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“So much.You can still see the glow from the sun, and it must have set an hour ago.”
“There’s really nowhere better,” Carts added.
“Have you ever wanted to live somewhere else?”
He put a spoonful in his mouth.“Yum,” he said, pointing at the little tub.“You were right, this isreallygood.I thought about getting a job in Melbourne, but you know, leaving family and friends didn’t appeal that much, and in the end, evidently, I stayed put.Not exactly Bear Grylls am I.”
“You just know what you want.”
He shrugged.“Maybe.And you?”
“Same.Looks like neither of us will make it onto the next series ofSurvivor.”
“Darn it.I was going to take you bungee jumping next time.Urm— if there is a next time?”
She gave him a playful nudge, felt him return the pressure and even that was enough to make her pulse hop and skip.“Only if you promise no bungee jumping.”
“Promise.”
A moment’s silence followed while they studiously spooned gelati into their mouths.
“I love boats,” Carts said, waving his spoon towards the expanse of water.“That’s why I come here really, to look at the boats.”
“Do you sail?”
“Nah, I did rowing at school for a while, but then I got back pain so I stopped and never caught up.Oh, and restless legs syndrome, which was all part and parcel of my crazy growth spurt.I still fidget, though I have to say yoga’s helped with that.”
He drew his legs in.
“There’s nothing to stop you learning now.”
“I guess you’re right.It’s weird how you tell yourself it’s too late to start new things.”
“It’s never too late,” she said, her heart aching at how this gorgeous guy had clearly limited himself with his beliefs.“I had a patient recently who’d always wanted to play chess, but spent his life telling himself he didn’t have the brain for it.We found him a local chess group.He’s eighty-four and sharp as a tack and he came in after winning his first game with the biggest smile on his face.”
“That gives me hope I guess—at thirty.”He looked up from under ruffled brows, and as his lips quirked, little crinkles shunted around his eyes.“You’re so encouraging to be around.”
“Am I?”
“Yes, when I’m with you it feels like anything’s possible, you’ve got this energy, like you believe in me—in people, I mean generally, not just me.”He dug fast into his gelato and shovelled it into his mouth.It made her want to take the spoon and the cup and ditch them in the nearest bin then wrap her arms around him and…
“I do believe in people,” she said breathlessly.“You, especially.”
He gave a nervous laugh.Out the corner of her eye she saw his knee start to jiggle.
“Shall we walk?”he asked abruptly.Had she said something wrong?She’d never been this open about her feelings on a first date.Though, come to think of it, she’d never really had a first date as such.
“Okay,” she said and jumped up.
“Finished?”Carts held his hand out for her cup.She placed it in his and watched as he strode purposefully towards the bin.When he’d tossed them in, he came back and said, “I always notice where the bins are.I hate people who leave rubbish around.It’s so inconsiderate.”
She beamed.She’d spent her time clearing up after Mark, ditching his sweet wrappers, telling him to put things in recycling.It was a little thing, but maybe it was the little things that showed you that you were compatible.Putting the toilet seat down, the cap back on the toothpaste.“I agree,” she said, and as they headed off, she realised their feet were in perfectly synchronised steps.Their hands touched briefly as their arms swung and she thought how lovely it would be to link her fingers with his and stroll through the balmy evening hand in hand.
Would she dare?Take his hand first?
“Why don’t we walk over the bridge, and you tell me something about the boats,” she suggested.
He flicked her a surprised look.“You honestly want to know?”
