Page 72 of The Seaside Cocktail Campervan

‘Ah-oh, no. You’ve got to get back out there, Luce. Show dickhead barman you’re living your best life. That someone else is keen. Show him what he’s missing.’

‘I really don’t think so, Becks.’

‘It’s just a mate of Darren’s, and I’m not asking you to get married, just go on one date. Loosen up a bit.’

‘I loosened up far too much, and look where that got me.’

‘It was just with the wrong guy, Luce. This bloke is lovely. Darren knows him from his uni days. He’s just moved back up this way. Got a job in Morpeth, something to do with computers I think, and well, he’s just finding his feet, trying to make some new friends. Just say you’ll give it a try, just once. Nothing heavy, just a drink out or something.’

Lucy could tell Becky wasn’t going to let this rest. And, she did kind of feel she owed her one, after not taking her friend’s advice over Jack.

‘Alright, alright. Just for a drink, and for a couple of hours tops. No cosy meals out or anything. Nothing too datey.’

‘Datey? Is that even a real word?’ Becky gave a wry smile. ‘Okay, yes, granted.’ She clapped her hands. ‘I’ll get it sorted.’

Lucy sat and sipped her now-cool latte, feeling a little queasy. Frying pan into the fire came to mind.

Chapter 39

Four days after her chat with Becky, and it had all been arranged – that girl was nothing but keen. There was no going back now.

Lucy checked her look in the mirror. She’d gone for a red floral-patterned summer dress with black ankle-tie espadrille sandals. Being summer, her skin was olive-tanned with a healthy Mediterranean glow, inherited from Papa’s side of the family. She wore her dark hair loose, and it fell in its natural wave, to just below her shoulders. Well, she’d do.

She was feeling a bit nervous. Other than meeting up with Jack, and god knows what classification that would fall into, she hadn’t ‘dated’ since Liam left her almost two years ago. What would they talk about? What if there was no chemistry? And, what if she did actually like this new guy? Okay, she reasoned with herself, it was just for a couple of drinks and a couple of hours. He, Angus, had suggested they go to a pub in a village not far from Alnwick, about six miles from Lucy’s home. He was going to pick her up at the cottage, but then she had organised a taxi home for herself at ten o’clock, not too early and not too late. But that still meant a full two and a half hours together – which could prove tricky if they didn’t get on. Still, Becky had assured her that he was a nice guy; her friend having met him a couple of times as a mate of her partner, Darren.

A dark-grey, shiny-clean Lexus saloon pulled up outside the cottage window, dimming the light inside her living room. Oh, this was him. He’d mentioned having a Lexus.

‘Well, here goes, Daisy. Wish me luck.’ Lucy popped the little dog into her kitchen crate, then took a slow, steadying breath. ‘Be a good girl, now. I won’t be too long.’ She tossed a couple of dog biscuits in with her canine pal, and left Daisy munching contentedly.

Lucy stepped outside, and took a steadying breath as she turned to lock the cottage door. As she approached the car, the guy in the driving seat gave a small wave, and leaned across to open the passenger door from the inside. ‘Hi, Lucy.’

‘Hi,’ she replied with a nervous smile.

He had dark-brown hair, cut short, green eyes, good teeth. All in all, not bad-looking. But, in that second, the face in her mind was Jack’s. She pushed the image away, as she took up the passenger seat.

‘Angus.’ He offered his hand formally across the gear stick.

‘Nice to meet you.’

‘Pretty little cottage.’

‘Yeah, it’s lovely, and I really like the village here too. So handy for the beach.’

Beach walks, beach canapés, cocktails … Jack was lurking dangerously inside her head once more. Would that fly-by-night barman just butt out of her thoughts!

‘So, where is it you live?’ she asked.

‘Ah, I’m renting just now. On a new estate in Morpeth. Modern, easy to look after. Handy for the A1, and getting to work.’

‘Right.’ Wow, this felt very like old territory; in fact, like the kind of life she’d just escaped from. The conversation was feeling stilted already. But they’d only just met, she conceded. She needed to give him a chance.

He was a steady driver, and the journey passed in polite chit-chat. Angus worked in IT – she knew that much as Becky had filled her in a bit – explaining that he did contract work for small and medium businesses who didn’t have their own in-house IT technicians. He’d studied computer science at Newcastle University, gone to work for BT for a while, and then went into partnership with an acquaintance who was keen on setting up an IT solutions company in North Northumberland. He told her that several IT companies were based Newcastle way, but there weren’t many options here on their doorstep. They’d secured some good contracts already, including one for the Alnwick Gardens working for the Duchess of Northumberland, no less, setting up a new computer network for the office and shop facilities. He sounded very proud about that. And apparently the business was prospering, going from strength to strength.

‘Hence the new Lexus,’ he beamed. It was like he was trying to convince her how good a prospect he was too.

‘Well, that all sounds impressive. Well done you.’

‘And what about you, Lucy? What’s your line of work?’