Читать книгу An A To Z Of Love - Sophie Pembroke, Sophie Pembroke - Страница 12

Chapter Four

Charlie stared at the collection of ingredients in front of him and tried to remember what he’d planned to do with them before Becky had shown up in town and turned his week upside down.

He wasn’t even sure if Mia would come back for the tasting after the lunch from hell. But on the off chance she did, he was going to have her favourite food ready for her. She deserved it after the afternoon she’d had.

Besides, tastings with Mia, late in the evening when the rest of StarFish was empty, then a midnight movie at the Coliseum, those were the best parts of his week. He wasn’t going to let Becky ruin it for him.

In fact, he wasn’t going to let Becky ruin anything for him. Despite all her talk about the casino, and business, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she had other motives for coming home to Aberarian. Which meant he had to be on his guard, just in case any of those motives involved his restaurant, or his best friend. Or himself.

‘I have a question,’ Magda said, leaning on the counter beside him, and Charlie wondered when she’d come in and how he hadn’t heard the doors.

‘Go on,’ he said, pretending to be preternaturally aware of his surroundings and not just startled.

‘Can you manage without me for the evening on Tuesday? I can get Jenny in to cover for me. She says she could use the work, to be honest.’ Magda’s friend Jenny had regularly saved Charlie from disaster when he needed an extra pair of serving hands at the last moment. If he had the money, he’d put her on salary.

‘Unless a bus of seafood convention delegates breaks down on the Esplanade, I think we’ll probably be okay with Jenny.’ Charlie gave up the pretence and pushed his chopping board away from him. ‘Why? Whatcha doing?’

‘I’ve got a date with Kevin.’ Magda started cleaning up around him in a way he assumed was instinctual. Charlie only knew that, if he couldn’t find something he was still using, it was probably in the dishwasher already. ‘I’ll be here for the lunches, anyway, so it’s only the evening.’

‘That’s fine,’ Charlie said, before thinking it through. ‘Hang on, won’t Kevin need to ask me for time off too?’ He wondered where he’d been when this dating thing happened. There were only three of them in the restaurant, most days. He’d have thought he’d have noticed.

‘No.’ Magda drew the word out, as if to remind him he was rather slow. ‘Because Kevin already has Tuesday off. It’s on the rota. You said it was pointless him coming in, because there were no bookings, and you could manage the kitchen yourself for any walk-ins.’

Joe stuck his head around the door. ‘You two do realise that, if you’re both in here, there’s nobody up front?’

Charlie stepped away from the counter and let Magda in to finish wiping down the surface. ‘That’s right, Joe. But since there are now more people in this kitchen than make it into the restaurant most days, I’m not too concerned.’

‘Things going well, huh?’

Charlie shrugged. ‘Meh. So, what’s up?’

‘That’s what I wanted to ask you.’ Joe boosted himself up to sit on Charlie’s expensive, sanitised surfaces, and just smiled at Magda’s glare. ‘All day I’ve had people in – buying next to nothing, I might add – asking if I’ve heard about Mia’s dad and saying Becky’s back in town. Now, obviously, I’ve been telling them that if the she-devil was in town, my good friend Charlie would have told me immediately. Same if there was any news on Mia’s dad…’

‘Yeah, um, mate…’ Charlie trailed off with an apologetic wince.

Joe waved a hand. ‘Joking, Charles. No, I just figured if I got the gossip, I might get a few more people in, and some of them might actually buy something in appreciation.’

‘Okay, then you can confirm Becky is, indeed, in town.’

‘Unfortunately,’ Magda put in. Charlie gave her a look. ‘What, would you have preferred “for her own nefarious means”?’

Charlie was beginning to regret filling Magda in on his history with Becky over a stiff drink after their lunch guests left.

Joe looked intrigued, but Charlie moved on. ‘Mia…’ He shrugged. ‘Who knows. She got a letter from her dad this morning. Far as anyone knows, she hasn’t opened it.’

‘That’s all anyone knows?’ Joe sounded sceptical.

‘Yup.’ He glanced over at Magda. ‘On that subject, anyway. Did you hear about Magda’s date, though?’

Joe raised his eyebrows. ‘A date?’

Magda turned her glare on Charlie, but he carried on anyway. ‘With Kevin, on Tuesday night.’ Magda rolled her eyes. ‘She doesn’t seem very excited about it, mind.’

‘Kevin? Really?’ Charlie assumed Joe was trying to give the impression that Magda was dating beneath her, but somehow managed to hit the “are you crazy?” note instead.

Magda settled against the counter, hands resting on the stainless steel behind her. ‘I am going to tell you boys something about love,’ she said, in the tone Charlie had come to recognise as her “trust me on this, I’m smarter than you” voice.

‘With love,’ Magda said, her voice settling into a rhythm that made her accent all the stronger, ‘you do not settle. With love, you do not hide. With love, you must search everywhere, hunt and seek and keep your eyes open always. With love, you cannot make assumptions. You have to trust that the right person will find you, eventually, if you are willing to be found.’

‘So dating Kevin,’ Joe said, frowning. ‘That’s you not making assumptions, right?’

‘It’s me still searching,’ Magda corrected.

But Charlie wasn’t really listening. Instead, he was thinking about Becky. Maybe Magda was right. He shouldn’t make assumptions. Maybe Becky’s reasons for coming home were entirely business related. Or maybe she’d just finally decided it was time for her to come home. Either way, it didn’t have to involve him, if he didn’t want it to.

Maybe she’d even want to take over StarFish, let him head home to London.

Charlie frowned. Except the appeal of that idea was fading rapidly.

Joe didn’t look convinced by Magda’s argument. ‘Tell you what, mate. While Cupid’s young dream is off having romantic notions that night, how about you and me hit the pub after you close up?’

If he got any customers. Chances were, StarFish would be closed before ten. ‘Sounds like a plan.’

‘Good,’ Joe said with a grin. ‘Then you can fill me in on the two women in your life, and whether they’ve had a cat fight over you yet. Wouldn’t want to miss that.’

‘Good night, Joe,’ Charlie said meaningfully. The last thing he needed was the whole of Aberarian taking bets on him and Becky getting back together. He knew for a fact Joe was already running a book on him and Mia. Who needed a bloody casino?

Joe jumped down from the counter and held open the doors to the restaurant. ‘Ah, the path of truth love and all that nonsense. I guess it can’t be hearts and flowers in Aberarian all the time.’

Charlie led Joe through the carefully laid wooden tables to the front desk. He really wasn’t in the mood to have this conversation again.

‘This is the point where you pretend not to know what he means,’ Magda prompted helpfully.

‘He knows,’ Joe said, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the reception desk. ‘I’ll just pretend he asked.’

‘Can I just pretend you answered?’ Charlie asked.

‘No.’ Joe grinned at Magda, then turned back to Charlie and went into his usual speech. ‘Why, I mean Becky and Mia of course! Personally my vote’s on Mia. Everybody knows it’s only a matter of time. You two were made for each other!’

‘I hate you,’ Charlie said, without any real feeling. His attention had already been drawn away to the beautiful auburn-haired woman on the other side of the street.

Magda saw Becky too, because she pointed and said, ‘I know somebody who doesn’t seem to know it yet.’

Charlie ignored her, and Joe’s resulting chuckle. Because watching Becky, he could see in her walk the way she moved with him, the way she loved. But it didn’t matter any more. He looked at her, and saw his past. When he looked at Mia… he hoped he saw his future.

Maybe Magda was right after all. Maybe he had to be open to love and let it find him again.

And if his head was telling him that was stupid, well, maybe it was time for him to listen to his heart for a change. If only he could persuade Mia to take the risk.

* * * *

The Grand Hotel was just how Becky had left it two years ago – old-fashioned, shabby, and smelling of over-brewed tea. Not exactly the Savoy.

Apart from anything else, she was still lugging her own bags across the lobby.

While Tony flirted with the world’s most unhelpful receptionist, Becky inspected the rack of local attractions leaflets, noting half of them were over a hundred miles away, and the others weren’t particularly attractive. A craft community in the old mill in Felinfach, a dance club for pensioners in some inn outside Coed-y-Capel. Nothing to exactly set the pulse racing. God, this community really needs me.

She looked up, waiting for Tony to finish chatting up the girl behind the desk, wishing she didn’t care so much that he felt it necessary to smile at anything in a skirt. She knew it was just the way he was – and if she called him on it, he’d just shrug and tell her he believed the world needed more friendliness. Or that a little charm reaped big rewards. Whatever today’s excuse, Becky was pretty sure he just liked the attention.

Not that it should make any difference to her. She’d known, from that first night when he gave her that questioning smile over what was supposed to be a business dinner, that Tony wasn’t the sort of guy you looked to for the long haul. He liked the chase, liked the fun, adored a challenge. But when it came to settling down and growing up, Tony would be on the fastest train out of town.

Just like she’d been, two years ago, when it came down to it.

No. Tony was many things; fun, handsome, charming, a genius in bed and at the office… but he couldn’t be her future. And she needed to make very sure she remembered that.

Up in her single-masquerading-as-a-double room, Becky settled on the lumpy mattress and dust-ridden coverlet and watched Tony pull out his mobile phone and check his messages. She knew from past experience Tony would treat her room as his own. The man had no sense of personal boundaries.

Eventually, he hung up on his answering machine, and Becky sprawled back a little on the bed, resting on her elbows and crossing her legs, waiting for him to notice. Just because he wasn’t long term material, didn’t mean she had to give up the fringe benefits of her job just yet, right?

But instead of paying attention to her pose, he moved to the window and looked out over bloody Aberarian.

‘You know, Bex, I’ve been thinking.’ He drummed his fingers on the windowsill. ‘Places like this are very insular. Very cliquey. You have to win over the influential people.’

‘You think Ditsy was the wrong place to start?’ Becky refrained from reminding him he’d been the one to say, ‘Let’s start with your aunt. Better the devil we know.’

Tony shrugged. ‘I’m just not sure how much say she or Mia or Charlie, for that matter, have in what goes on here.’

Becky sat up. No point being seductive if he wasn’t even looking. ‘I think you’re wrong about Charlie. Yes, the A to Z shop is an anachronism, but StarFish is a modern business. Just the sort of thing we want to encourage.’ She ignored the small part of her that said she just wanted an excuse to spend more time at StarFish – with Charlie – under the guise of work. Of course, StarFish was her business, wasn’t it? She could spend as much time there as she wanted…

‘I suppose it might be worth hanging onto Charlie.’ Tony turned back from the window, and Becky tried to regain her previous pose without looking too obvious. ‘He needs us – or rather his restaurant does. I got the impression your aunt would rather let the shop decline into cobwebs. But Charlie… He’s young. He’s got to be ambitious.’

Not really, Becky wanted to say, but didn’t. The limit of Charlie’s ambition was probably the restaurant. He might be willing to fight for StarFish.

Might still be willing to fight for her, she hoped. Because she planned to fight for him.

‘I want to do more here, Bex.’ Tony came to sit beside her on the bed and stared at her with hard eyes, as if she were the one trying to stop him. ‘I want more than convincing people it’s not the end of the world if they have a casino on some side street. I want the heart and the soul of this town. I want this place to become a tourist Mecca, without the bleeding hearts and the environmentalists telling me I’ve ruined their town.’ He put a hand across her knee. ‘For once, I want these people to be grateful. I want them to bloody well thank me for saving their silly little town from extinction.’

He was so compelling when he was like this. He drew her in until she believed in his vision utterly. It was kind of scary.

Tony trailed his fingers across her thigh, and Becky swallowed. ‘That’s what I want too. How do you plan to do it?’

‘We need the heart of the community. And thank God that’s not the church any more – they’re never in favour of progress.’ His touch reached the bottom of her skirt and kept moving up. ‘No, these days it’s the shops and the restaurants. The consumerist centre. They’re the people who’ll win big under our plans. People like Charlie Frost and his restaurant. You think anybody here appreciates food like that?’ Becky was finding it harder to think as Tony’s hands roamed higher. Harder to remember why she’d wanted to come back to Aberarian, except to make his dreams come true.

‘So, you do still want me to get Charlie on board?’ Becky asked. Tony nodded and placed a kiss to her neck. ‘Any instructions on how I go about that?’ She gulped as Tony’s fingers brushed her knickers. It was just as well she’d be breaking things off with him once she had Charlie back. Tony had far too much power over her like this. She wanted to make him proud, for heaven’s sake.

‘Whatever works,’ Tony mumbled against her breast, and Becky thought she had some ideas. Really, Tony had taught her so much.

* * * *

Later that evening, Mia found herself pausing outside StarFish again, wondering if Charlie was even expecting her for the tasting, after the lunch from hell. Wondering if she should be there at all.

She peered through the window, trying to make out exactly who was inside. It was gone nine-thirty, already late enough usually to be confident the few local diners who might have stopped in had finished their meals and headed home. Mia could see one couple near the door putting on their coats. She smiled; any customers at all tended to put Charlie in a better mood. Still, given it was a Saturday night, she hoped he’d had more than one table filled.

Beyond the couple, she could see Magda at the till. The kitchen doors were closed, and the remaining restaurant looked empty. In other words, no Becky, unless she was haranguing Charlie in the kitchen. Deciding to take her chances, Mia held the door open for the exiting couple and made her way inside.

Magda smiled at her from behind the bar. ‘Good,’ she said, slamming the till drawer closed. ‘He was worried you wouldn’t come after this afternoon.’

‘And miss out on the potential for breaded prawns?’ Mia shrugged off her coat, draping it over the coat rack by the door. ‘Not a chance.’

Shaking her head, Magda said, ‘I don’t know how you two can call it a tasting when Charlie just keeps making your favourite dishes. They’re not even on the menu.’

‘We have a deal,’ Mia explained. ‘For every new and suspicious dish he wants me to try, he has to make me one he knows I love.’

Magda didn’t look convinced, so Mia decided to change the subject. ‘Many people in tonight?’

‘More than had booked, which is something.’

Mia nodded. They’d all pretty much take what they could get, the way business was at the moment.

The kitchen doors opened and Charlie appeared, a plate of tempura and breaded prawns with chilli sauce and garlic mayonnaise already in his hands.

‘I thought I heard you,’ he said with a smile. Obviously Becky’s visit hadn’t been too traumatic for him. He turned to Magda, adding, ‘You can take off now, if you want. I can’t imagine anyone else is going to come in tonight.’

Magda gave Charlie a grateful smile, and Mia realised she already had her coat and bag in her hand. No one knew better than Magda the likelihood of more customers.

When she was gone, Charlie led Mia over to their table at the rear of the restaurant, and Mia sank gratefully into her chair. She loved their table. It was close to the fire in winter, and far away from the windows and prying eyes all year round.

Charlie put the plate of prawns in the centre of the table, along with a couple of napkins, then disappeared over to the bar. When he returned, he brought with him a bottle of white wine and two very large glasses. Mia smiled in appreciation as he filled hers.

‘Quite the day,’ Mia said, lifting the glass to her lips.

Charlie slumped down in the chair beside her. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘For dating a crazy woman?’ Mia picked up the plumpest prawn on the plate. She deserved it.

‘I didn’t know she was coming back,’ he said.

‘Or else you would have warned me to run for the hills.’ Mia bit off the tail of her prawn, dipped it in garlic mayonnaise, chewed and swallowed. ‘Fair enough.’

‘I just…’ Charlie shook his head and reached for his glass. ‘I can’t believe she’s here.’

Which, Mia reflected, could be taken one of two ways. One, he was horrified at her arrival and even more disgusted by the way she’d spoken to his best friend, and was looking for ways to run her out of town. Two, he was just amazed at the second chance he’d been given at love.

Call her a coward, but Mia wasn’t sure she wanted to know which it was.

Charlie shifted in his chair, turning his body to face her, wineglass dangling between his strong hands. Watching them in the candlelight, Mia could see hints of the scars and burns she supposed were inevitable in his profession.

‘But never mind about my absurd day,’ he said, and Mia shifted her attention from his hands to his chocolate brown eyes. ‘What about this letter from your dad?’

Mia looked away. She hadn’t forgotten about the letter – she could almost feel it pulsing away in the bottom of her bag. But she’d tried to push it aside, out of her mind. It was a lot easier to concentrate on the evil of Becky Thrower than the disappointment of her father.