AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Goodness, lucky Rob,’ mused Barnaby. ‘Has he tried to add you to his summer scorecard?’
‘No. He’s taking some time out too, and he knows I’m not his type anyway.’
‘Hmm,’ said Barnaby. ‘So why is he here with you, and not coaching at Club Colina?’
Hannah sighed again. ‘Because I went to his room to check he was OK after he got into a fight with another coach, and having any kind of involvement with guests wasn’t allowed, so he got fired.’
‘My word,’ said Barnaby, looking amused. ‘A lover AND a fighter.’
‘I’ve made it sound more dramatic than it was,’ muttered Hannah, wondering where they’d be if that hadn’t happened. She’d be on her road trip alone – no Rob, no Scrumpy, definitely not having this conversation with her dad.
‘So in summary, he’s the right person at the wrong time.’
‘I’m not actually sure he’s the right person,’ said Hannah, her thoughts confused and jumbled. ‘But it’s definitely the wrong time.’
‘Hannah, people change. They grow up. I’m nothing like the man I was in my twenties.’
‘I suppose.’
‘That young man could be carving a trail through Spain’s bars and nightclubs right now, picking up a different woman every night. But instead he’s chosen to go on an adventure with you. What does that tell you?’
‘I don’t know, Dad. I’m no good at this. I’ve never played this game.’ She felt momentarily overwhelmed, like all these feelings were too much to carry.
‘I know, darling,’ he said soothingly. ‘But it’s not difficult. Trust your judgement, and listen to your heart. It’s all any of us can do.’
‘I don’t want to get hurt,’ said Hannah, blinking away the tears. ‘I’m not sure I’m strong enough.’
‘Ah, I don’t think that’s true,’ said Barnaby. ‘You walked out on a marriage that didn’t feel right, something I never had the strength to do. And you made contact with me ten years ago, without ever asking anyone’s permission. You have your mother’s beauty and your grandmother’s determination.’
Hannah gave him a weak smile. ‘If you say so.’
‘So what would you prefer?’ asked Barnaby, fixing her with a penetrating stare. ‘To sit on the edge of life and feel nothing? Or throw yourself onto the dancefloor and see where the night takes you? In the end we only regret the chances we don’t take.’
Hannah glanced over at Rob, his hands buried deep in his pockets as Dominic droned on. She took in his broad back, the hair that was starting to curl at his neck and needed a cut, the strong, tanned calf muscles.Will he know I’m looking at him?she thought.Can he feel it? If he looks in the next ten seconds, then maybe that’s a sign.
Rob turned and caught her eye, then smiled, and Hannah was irretrievably lost.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
‘How long have you two been married?’ asked Dominic, grinding his cigarette out on the trunk of the lemon tree and draining his glass of wine. He reminded Rob of Olly – the same sloppy manner and lazy drawl, the same alpha male tendency to take up too much room, whether it was physical space or just hogging the conversation. He had the same square jaw too, but Dominic’s was permanently on the move, accompanied by a sniff that suggested a robust coke habit. He’d disappeared for a few minutes after Joyce’s incredible paella and returned with shiny bug eyes and restless hands that repeatedly raked through his floppy hair. He could only have been mid-thirties, Rob guessed, but everything about him suggested an impending midlife crisis. Rob actively hated him on sight, but Joyce was lovely so he was playing nicely. For now, anyway.
‘Fourteen years,’ said Rob, noting how Dominic was shamelessly checking out Hannah’s legs as she chatted to her dad at the table. Rob desperately wanted to go back and join them, but the conversation looked quite intense and he didn’t want to interrupt.
‘Fuck, how old were you when you got married?’ asked Dominic, dragging his attention back to Rob. ‘Twelve?’
‘I was eighteen,’ said Rob through gritted teeth. ‘We both were.’
‘Proper Romeo and Juliet shit,’ sneered Dominic. ‘Teenage lovers,’ he added, in case Rob was too stupid to understand the literary reference. ‘You did well.’
Rob gave him a thin smile, imagining locking Dominic in a windowless room with Olly and leaving them to bore each other to death.
‘No, you know what I mean,’ Dominic continued, warming to his topic. ‘Some women totally give up when they get married, right? Get a ring on their finger and it’s all greasy hair and no make-up. They leave the bridal suite in a pair of fucking leggings and it’s game over.’
‘Well, I wouldn’t know,’ said Rob.
‘Meanwhile, if I may say so, your wife is a total fucking knockout.’
‘You may NOT say so, actually,’ said Rob, giving Dominic a look that would melt a polar ice cap.
