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‘Which one shall we hire?’
‘A skiff. I’m happy to row, or we can take turns.’
‘You go first and then I’ll try, depending on how easy it is. I don’t want to capsize.’
Ten minutes later they climbed on to a long, varnished wooden boat and Gabby could see the owner had been right. The graceful slender craft was built for speed, but was also wide enough for stability and comfort.
Zander sat in the centre, an oar in each hand, and she settled herself against the traditional wicker backrest and tried to visualise the instructions they had been given. ‘So I can help steer by using these lines?’
‘Yup. They’re connected to the rudder. But don’t worry about it too much. When I came here with my sisters, their attempts at steering nearly capsized us.’
‘Hmm... Well, I’ll do my best—though, to be honest, I’m quite happy to just keep a lookout for otters.’
In reality, for the next five minutes, her gaze was focused exclusively on observing Zander row, watching the flex of his muscular forearms, the strength and sculpt of his biceps. She tried to tell herself that her entrancement was due to the necessity for study, for learning the technique for when she came to take the oars herself. She knew that theory held not an iota of truth—she could only hope she wasn’t drooling.
Enough. Time to recall exactly why they were here. ‘So, how did your family take the news about “us”?’
‘They were all thrilled.’
Try as she might, she couldn’t interpret either his expression or his tone—relief, ruefulness, regret or all three? ‘That’s good, right?’
‘Yes. They are happy, and they have abandoned their plans to hook me up with every female of their acquaintance.’
‘I sense a but.’
‘Not a but, exactly. More of a realisation that I’ve rolled the dice and the game has begun. Now it is imperative that we make this work.’
‘Yes.’
Gabby could hear the fervour in her own voice. After all, she knew how it felt to build up a fantasy world that collapsed about you in a rubble of disillusionment. When she had been small, and her mother had constantly left her with her grandparents, appearing and reappearing in her life with bewildering uncertainty, Gabby hadn’t understood why.
Her grandparents had wanted to spare her pain and so had allowed Gabby to believe in the scenarios she’d created. That her mother was ill but missed her so very much. Or was away working somewhere where children weren’t allowed. Occasionally her imagination went into fantastical overdrive and she made her mother a princess, a mermaid...
Eventually, though, the bubble had burst, and the grim reality of the time she spent with her mother—the dirt, the grime, the empty alcohol bottles and drug paraphernalia—were all things she couldn’t weave into her fantasies. So she’d confronted her grandparents and forced them to tell her the truth. It had truly shattered her world. Made her feel stupid, angry and sad, and hurt by the deceit. The feelings had been made all the worse because she hadn’t been able to express them to her grandparents, afraid she would lose them, too.
‘Gabby?’
‘Sorry.’ Gabby tried to push away the onslaught of qualms and concentrated on the swish of the oars in the water. This illusion bore no similarity to those of her childhood. Yet... ‘Are you sure about this, Zander? Maybe you should come clean now. Before this goes further. If they find out, they’ll feel hurt and stupid.’
For a second he hesitated, his dark eyes serious as he considered her words, and then he shook his head. ‘No. The die is cast. Now we need to play our parts with conviction.’
‘Then let’s get to work. If we want to make this believable, the detail is important. We have to fabricate this so well that we almost believe it’s true.’
That was a fact. Sometimes she even wondered if her whole personality was based on a part she had played for so long that it had become the truth.
‘What exactly did you tell your family about me? I need to figure out what they’re expecting.’
‘I said I bumped into you in town, remembered you from school. We got chatting, had a coffee and things went from there. I said that we both agree we’re not looking for anything serious, just some uncomplicated fun. Mum and Dad are pleased. Julia is worried you’re after my money—that you staged the meeting—and Gemma hopes it will turn serious. That’s because Julia is a cynic and Gemma is a romantic.’
‘Great. So Julia will check my bag for a gold-digging shovel and Gemma will expect me to fall at your feet adoringly.’
/> ‘Nope. I sorted it. I told them neither scenario is the truth—that you aren’t after my wallet or my heart, just my body.’
Gabby closed her eyes in silent horror.
‘And I wiggled my eyebrows.’
‘Suggestively, no doubt? So they now think I’ll rip your clothes off in public?’
