Page 5 of The Cornish Cream Tea Holiday
‘Just losing a bit more of my soul,’ she said, trying for jaunty, and achieving, she thought, slightly manic.
She saw Finn elbow Ben in the side, and after a moment he strode forward, holding out his hand. ‘I’m Ben, the owner of Oystercatcher Cottage.’
Thea grasped it. It was warm, his grip firm, and he met her gaze as they shook. Those two points of contact, after his earlier evasiveness, made her cheeks heat up.
‘Thea,’ she said quietly. ‘Nice to meet you.’
‘Likewise.’
The dog nudged his nose into her lap, and Ben started to pull him away.
‘No, it’s fine,’ she said, stroking Scooter’s head. She noticed the animal had very pale eyes, his stare somehow more intense because of it. ‘He’s beautiful.’
‘He’s an Australian Shepherd,’ Ben explained. ‘Very loyal.’ There was a slight edge to his voice, and Thea glanced up, noticing the way his jaw was set firm. ‘Not so good at helping me plaster, though,’ he added, with less bite.
‘You’re fixing it up by yourself?’
‘That’s the plan. Finn’s a painter, but more seascapes than ceilings.’
‘I have offered to help,’ Finn said, picking up Thea’s book and scanning the cover. Rather than be offended, she wantedto ask him if he’d heard of Elly Griffiths, what he thought about her, what his favourite crime series were. Her love of books surpassed all other concerns.
‘Yes, but I want plain walls, not murals,’ Ben said. He shook his head, and Thea couldn’t tell if the exasperation was feigned, or if this was old ground and he was tired of going over it. Finn, she could tell, had an oversized personality.
‘I know,’ Finn said lightly, then added, ‘did I mention the bit about Thea being on holiday for three weeks, all on her own?’
Ben glared at his friend. ‘You did.’ He glanced at Thea. ‘Look, all that stuff about selfies stealing your soul …’
‘It’s fine,’ Thea said.
He winced. ‘It wasn’t, but I—’ He ran a hand over his head. His hair was thick on top, and a few strands were left ruffled by his fingers, making him look softer, less intimidating.
Finn stepped forward. ‘I’ve actually come here to convince Ben that he doesn’t want to spend the day sandpapering walls or ripping up floorboards or whatever he’s got his heart set on, and to come to the beach with me and Red – Meredith, my girlfriend – instead. There’s Scooter, and Meredith has a beagle called Crumble, and I’m aware you don’t know us from Adam, Thea, but if you wanted to come with us, you’d be very welcome.’
Thea’s gaze immediately flitted to Ben. His jaw was set, like marble, and while his expression wasn’t exactly warm, she was drawn to his eyes. Close up, they were a mix of brown, green and blue: a whole watercolour landscape in his irises.
‘I’m actually … going for a walk.’ It sounded lame. ‘Along the coast path.’
‘Oh, of course,’ Finn said. ‘It’s a good day for it, as long as you take a big bottle of water.’
‘Definitely,’ Thea said, laughing as if the mere suggestion that she might not have thought of that was ludicrous; as if she went on long walks along clifftops all the time. ‘It was lovely of you to offer, though. You should have a great time at the beach, with the weather like it is.’
‘Should do,’ Finn agreed. His perkiness seemed entirely genuine, while hers was taking a lot of effort. Ben offered the weakest of smiles, and even though she hadn’t warmed to him, she had to applaud him for not even trying to fake good humour. Here was a man who didn’t care what other people thought of him.
‘It was nice to meet you,’ she said, gathering up her cup and her book. ‘And I’m sure I’ll bump into you again, Ben. Have a good day.’
‘You too, Thea,’ Finn said.
She bent to pat Scooter, the dog’s nose angled up towards her, displaying all the friendliness his owner was lacking.
‘Bye then,’ she said, giving them a little wave with her hardback.
Finn waved enthusiastically back. Ben raised a static hand, then dropped it at his side.
As she turned away, she could hear his low voice as he murmured something to Finn. Probably:What on earth were you doing inviting an annoying, selfie-obsessed stranger to come with us to the beach?But she couldn’t worry about that now, because she had something muchmore pressing to cope with: the fact that she had no idea when Finn and Ben would be leaving, or when Ben was likely to return, which meant that, now she had said she was going on awalk, she had to at least give the impression that it was really happening.
She sighed as she washed up her crockery. It was Esme who had added a long, limb-punishing hike to their bucket list, not her. But Esme was at home with Michael Morpurgo and Alex, and Thea was here, doing what she’d been instructed, with Mr Sunshine and Mr Grumpy hanging about next door, and she had well and truly shot herself in the foot.
She trudged upstairs to take off her skirt, change into hiking gear and walking boots, and try to remember where she’d put her water bottle.
