‘Are you going?’
‘I am.’
Nathan stopped, looked around, down at the city streets, absorbing the quietness from up here. ‘If I worked in Manhattan, I’d use this place as an escape.’
‘Depends where you worked. You might be way uptown or downtown.’
He shook his head. ‘Must you always be right?’
‘Yes.’
‘That makes two of us. My brother was forever going on about it when I was little. I do my best to let others have their say now, but I am headstrong.’
‘Don’t apologise for it.’
‘I need to be more laid back, or at least that’s what Scarlett tells me.’
Back to the subject of teens, she suspected they’d both found their comfort zone. ‘Kids can be quick to judge no matter what age they are. They think adults have zero idea about the world around them, especially if the adult is a parent.’ She pulled her scarf a little tighter as the wind whipped around them when they passed on to a different section of the highline, the crowds at least moving. She couldn’t imagine what this place was like come summer. When she’d been chatting with Dylan after Cleo’s visit to the UK he’d talked about his running and how he sometimes came up here but only if it was very early.
‘I know I need to talk to Scarlett.’
‘About the condoms?’
‘About Kyle.’ He smiled. Who’d have thought we’d come all this way to another country and face more teen turmoil than when we were at home?’
‘I definitely didn’t see any romance on the air.’ She was glad it was dark and Nathan couldn’t read the awkwardness on her face at the mention of romance, because it was her own feelings about the man beside her that she was thinking of the most right now.
‘Me neither.’
She wondered, was he thinking the same? ‘Kyle hasn’t had the easiest time, happiness seemed out of reach, but seeing the way he is around Scarlett, well, it’s changing him for the better. We really talked – about her, his dad, his mum, the scumbags he’s been hanging around with. Who, by the way, he doesn’t want to associate with, but Kyle being Kyle is too nice to tell them to bugger off.’
‘What does he say about Scarlett?’
‘He talks about her qualities, what she loves, her art, her talent. When he talks about her it really tells me that his feelings are genuine and go way beyond teenagers fooling around.’
They took the next opportunity to exit the High Line and headed to a café for warmth. And over coffees they left the teen conversation and any reference to Paul and the impending dinner date tonight and instead talked about the friendships that had brought them here.
‘Do you knit a lot?’ he wanted to know as they talked about how much she was enjoying helping out on Cleo’s stall.
‘I’m crap at it,’ she admitted. ‘I got the job with Cleo’s aunt and uncle in their shop because my parents knew them. I worked hard. I learned a lot about the different sorts of wool, knitting needles, knitting patterns, and I bought plenty of things for myself, but I never really had it in me to practise. Cleo is keen for me to give one of her workshops a go out at her store in Inglenook Falls, but luckily distance prevents me from doing that.’
‘She was telling me at the inn the other night that her store was once in Manhattan, and Dylan put her out of business. Did I understand that right?’
‘You did. The store had been in Cleo’s family for years until he sold the buildings.’
‘And now she’s marrying the guy?’
His raised eyebrows made her laugh. ‘Sounds ridiculous, I know. But they’re so in love and I’m really pleased Cleo is so settled. How do you know Myles?’
‘We worked together in England, he’s a good guy.’
‘He seems it, and Darcy’s lovely. Are you enjoying staying at the inn?’
‘It’s great, suits us perfectly, apart from finding my daughter in bed with a boy that is.’
When her phone rang Amelia expected it to be Paul and was about to set it to silent but it was Connie. ‘Do you mind if I take this?’ She wanted to talk to her sister about Kyle, tell her how much her letter and the decoration meant to him, how much he was looking forward to a trip away with her.
She moved from the table to a quiet corner of the café, away from the music speaker.
