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15
The rain lashed at the windows of the ice-creamery as Hazel, Gus, Peter, and Abigail huddled inside on the largest table. It looked like they were among the very few to brave the downpour in their quest for ice-cream. Hazel, armed with an enormous golf umbrella, had walked over to the waffle shack to meet Peter and brought him down here to where Gus and Abigail were waiting. Though Hazel knew full well it wasn’t, it felt a bit like a date.
Being in Gus’s company, especially after hearing him tell her the full story of what had happened to Abigail, the emotion beneath his words and the harsh way he judged himself, had made her realise how much she’d come to care for him and feel comfortable in his company. Now she knew the truth, that he’d been protecting his daughter and hurting at the same time, Hazel didn’t feel the need to run a mile; she wanted to get to know him even more. And as she lay in bed last night, she realised beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was no future for her and James. She was falling for another man and no matter whether anything came of it, it wasn’t fair to keep him hanging on.
Zara, who owned the ice-creamery, brought over a tray filled with their orders – buttermilk and blueberry in a tub for Hazel, strawberry shortcake in a cone for Abigail, and Gus and Peter had both chosen a mixture of salted caramel and mint choc chip in a double waffle cone.
‘That’s huge,’ Hazel laughed as Gus registered the size of his ice-cream. ‘I did warn you that Zara is generous with her serving size.’
‘No need to be stingy,’ Zara laughed, hair swinging in her ponytail as she left her happy customers and went back behind the glass serving counter.
Gus flexed his bicep and Peter followed suit as Gus announced, ‘We won’t be defeated, will we?’
Peter shook his head but asked, ‘Abigail, do you want to sit over in the corner by the window?’
‘It only has two seats,’ said Gus, when the kids got up to move. ‘Are the adults cramping your style?’
With the pair giggling, Gus told Hazel, ‘Thank goodness I brought her to the party. She’s making friends at school, one of them is coming for tea next week, but Peter is quite something. He’s down to earth and I think that’s what she needs right now.’
Hazel enjoyed another spoonful of the buttermilk and blueberry and put her thumbs up to Zara, who’d been the one to suggest the flavour. ‘From what I know of Peter, he’s a great kid.’
‘He sounds excited about learning to ride on Denby when Arnold can fit him in – he told me all about it while you were ordering the ice-creams. And Abigail’s all for it; that shows she likes him.’
‘I wonder if he’s still wary?’
‘You mean after he was bitten?’ Gus licked around the bottom of his ice-cream so it didn’t melt down the cone, and Hazel did her best to look away when she saw his tongue dart out.
‘He’s not the only kid to be wary. I see it a lot and it’s not always a bad thing. I think Peter might like it once he has a go.’
‘I heard Abigail on the phone to her mum this morning, telling her about Peter and how he’d been bitten. She said she’s going to have to share all her advice on safety when it comes to horses. She sounded bossy.’
‘Good for her,’ Hazel laughed. ‘She knows a great deal, she’s sensible, and knows her limits. I can tell by the way she talks. And it’s great she cares so much, not only about Denby’s wellbeing, but the other horses at the stables. She doesn’t ignore them, she always has time to fuss them or feed them a treat.’
‘Don’t all kids care about the horses?’
‘Some are little monsters, believe me.’
Gus began to laugh but then, after another lick of his ice-cream, turned more serious. ‘Is that why you won’t teach kids?’ And then he pulled a face. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to blurt that out.’
He’d bared a part of himself yesterday and she felt she owed him the same, or at least something. ‘It’s complicated,’ was what she managed before she asked, ‘What’s with the smile?’
‘That’s the most you’ve ever said about it. Usually when I ask, you just refer me to Arnold and smile sweetly. You tell me it’s not personal to Abigail or you drink so much I have to put you to bed.’
She felt colour flush her cheeks and scraped the last of her ice-cream out of the bottom of the tub.
He let her off the hook, and instead of focusing on her, told her how he’d agreed with Julie that she could take Abigail up the coast to a beach house. ‘I said no originally, that I wanted Abigail to settle in more here first. But I need to let Julie make some of the decisions when it comes to our daughter, I need to stop assuming she’ll let Abigail down and perhaps give her the benefit of the doubt.’
‘Good for you, and I bet Abigail will love it.’ She turned to watch Abigail draw what looked like a cat in the condensation on the windows, Zara egging her on to do it. ‘The simplicity of being a kid, eh?’
He smiled as he looked over too. ‘Yeah, I miss that. Adulting is way harder.’
‘Yup.’
‘So do you want to talk about it?’ He smiled at her. ‘You’re very good at moving a conversation on but I’m moving it right back. You didn’t give me much to work with by telling me “it’s complicated”.’
‘I didn’t, did I?’ And as uncomfortable as it was, she liked that he cared enough to persist.
‘So give me the short version, the way I did last night. We’ve got time.’ He nodded over to the kids. ‘They’ve got the rest of the front window to deface with their drawings yet.’
