt you to join me?’
Claudia crossed her fingers again as George hesitated. A movement over his shoulder near the door of the dining room caught her attention, and she glanced over.
Lionel, the owner of the hotel, seemed to be glaring in her direction. She guessed she couldn’t blame him—she hadn’t exactly treated him very well when she’d arrived.
‘What’s up?’ said George, clearly noticing her frown. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine,’ said Claudia, ‘but I’m not so sure about Lionel!’
George turned to look, then turned back to her with a grin. ‘Sorry, I think that might be my fault. He told me I wasn’t allowed to disturb you under any circumstances.’
‘Oh! Well, too late, you’ve definitely disturbed me,’ she chuckled, the sound unfamiliar in her ears. ‘But… in a good way.’
‘Nice to know I still have the power to do that,’ said George, going pink as he shot her a mischievous look.
Claudia’s answering blush made her feel like her makeup might melt right off her face. Cursing under her breath, she wished she’d stuck to her first instinct and not bothered to reapply a full face after her shower.
Grabbing her glass of water, she took a grateful sip and watched as George gave Lionel a cheeky wave. The older man rolled his eyes, and his bushy eyebrows seemed to bristle before he turned on his heel and stalked away.
‘Don’t worry about him,’ said George, turning back to her. ‘He’ll get over it. He’s just cross that I reneged on our deal.’
‘Which was…?’
‘I could do a drive by of your table on the condition that I didn’t speak to you, and then I had to buy him a single malt from the bar afterwards.’
Claudia laughed. ‘Well, when the waiter comes over, I’ll be sure to order one for him.’
‘He’d like that,’ said George, shooting her a look of approval that made her toes curl.
‘So, will you stay and eat with me?’ she said, cocking her head. ‘I’d love to catch up properly. I know this might sound a bit weird… but… I’ve missed you.’
George paused for several long seconds that felt like an eternity. Then he grabbed the menu. ‘I’d love to,’ he said, starting to flip through the pages. ‘I’m starving! Mind you, I don’t know why I’m bothering to look at this. I know exactly what I want.’
‘You know what’s good here?’
‘Of course,’ said George. ‘The whole town knows what’s good here. Everything!’
‘Great,’ said Claudia. ‘In that case, I’ll have whatever you’re having, because I’m finding it impossible to choose.’
