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‘No, actually.’ He made the decision instantly. He didn’t want the day to end quite yet. ‘I was heading for something to eat. Could you recommend anywhere? I don’t know the town very well yet.’
Honor wrinkled her nose as she thought. He was entranced and had a sudden urge to kiss the little crease between her nose and brow.
‘What sort of food did you have in mind? There’s not a huge amount open at this time of year.’
‘Pub food in front of a roaring fire.’ He shivered as a lick of breeze slid down the neck of his Barbour. The wind was getting up again.
‘The Ship is good.’
‘I’m after comfort food.’
‘In which case The Ship is the perfect place. Its steak pies are the best sort of comfort food.’ She pulled her collar up around her face and hunched her shoulders into it. ‘And it’s the right time of year for it.’ She grinned, her nose looking pink with cold. ‘Lenny the landlord likes to have the fire lit too. Ooh, it’s making me hungry just thinking about it!’
‘Would you like to join me?’ he blurted out.Where had that come from?He fully expected her to reject him.
He saw her hesitate for a second, the nose wrinkle repeated itself as thoughts chased across her face. Then her shoulders dropped as she made her decision.
‘Do you know, I’d love to. It gets to this stage of term when I really can’t be bothered to go home and cook.’
His relief at her acceptance filled him with a warm glow and his good mood returned. What was this all about? He hardly knew her. But he wanted to. ‘Let me just make a quick phone call and then you can show me where it is.’ Honor nodded and moved away. He assumed to give him some privacy. He liked her thoughtfulness.
Turning back to the sea, he clicked on the home number. ‘Hi, Mum, don’t worry about cooking for me, I’m grabbing something while I’m out. Oh, you haven’t? Good. What? Yes, it’s been a really good day.’ He glanced at Honor who was staring intently into Seasalt’s window display. ‘And it looks like it might be getting even better. Yes, I do sound more cheerful, don’t I? Catch up when I get in. Bye. Love you.’
CHAPTER8
‘WARM THIS WINTER’ – GABRIELLA CILMI
Honor led him up the hilly main road and along a narrow alleyway which led to an old coaching inn. ‘Not many people remember this is here,’ she explained, ‘so it’ll be quiet.’
When they entered the relief from getting out of the cold was immediate. They stood, blinking in the dim light, letting the cosy pub wrap its comfort around them.
Honor made her way to the bar and introduced Jago to a wiry, freckled man in a Motörhead T-shirt. After the introductions had been made and drinks bought, she asked, ‘Lenny, can we have a table to warm us up and we’d like to eat, if that’s okay?’
Lenny grinned, showing gappy teeth, and nodded to a table just the right distance away from the roaring fire in the enormous inglenook. ‘Limited as to what’s on offer tonight but I can do you a couple of steak pies and triple-cooked chips. That do you?’
‘Perfect,’ they chorused and grinned daftly at one another.
‘No probs. I’ll bring your drinks over. Go and get yourselves warmed up. Cold one tonight.’
After divesting themselves of all the outer layers of winter clothes they were both wearing, they settled at the table and had sat down just as Lenny brought their drinks.
Clinking his pint of Black Ven stout against her glass of mulled wine, Jago said, ‘This is just perfect, isn’t it? I had no idea it was here. Look at the thickness of those walls. The place must be eighteenth century at least.’
Honor smiled at his enthusiasm. ‘It’s probably older. Medieval in origin. Lullbury Bay was once a medieval port which traded cloth with Flanders. Lots of the bigger and more important buildings in town have medieval foundations.’
‘I didn’t know Lullbury Bay was an important port. The harbour doesn’t look big enough.’
‘It used to be, but that was an awfully long time ago. When the ships got too big for the harbour the town went into decline. Tourism saved it in the early nineteenth century. The fashion for sea-bathing crept along the coast from Weymouth. Since then, it’s been reliant on tourists. There are a few local employers, there’s a computer company and the local paper of course, but it mostly trades in buckets and spades nowadays.’ Honor sipped her wine and grimaced. She put her glass down with a chink and looked mortified. ‘I’m so sorry. There are some days I simply can’t switch the teacher in me off.’
He laughed. ‘Please don’t be sorry. It’s fascinating learning about where you live. I suppose you teach it as a topic?’
She nodded. ‘Local history module. And you’re right, it is interesting if you’re into that sort of thing. And, if you are, I’d recommend a visit to the town museum. It’s really good.’ She picked up her glass again. ‘What do you do, Jago?’
Jago told her. He got out his phone to show her the pictures of his light-catchers.
‘They’re so pretty! How do you make them?’
‘I draw a design, then make the templates and cut the glass. Then the parts are all fused together using solder.’
