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‘Great.’ Taking a seat, he looked around him at the people seated in the café. Apart from one single young lady, with her back to him, he was the only other person sitting alone at a table.
Thea quickly turned around, her back to the counter. The young man who she’d just seen walk in had taken a table downstairs by the window. ‘I don’t believe it,’ she whispered under her breath. She was sure it was the good-looking guy who’d passed by the restaurant in that yellow campervan the previous afternoon.
He hadn’t noticed her when he’d walked in; he had been too busy scouting for a free table. She’d happened to turn around, glancing at the young lady who was serving to see if her sandwich was on the way. She’d seen The Two Magpies Bakery when she’d arrived in the town the previous day with the twins, but there hadn’t been a table free. She had been lucky to get a table this lunchtime.
She hadn’t been waiting long for her lunch to arrive, but nevertheless she had Winston on her mind. She was afraid she’d left him home alone too long, and was hoping he hadn’t got up to anything while she was gone.
She stole a glance over her shoulder, and saw the guy looking at the menu.
Thea heard the waitress comment, ‘Hey, aren’t you the guy from that American show?’
Thea turned around in her seat again, staring at him. She saw him smile, flashing perfectly aligned white teeth. Thea thought he had a gorgeous smile. She saw him shaking his head at the waitress. ‘You know, I get that all the time, but I’m sorry – I’m not him.’
Thea thought of Katie, who had been convinced he was a famous actor.
‘Oh, really? Because you’re a dead ringer for that guy.’
Thea noticed that other people in the café must have overheard the conversation. Some turned in their seats too and were looking his way.
He was still smiling. ‘I’m sure that guy, whoever he is, will be in Hollywood right now, sitting by his pool in his Beverley Hills mansion, not sitting here in The Two Magpies Bakery in Aldeburgh, as nice as it is.’
The waitress pointed her pen at him. ‘Yeah, you’ve got a point.’ She smiled. ‘I bet you wish youwerehim, though, sitting in a mansion in Beverley Hills right now.’
Thea caught his smile falter.
‘Not really. Um … will you take my order now?’
‘Oh, sure, sorry.’
‘Just a coffee and a croissant, please.’
‘Coming right up.’
Thea saw him flash that grin again, and frowned. She’d be prepared to bet he would get his order before she did. She forgot she was still staring as the other people returned to their drinks and meals. As he handed the waitress the menu, he glanced around the room and caught her gaze. Their eyes locked for a moment before Thea, feeling the colour rising in
her cheeks, quickly averted her gaze and turned in her seat.
Callum watched the pretty young woman with the beautiful brown eyes quickly turn in her seat, looking embarrassed that he’d caught her looking his way. If he hadn’t been in a rush to eat breakfast in order to head off to the bookshop, he might have asked her to join him, given that they were the only ones in the café eating alone.
Callum shook his head. This wasn’t LA. You didn’t just strike up a conversation with a stranger. The fact that it had even crossed his mind to just walk up to her table reminded him that he’d been away living on what felt like another planet for far too long.
He glanced at the waitress, who was heading his way with his order. Even though he’d convinced her that he wasn’t who she thought he was, she looked more than willing to strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger, meaning him, after he’d flashed his smile.
Callum decided to avoid any awkwardness and just keep that smile under wraps. ‘Thanks,’ he said in a perfunctory way when she put the cup of coffee and croissant in front of him. ‘That was quick!’ he remarked.
‘Will there be anything else?’ She hovered by his table, twiddling some strands of long, dark hair through her fingers.
Callum stared at her. She was so young – younger than he’d first thought. He was surprised she even knew, or thought she knew, who he was. He had to ask, ‘You watch that show with your parents?’
‘Well, yeah, it started that way, but all my friends love that show.’ She lowered her voice and looked around as though she was about to tell him a secret. ‘We read online it’s been cancelled. I don’t think that’s true – do you? It just can’t be.’
Callum stared at her.
‘Oh, right – sorry. You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?’
Callum shook his head.
She shrugged and turned to go. But before she did, Callum got asked the question he was expecting. ‘You’re new in town – right? I haven’t seen you round here before.’
