“Ignore them,” she said firmly, catching Jack’s attention and holding it. “You know what it’s like around here, it’s a full-time occupation for some people. Don’t let it get to you. They’ll move onto someone else soon enough.”
He smiled tightly, but she could see it had hit a raw nerve. Better they got out of here and left the busy-bodies to it.
“Come on, let’s go,” she said, pushing her empty coffee cup away and slipping her jacket on. “It’s too nice outside to spend any more time in here listening to that crap.”
Jack quickly signaled the waitress for the bill. “You’re right. About that, and about the weather.”
The waitress dropped the bill off and Jack pulled out some cash from his wallet as Ally pulled herself upright, taking up her crutches.
“Hey,” he said, as they made their way through the crowded diner to the door. “How about a walk through the park?”
Callum pulled up outside the Chinese restaurant and jumped out of the car. Tonight was all about good Chinese food, a few beers and a Bourne movie marathon with Maggie. He was hoping for a boy’s night but that didn’t really pan out and Maggie invited herself over instead. She was bringing the beer, he was picking up dinner. Apparently, Ally had other plans. It didn’t take a psychic to figure out what they were.
The order was ready when he arrived, so he paid and was turning to leave when he spotted Jack out of the corner of his eye, sitting on the vinyl-covered bench that ran along the wall. Jack seemed surprised to see him and Callum stood there for a moment as they eyeballed each other across the busy foyer. Gripping the bag of food tightly, he realised that it would take a while to get used to the fact that he could bump into Jack at any time. He turned abruptly and left, flinging the door open a little more harshly than he had intended.
When Jack left the restaurant a few minutes later, Callum was leaning against his car, waiting for him.
“Hey,” he said, standing up as Jack came closer.
“Hey.”
Callum indicated the bag of takeout in Jack’s hand. “Romantic dinner for two?”
Jack glanced down at the bag in his hand before shooting him a weary look. “Just dinner. That’s all.”
Callum nodded, raising his eyebrows sarcastically. “Big plans tonight, huh?”
“Not really.” Jack stood up straight, clearly not in the mood to trade insults. “Second time lucky – dinner and a movie.”
“Second time lucky?”
“Saturday night was a bit of a wash-out.”
Callum frowned curiously. “Really?”
Ally hadn’t said anything at the pool last night. She had been quieter than usual, but he put that down to the fact that she was still pissed off at him for barging in the night before.
“She was kinda tired, at least, that’s what she said. I think it was something I said, or did. I don’t know. She wouldn’t say.”
Beneath the surface, Callum could tell he was worried.
“It probably wasn’t anything you did,” he said, knowing full well it wasn’t. “She probably wants you to think she’s the Eveready bunny. She gets pissy when she’s tired, not that you’ll catch her admitting it, especially not to strangers.”
Jack smarted, just as Callum hoped he would.
“She seemed fine before you arrived,” Jack retaliated. “What did you guys get up to anyway, some kind of exercise thing or something? She got a little frosty when I mentioned it.”
“Not surprising.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
“You really need to ask her.”
“I did.”
“Sorry, can’t help you, then.” He walked around to get into his car. “Enjoy your evening.”
Jack grabbed them both a drink and made his way back to the living room. Ally had settled herself in one of the armchairs and was stretching carefully from side to side. She stopped when she realised he was watching her.
“Sorry. Just a bit stiff. It’s been a while since I’ve been for a long walk like that.”
He had noticed her stretching over dinner, too. Callum’s words came back to him. Was she trying to impress him by keeping up with him? He didn’t want to push it tonight if she was tired. It hadn’t worked out so well the other night and he was anxious to make sure tonight wasn’t going down the same road.
“No, I’m sorry,” he said, handing over her glass. “We could’ve done something else after lunch, we didn’t have to go for a walk. I’m kinda new at this. You’ll need to remind me when I suggest something stupid like that again.”
She reached for the glass and their fingers brushed against each other. She stared up at him with a strange expression.
“What?” he asked, afraid he’d said something else idiotic.
“Remind you?” she smiled shyly. “That’s funny. I’ve never had to remind anyone before. It’s usually the opposite.”
Another glimpse behind the curtain. Like when he saw her sitting on her bedroom floor. And the other night, at Barney’s. And whatever the exercise thing was she was so touchy about.