‘Hi, Kate!’
She jumped guiltily. She was standing at the sink, rinsing and hulling strawberries and hadn’t heard Rory come in. Glancing at her phone, she was relieved to see that the message was sent and the text had disappeared from the screen. ‘Hi, Rory.’ She smiled at him, then turned back to the sink.
He took a can of beer out of the fridge and opened it, but instead of going away, he stood where he was, drinking. Kate could feel him stare at her. She turned and looked at him questioningly. ‘Why don’t you do something about Will?’ he said suddenly.
‘Sorry?’ Kate was stalling for time. She had heard him perfectly, and he knew it: he was regarding her with amusement.
‘Will,’ he repeated quietly. ‘You’re crazy about him,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘Why don’t you do something about it?’
Oh God, was it that obvious?Kate was horrified. She turned back to the sink, busying herself with the strawberries while she considered how to answer him. She could pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about. No. Attack was the best form of defense. ‘Why don’tyoudo something about Louise?’ she asked, facing him. She had spoken on the spur of the moment, but she regretted it as the shutters came down on his already guarded face. For what seemed like minutes he said nothing, just gazed ather through narrowed eyes, like Clint Eastwood sizing up the enemy, leaving Kate feeling like a very unlucky punk.
Then, slowly, a slight smile was playing around his lips. ‘Touché,’ he said softly, with grudging respect. Admitting defeat, his smile broadened, the lines around his eyes creasing.
Kate was emboldened. ‘No, really,’ she said, stopping what she was doing and drying her hands on her apron to give him her full attention. ‘Whydon’tyou do something about it?’
Rory paused. ‘I’m just a scumbag to her,’ he said, and took a slug of beer.
‘I’m sure Louise doesn’t think that!’ Kate was aghast.
‘I don’t mean that’s what she thinks, so much as… Well, sheknowsI’m just a scumbag,’ he said, with affected indifference. But Kate had seen the hurt beneath the gruff exterior – the eyes not able to meet hers, the flinch as he had spoken, as though it pained him even to acknowledge what he felt by saying it out loud. ‘I mean, what would a girl like Louise have in common with someone like me? Louise is really smart,’ he said, the worshipful expression in his eyes again as he talked about her. ‘She’s been to college, she’s got a degree – actually, she’s got two. I didn’t even finish school – and most of the time when I was supposed to be there I was bunking off. Her father’s a judge, for fuck’s sake! If I wasn’t in this band, I’d probably be up before him for stealing cars or something.’
‘But youarein this band, you’re not a car thief and you’ve done something with your life – something really amazing. Anyway, you’re a rockstar,’ Kate continued, when Rory looked unconvinced. ‘That trumps class, surely.’
‘Maybe.’ Rory shrugged. ‘Maybe if I met her now… But Louise has been with us from the start. She knew me before I was famous.’
‘When you were just a scumbag?’ Kate joked.
‘Exactly.’ Rory laughed, relaxing. ‘Anyway, you haven’t answered my question. I’ve shown you mine, now you have to show me yours.’
‘Will has a girlfriend.’
‘Yes – Tina Roche-by-name-roach-by-nature,’ Rory mocked. ‘You could take her,’ he said, sizing up Kate with prize-fighter’s eyes.
‘And I’ve got a boyfriend,’ she continued, returning to her strawberries, partly to hide her smile. She felt ridiculously pleased that Rory didn’t think much of Tina.
‘You could dump him.’
Kate sighed. ‘The fact is, Will doesn’t feel the same way.’
‘Could have fooled me.’
‘He loves me like a sister,’ Kate told him.
Rory regarded her sceptically. ‘If I thought that was true, I’d fucking paste him,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘Only fucking hillbillies look at their sisters like that.’
‘Like what?’
Rory opened his eyes wide, stuck out his tongue and slavered. Draining the last of his beer, he threw the bottle into the bin and headed out of the door.
‘He does not!’ Laughing, Kate lobbed a tea towel at his retreating back.
Will gave out the wrong signals, that was all – that was what everyone was seeing. She had fallen for it herself, years ago. He had always been quite flirty with her – she’d thought he might even fancy her a bit. And then that night of the Trinity Ball…
It seemed so unreal now that she sometimes doubted it had happened. Now and again when she was out in the car with Will or working with him in the kitchen she looked at his hands, marvelling at the thought that they had once touched her. Shetried to imagine those long, slender fingers on her skin, his tongue in her mouth, the weight of his body on hers. If only she could have bottled it, she thought sadly, so she could take it out and experience it all over again.
