“Have you ever been punting before?” Sean asked him.
“No, I’m not good around water. You two go ahead, enjoy some time together.”
Chloe squeezed Rob’s hand appreciatively, imagining being here with Peter. He would have whined about not knowing anyone, been jealous of her even talking to Sean. With Rob, she never needed to worry about upsetting him.
“Okay, Chlo, looks like it’s you and me,” Sean said, turning toward her with a schoolboy grin.
“You will be shocked to hear that I haven’t punted in years. I might be a little rusty,” Chloe told him.
“I’m sure it’s like riding a bike,” Sean said, knitting his hands and then flexing them above his head. But as they walked down the steps to the river, Chloe realized they were the last to arrive and there weren’t any empty punts left.
“Sean, you come with me?” Harriet called from a boat at the front. “Chloe, Rob, you go with John at the back there.”
With John? Chloe felt a strange lurch in her chest, her pulse quickening.
“Sorry,” Sean said with a wince. “I guess I’ll catch you after, yeah?” He raised his hand in a friendly wave, then strolled up the riverbank toward Harriet. Chloe looked around at the other punts, wondering if there was anyone else she could squeeze inwith, or if she should pull out entirely and stay on the bank with Rob. After their strangely hostile conversation last night, and the suspicious look he had given her this morning, Chloe wasn’t relishing the prospect of spending two hours in a punt with John. But scanning the other boats, she could see John was the only one sitting alone. She couldn’t leave him to go solo. Well, not quite solo; Richard was perched on the prow.
As she walked toward him, she saw that he didn’t look thrilled about having her as a passenger either.
“You sure you don’t want to come?” she asked Rob.
“No, you go, honestly, I’m not equipped for water sports,” he insisted, and she remembered him saying he couldn’t swim.
“Room for one more?” she asked John as they reached his boat.
“Sure,” John said. “As long as you acknowledge Richard as the captain of this ship. He’s big on naval hierarchy.” He was wearing faded blue jeans, a white linen shirt, and a straw boater perched at a jaunty angle on his head. Holding the pole in one hand, he looked absurdly at ease.
“I like the hat,” she said, suppressing a smile. “It’s giving retired Venice gondolier vibes.”
“Retired? I’ll have you know I’m in my prime gondoling years,” he said, and now she laughed. “You look like a French cartoon detective.”
“Why, thank you, that’s exactly the look I was going for,” she said, and she felt a hum of pleasure as she watched him try to bite back a grin.
Rob looked back and forth as though he was having trouble understanding their conversation.
“Are you coming too?” John asked Rob.
“No, I’ll sit this one out,” Rob said.
“Oh, I meant to ask, where in Ireland are you from?” John asked.
“The south, near Killarney,” Rob said.
“Really? My gran’s from there. Funny, your accent isn’t Killarney.”
“You moved around, didn’t you, Rob?” Chloe cut in, making a mental note to talk to Avery about an accent update too. “Right, we should go. Will you find something to do?” she asked Rob, and he nodded.
“Don’t worry, I don’t get bored,” Rob assured her.
“You could sit right here,” she said, waving an arm to indicate their idyllic surrounds. “Write some poetry or something?”
She had been joking, but Rob immediately launched into a sonnet. “Shall I compare thee to an Oxford fair? Thou art more radiant than the Isis in summer’s prime, where college spires reach for the sky’s dark frame, and in thy eyes, dear Chloe, shines a light that makes my heart sing with love’s sweet name.”
“Okay, wow. No, don’t do that,” she said, pinching her lips together to stop from bursting out laughing. Rob looked deflated. “No, it was lovely.” She leaned forward to peck his cheek before turning back toward the boat.
“Robot man’s really not coming with us?” John asked, and Chloe froze, just as she took a step into the boat, sending it rocking wildly beneath her unsteady footing. John leaped up to take her arm, while Richard bounded across the boat to help. His bounding only made things worse, and for a moment, as they clutched each other, the boat tilting wildly from side to side, she felt sure they were all going to go in the river.
“Have you never got into a boat before?” John asked, his voice warm, close.
