‘That’s right. Just along the front, on the way back into town from here.’
We walked on another few steps before Charlie spoke again. ‘Amy is the girl my brother has been nuts about for ages?’
I looked at him from under my hat. ‘Nuts about?’
‘Completely. I was so relieved that she finally said yes. For him, and me!’ He chuckled. ‘Can I ask something, though?’ His voice was a little more serious now.
‘Of course.’
‘Why did she make him wait so long? I mean… Look, I know she’s your friend, but he’s my little brother. And yes, he’s big enough and ugly enough to look after himself, but I just don’t want someone playing games with him. Especially not someone whom he really seems to like. I know you’re obviously going to side with your friend, which is totally understandable, but I get the impression you tend to say what you think, honestly.’
‘I do, you’re right. But I can put your mind at rest. The whole reason Amy’s “made him wait so long”, as you put it, is precisely because she didn’t want to muck him around. Because she likes and respects Marcus too much to do that.’
Charlie seemed to consider that, then nodded as if in acceptance of my answer.
We were now walking along the raised wooden boardwalk that faced the marina. Restaurants lined the back edge and outdoor tables were nearly all full with locals and holidaymakers enjoying the weekend sunshine.
‘Would you rather sit inside?’ Charlie asked, having apparently already assessed that I wasn’t the type for sitting in the sun.
‘Do you mind?’
‘Not at all. It’s pretty busy out here anyway. It might be a bit less manic in there.’
We headed inside the restaurant and found that Charlie was right. Most of the clientele had chosen to sit outside in the heat rather than enjoy the cool of the air conditioning whilst they ate. The waiter showed us to a table and we gave ourselves a few moments to settle in before I took up the conversation again.
‘Amy had a bit of a messy break-up some time ago. She was reluctant to see anybody for a long time because she was worried about rebounding. She had to say yes to Marcus when the time was right.’
‘And what if he’d stopped asking by then? Given up?’ Charlie asked, his eyes serious. From anyone else, I’d have taken this to be a bit of a smart-arse comment. But not here. My time spent with him this morning had quickly shown me that. This was just Charlie Richmond’s logical mind wanting to see how things worked.
‘Then I guess it would have shown that he wasn’t as nuts about her as you thought, and that it wasn’t meant to be.’
He fiddled with the menu, considering my words. ‘You really believe in all that fate and “meant to be” stuff?’
‘I’m guessing that you don’t?’
Charlie let out a sigh. ‘I’m not really sure that I can. I think that’s the logical side of my brain kicking in – why I like numbers and why I’m good at my job. Fate doesn’t play a part in it. It’s all about probabilities. It can all be worked out in black and white.’
‘But life isn’t black and white. Even you must admit that?’
‘I do. And maybe that’s why I want as much as possible of it to be logical because sometimes there’s something that comes out of nowhere, that throws you for a loop. For someone like me, who needs…’ he paused and rephrased ‘… who likes to find reason behind things, something like that just completely fries my brain. It’s almost impossible to process.’
I got the feeling that Charlie had a specific situation in mind. His eyes had taken on a sadness. I knew that it was too early to start questioning him as to what it was – that was to say, I knew it, I just couldn’t help it.
‘Something specifically threw you for a loop.’ It was a statement rather than a question.
Charlie pulled his gaze from the menu.
‘I’m sorry. I have no control sometimes. Feel free to tell me to shut up.’
His lips quirked.
‘That’s OK. I know exactly where I stand with you. I like that.’
I smiled, feeling the same way.
His eyes scanned the menu again. I guessed he wasn’t actually going to answer me but was, not surprisingly, too polite to tell me to keep my beak out.
‘In my second year of university, my best mate there collapsed and died on the running track. Fit as anything, he was. And then, out like a light.’
