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He laughed. “Yeah, they’re the little things over the back wheel. Same as a pram, if you’ve ever pushed one.”
I pressed my hand over my mouth, then dropped it with a sigh. “Well, you learn something new every day. Thank you so much for your help—and the lesson.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He hovered for a moment, half-smiling at me. “Sorry, are you Charlotte? Charlotte O’Neil?”
“That depends on who’s asking,” I replied slowly.
“Shit, sorry. Shane. Shane Solomon. Steph’s staying with me.” He held out a hand, and I shook it.
“Oh, she mentioned you. Nice to put a face to the name.” I smiled.
He ran his hand through his hair, smiling a little awkwardly. “Sorry, I thought I recognised you, then saw you struggling with the box.”
“How did you recognise me? Have we met before?”
Welp.
Was that rude?
Maybe a little.
“Sorry, that was a bit rude,” I said quickly.
Shane waved it off. “Don’t worry. You’re having a right time of it, aren’t you?”
I grimaced. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“Your photo was in the paper, but it was an old one. From a summer carnival about twelve years ago.”
“Oh, no. Nobody needs to see that.”
“You haven’t aged a day, don’t worry.”
I laughed, putting the last of my shopping in the car. “I know you’re lying, but thanks. How is Steph, by the way?
“Somewhere between denial and relief most days,” Shane replied. “I just wanted to say thank you. She told me she’d spoken to you, and that was the happiest I’d seen her in a long time.”
“I’m surprised. It wasn’t the lightest of conversations.”
“I know, but Declan kept her isolated. She’s struggled to connect with anyone here, and that was one of the reasons I stayed.”
“Stayed?” I asked, leaning against the trolley.
He nodded. “We knew each other in college. I’m pretty sure she’s the reason I made it out of exam season alive.” He chuckled. “I moved away right after, and we lost contact. Then I came down here for a holiday with my family a couple of years ago at my mum’s insistence and ran into her. We got talking, and she confided in me how she was unhappy and had no contact with her family, and I decided to stay for a while.”
“Pretty big decision to make on a whim,” I said, like I wasn’t making the exact same one right now.
“I guess so, but not the first time I’d moved across the country on one,” he said, toying with a smile. “I went back home, finished out the work I had booked in, and found a place to rent here. Perk of being self-employed, I suppose.”
“What do you do?” I asked, closing the boot down. I was intrigued, and who could blame me?
That was a big move for a girl he’d gone to college with.
“Bit of everything,” Shane replied vaguely. “I’m a qualified plumber and electrician, but I get bored of doing the same thing every day.”
“Makes sense.” I smiled. “Do you—”
His phone rang, cutting me off, and he pulled it out of his trouser pocket. “Sorry—work call. It was nice to meet you.”
