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‘Yeah, mist over the sea. Put the top down.’
Lucas shrugged and operated the control for the automatic roof of the car. ‘Happy?’
‘Very.’
‘You want to put your scarf over your head?’ He indicated the bright scarf that she had wrapped around her shoulders.
‘No, I want to feel the wind in my hair.’ It might be short, but it was still hair. And this was the seaside.
They drove down towards the sea, stopping outside a couple of seafood restaurants on the way. Both were fully booked. Fate seemed to be driving them down towards the water, and Lucas finally managed to get them a small table in the open air at a restaurant close to the beach.
‘You first.’ He inspected the dozen oysters that lay on a bed of crushed ice in front of them and indicated the plumpest.
‘I like that one, for starters.’ Thea indicated another, smaller specimen. ‘I’ll work my way up.’
He chuckled, lacing the oyster with a few drops of juice from a quarter of lemon, just the way she liked it. Thea reached for the delicacy, but he had already picked it up.
‘Ready?’ His lips quirked into a smile.
‘Go for it.’
He put the flat edge of the shell to her lips and tipped. The oyster slid into her mouth, without spilling a drop of the juice.
‘Mmm.’ She chewed once, and the taste of the sea filled her mouth. Then sweetness on her tongue. ‘These are very good. Try one.’
He picked out one for himself and downed it. ‘They are, aren’t they? Maybe we should have had two dozen.’
‘Too rich. I haven’t eaten oysters in ages. I’d have to work myself up to having a whole dozen of them.’
He nodded. ‘Yeah. Baby steps to start with, eh?’ Lucas looked up as the waiter approached with an ice bucket and expertly wrested the cork from a bottle of champage without anything more than a demure pop.
‘More champagne?’ Thea grinned at him. ‘What are you trying to do, prop up the industry?’
‘I reckoned on a toast. Seeing that it’s Sam’s birthday today and mine in a week’s time.’
He was smiling. That strained look whenever he talked about Sam seemed to have blown away on the wind.
‘That’s a great idea. Down in one, and then smash the glasses.’ She looked at the two, mass-produced glasses that the waiter had brought, wondering if she dared.
Lucas laughed. ‘Do you know why they smash glasses after a toast?’
‘No. Why?’ Thea had always thought it had an air of finality about it.
‘It’s a way of making sure that the glass can never again be used to drink a toast to someone else, who may be less important.’ He took the bottle from the ice bucket, pouring a little into each of their glasses, the foam fizzing up.
‘Mmm. I like that.’ She squeezed a little lemon juice onto two oysters, handing him one. ‘Oysters, and then you make the toast.’
‘Down in one?’
‘Absolutely.’ She grinned at him. That was the way that she and Lucas had always done things. Never by halves.
They swallowed the oysters and then Lucas held his glass towards hers. ‘To Sam and Claire. Happy birthday, Sam.’
A tear glistened at the corner of his eye, but he was smiling. Thea tipped her glass against his.
‘Sam and Claire.’
She drank, and bubbles rushed up her nose. ‘Oh. That’s good stuff.’
