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‘Maybe I will. Thanks.’ Leaning back against the sofa cushions, Evie listened as the conversation turned back to weddings. Had she blown things with Jack? Not that she’d even considered there could possibly be anything going on between them until he’d admitted he’d thought the evening was a date. Would it be so bad if it had been? If they went on another date, even? Yes, it went against everything she stood for, everything she believed, but she was down here, in the bay, and her real life, her job, her old life, felt miles away. Itwasmiles away.
Chapter Eleven
‘Are you sure you’regoing to be okay? I don’t have to take my lunch break right now if you’d rather I stay and help get the queue down?’ Evie held her apron and looked at the line of customers snaking their way out of the door, unsure whether to swap it for her coat or put it back on.
‘Go! We’ll be fine, and Jack is waiting for you. Besides, you want to go and see how Axl’s doing, don’t you?’ Diane dismissed her offer to stay.
‘Okay.’ Hanging her apron up and shrugging into her coat, Evie made her way through the small crowd and outside. There he was, in the bright yellow courtesy car at the end of the cobbles. Taking a deep breath, she made her way towards the car. This was silly. Why did she suddenly feel so nervous? He was the same person she’d had fun with in town the other day, the same person she’d rescued a crow with yesterday, so why did her palms feel so sweaty? She shook her head. She knew why. It was because he’d gone to kiss her. Or had he? Was she just imagining things? Had she got it wrong? Maybe he’d been just as shocked as she was in that moment. Shaking her head, she pulled open the car door and slipped inside. ‘Hi.’
‘Hey, how’re things at the bakery?’ Looking at her, Jack grinned.
‘Good, thanks. Busy.’ She pulled her seatbelt across. ‘How’s your morning been?’
‘Great, thanks. I’ve just had a meeting with a couple whose wedding I photographed a couple of weeks ago. That’s my favourite part of the job, showing them the final photos and helping them choose which to have in their wedding album.’
‘Aw, that does sound nice.’
‘It is. It also means I get filled up with copious cups of coffee and biscuits.’ He chuckled. ‘Not that the complimentary food is the reason I do the job I do.’
Laughing, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He had the lines around his eyes, the tell-tale sign of someone who laughs a lot. She smiled. Maybe his happiness was contagious. All she knew was that she hadn’t felt this relaxed in a very long time, even her nerves over the intended or not intended close call kiss had evaporated the moment she’d seen him. Back home, work consumed her. If she wasn’t in meetings or running from a client’s house to the courtroom, then she was scouring papers, talking about cases to her colleagues. She even had a notebook on her bedside table so she could jot things down when she awoke in the middle of the night.
‘Is everything okay?’ He glanced at her before looking back at the road. ‘You look as though you’re thinking about something important.’
She shrugged. ‘I was just thinking about how much more relaxed I feel being away from work. I’d forgotten what it feels like to have a holiday.’
‘When was your last?’
‘Holiday? Umm... five, seven years ago? I don’t usually take the time off work and if I do, it’s only to catch up with something without meetings to go to.’
‘Seriously? Seven years? This is your first holiday since then?’
‘Proper holiday. As I said, I’d sometimes take a day here or there to catch up on things. Usually, when I have a difficult case and I need a bit more time to get my head around.’
Whistling through his teeth, Jack shook his head. ‘I can’t imagine that. I love my job, but I still need to get away sometimes.’
‘We’re all different, I guess.’
