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‘They’re both on the lifeboat crew,’ said Thea. ‘That’s their pagers, which means they’re about to disappear.’
‘Right,’ said Amelia. She watched Fergus as he hurried out the door. Was there anything hecouldn’tdo? ‘When will they be back?’
Thea shrugged. ‘Who knows? Could be five hours or five minutes. Depends what is going on.’
‘What kind of things are they called out for?’ She was fascinated about this other side of Fergus that she didn’t know anything about.
‘Anything from a broken-down fishing boat . . . or a kayaker . . . to someone who has got into difficulty on a cliff trail.’
‘And do you worry when Grant’s out?’
‘I try not to but it can be hard,’ admitted Thea. ‘Especially when the weather’s bad and I don’t know where he is or what has happened. But I guess I’ve got used to it.’ She jerked her head over to the door. ‘Looks like this was a false alarm.’
Amelia felt a jolt of excitement when she saw Fergus and Grant making their way back through the bar towards them.
Grant flung himself into a seat with a huge sigh of relief. ‘False alarm.’
‘It’s even colder out now and the wind has picked up. Can’t say I’m disappointed.’ Fergus slipped off his jacket and sat next to Amelia. ‘And I was so looking forward to drinking this pint.’ He picked up the glass and took a gulp. ‘We’d better turn our pagers off now, Grant, as we’re not meant to be on the rota anyway. And it means we can enjoy our beer.’
‘Cheers,’ said Grant, raising his glass.
* * *
Later, Fergus insisted on walking Amelia home from the pub, despite her assurance that she would be fine.
‘You might trip over a seal or a rock,’ he said, his voice husky and gentle.
‘I’ve only drunk two glasses of wine, Fergus. I’m capable of making my way home.’
He sighed. ‘Humour me, please? Plus, I promised Edie I would see you home safely. I’m more scared of her. You don’t know what she’s like when she’s cross.’ His voice was light and Amelia didn’t mind when he then gently touched her back and steered her down to the shore. It was dark but the full moon lit the way and cast a soft glow over the shoreline.
Amelia stared up at the stars scattered across the sky. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said softly, standing for a moment to admire the view. ‘This is definitely a first.’
‘What’s that?’
‘A moonlight stroll along the beach after a night at the local when half the party do a brief runner.’ She shivered and pulled her collar up. ‘I had no idea that you were also on the lifeboat crew.’
He shrugged. ‘You’re cold.’ He moved closer to her.
‘That will be thanks to my city wardrobe. I need to invest in some thermals.’
She gratefully leaned into him and they continued walking. Amelia was now a little breathless though. Maybe that was the winter air. The temperature had definitely taken a drop these last few weeks. Too soon, they arrived at the narrow gate to Coorie Cottage and moved through in single file.
‘You can leave me here,’ she said, smiling.
‘Edie will never let me hear the end of it. I need to walk you to the door.’ He was laughing, which made Amelia giggle too, and soon they were cackling away.
‘Sssh,’ she said. ‘You’ll wake her up.’ They reached the door of the cabin. ‘Well, thank you for a lovely evening, Fergus. I really enjoyed it and I appreciate you coming to collect me and also bringing me home.’
Fergus looked down at her, his eyes crinkling, and she had a sense he wanted to kiss her by the way he was looking at her. Her breath quickened and she hoped he couldn’t hear her heart pounding. She felt his warm breath as he held her close. The prospect of kissing another man, who wasn’t Declan, was weird but also exciting.
Her arms tightened against him as he held her closer. He rested his cheek against her hair and inhaled its scent. A tear rolled down her cheek, then another. Shit. His body tensed.
‘Amelia. What’s wrong?’
She couldn’t move and stayed rooted to the spot, eyes closed, with her head against his chest. Eventually she pulled away. ‘You’d better come in.’
Chapter Thirty-Five
