Gripping onto the edge of the pink table and making Noah frown at me, I turn to Frankie. ‘Have you decided when you’re going to Sydney?’
Frankie casts me a familiar mischievous smile. For years I have been on the receiving end of this special facial expression. It basically lets me know that what comes next out of his mouth is not going to please me. Over the years this smile has been the precursor to Frankie playing countless practical jokes on me, Frankie taking the piss out of me for having a pretend wedding and Frankie pointing towards the male stripper he’d organised for me on my hen night.
My heart has started to thud. ‘What?’
Frankie scratches his head. ‘I was thinking of going soon.’
Nibbling on my nail I take in what he’s just said. ‘What doessoonmean?’
He grins at both Noah and me. ‘The day after tomorrow?’
Blood is draining away from my face. ‘What – that soon?’ Noah is looking my way once again. In a few days it will just me and him managing a romance-themed café on our own. What the hell have I volunteered to do?
‘You all right with that, Alice?’ Noah’s voice is soft and contains a hint of an Irish accent.
I release my messy bun, letting my long hair fall onto my shoulders. ‘Great,’ I say, while inwardly letting out a silent scream.
Frankie taps me on the wrist with his straw. ‘I might leave you and Noah so you can discuss how you are going to run this place. A little word of advice, why don’t you both spend the first week working together so you can get a feel for the place. Noah – are you handling the social media for me?’
Noah nods. ‘Yes, I’m good with a camera and I can make this place look amazing.’
Frankie has hurried behind his counter to text Jake. Noah’s summer sky blue eyes are studying my face. Biting my lip prevents me from asking him why he never sent me a letter back explaining that he wanted to move on with his life, or better still give me a call. It wasn’t like he could forget my telephone number as I used to plaster it all over my letters. He also could have got in contact with Pete, his best mate. Those two were close. I will always remember Noah’s watery eyes when he hugged Pete and said goodbye. Surely Noah would have said something to Pete about not writing to me? Life wouldn’t have been so complicated. Pinching my skin on my wrist I remind myself that was twenty years ago. Noah and I are adults now.
Flicking open my notebook I find a new page and grab my biro.
Noah fidgets in his seat. He loosens his pink shirt. ‘Right, Alice… ummm… this is awkward.’
My brain has lost control of my mouth. ‘You can say that again.’
‘I need to go to the loo.’ He shoots up out of his seat. ‘Back in a bit.’
Frankie rushes over. ‘How’s it going?’
I lean over and hiss, ‘All I want to do is ask him about why he never wrote back.’
Frankie’s perfectly shaped eyebrows shoot up his forehead. ‘Don’t ask him that. You need to keep quiet about your twenty-year-old grudge. Come on, you’ve both moved on since then. Let the past go.’
‘It is hard not to think about it when I am staring at him.’
Gesturing for me to shift up, Frankie slides into the booth and squashes me against the wall with his giant body. ‘Have you told him about Lucas yet?’
I playfully tap him on the arm with a heart-shaped menu. ‘No, I haven’t told Noah about Pete and Lucas. He doesn’t need to know just yet.’ Again, I swat Frankie. ‘Can we stop raking up the past?’
Noah returns. Frankie gets out of his seat and pats Noah on the shoulder. ‘Good to see you again, Noah.’
‘You too, buddy.’ Noah places his arm around Frankie. ‘Like old times, us all being back here. Do you hear from Pete at all? I always wondered what happened to him.’
‘MUMMY!’ Lucas’s voice makes us all look up as my son charges through the café towards the booth and throws himself at me.
Something flickers across Noah’s face as he stares at Lucas’s mass of black curls and big blue eyes. All I can think about is how he must see a mini version of his old best friend staring back at him.
I hang my head and wish the ground would open and swallow me up whole.
CHAPTEREIGHT
Frankie scoops Lucas up into his arms and grins. ‘Did you beat Jake at football?’
Lucas chews on his saliva coated finger and nods. ‘He was rubbish.’
