Page 38 of Playing for Keeps

For a moment, she stood rooted to the spot, staring down at the beach and the quirky vehicle that looked as though it was from an entirely different era.

“Are you okay?” Hugh said after a moment.

“Yes.” She inhaled a lungful of salty air. “My mum died when I was nine and I don’t have many memories of her. Or I didn’t think I did, but things keep coming back to me recently.”

Hugh kept quiet for a moment, gazing out to sea. Allie had the strangest feeling that he was thinking about his own mum. When he opened his mouth again, she expected him to say that he’d lost his mum, too.

“Sorry about your mum,” he whispered. “It must have been really hard to lose her when you were so young.”

Her instinct was to brush off his sympathy but she thought better of it. “I think I buried my head in the sand and refused to think about it, but … it wasn’t easy. I miss her.” It wasn’t something she ever recalled saying out loud. She’d probably never even let herself think it. “Sorry,” she said, catching a tear at the corner of her eye. “You wanted a fun night out and I’m …” She trailed off, not sure how to articulate it.

“You’re ruining it?” he suggested. The teasing in his smile was countered by the sympathy in his eyes. He shifted his weight and angled his body back towards the car park. “Let’s go somewhere else instead.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I was just having a moment. I’m fine now.”

“Are you sure?” He tipped his head towards the island. “I don’t want to get stuck out there with you blubbering away.”

Laughter made Allie’s shoulders shake and took all her tension away. “I promise there’ll be no more tears.”

“Thank god for that.” They set off again and Hugh dipped his head close to hers. “I was only joking. You can cry all you want.”

“Good to know. I’d rather not though.”

A cool wind whipped up the beach, lifting Allie’s hair from her shoulders. Hugh pushed his hands into his jacket pockets and jutted his elbow out in a subtle invitation.

Slipping her hand into the crook of his arm, Allie immediately felt the warmth of his body heat along with an accompanying warmth deep in her belly.

She had the unshakable feeling that Hugh’s theory was right.

He was way better at second dates than first dates.

CHAPTER 15

With its 1930s decor, the hotel on Sometimes Island was distinctive and memorable. The sight of the huge glass dome ceiling in the reception area transported Allie back twenty years. There’d been music playing the last time she’d been there and her eight-year-old self had extended her arms at either side as she’d spun in a circle. Her mum had taken her hand to twirl her under her arm, then danced with her while her dad had rolled his eyes and joked about them embarrassing him.

Back in the present, a wiry older lady eyed them over the brim of her glasses before walking out from behind the reception desk. Beads and sequins shimmered on her green flapper dress, while tassels swayed over her knees with every movement. The single feather rising out of her glitzy Gatsby headband quivered as she strode across the marble floor, her eyes locking on Hugh as she approached.

“Darling!” she said. “How wonderful to see you!”

Hugh’s eyebrows pulled tightly together. “Hi,” he said, with the questioning lilt of someone who’d been mistaken for someone else.

“Where’s that gorgeous little girl of yours?” The woman ran her hand down Hugh’s arm. “Probably not so little now, I suppose.”

“No,” Hugh said, his puzzled expression deepening.

“How’s her French coming on?” the woman asked.

“Fine.” Hugh’s eyes widened. “She’s in France at the moment.”

“Lucky girl. It’s so wonderful for her young mind to be exposed to different places and cultures.” Her gaze shifted to Allie and she sucked in a gasp. “We’ve met before too.”

“No,” Allie said with a condescending smile.

“Yes.” The woman wagged a finger at Allie. “You’ve definitely been here before.”

“When I was eight,” Allie said, not sure what game the woman was playing or why, but already losing patience for it.

“Of course. I remember now.”

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