For a split second, I felt triumphant. I could do this, talk to her, look at her, without making myself look stupid. I just had to concentrate. Hard. Then I realised what I’d said. I’d practically offered her the one thing I wasn’t prepared to do.
She smiled nervously, both hands on the clipboard that now rested on the table. “Yeah. I was looking through the brochures she has over there earlier. I think I’ll contact the surf school tomorrow.”
I glanced behind me, at the makeshift information centre Bridget had set up in the corner. It was filled with brochures and pamphlets on local amenities, places of interest and suchlike.
“That’s a good start,” I said, turning back to her, relieved. “They’ll teach you the basics, enough to get you up and going.”
“That sounds perfect,” she smiled.
Holy shit. Even their smiles were similar. Not the same, but very close. I found myself looking for differences, as if trying to further convince myself. I’d always been one for hard evidence. I didn’t do fairy-tales. In that respect, Bridget and I were total opposites.
“Heath could teach you,” Bridget piped up from across the room. “He’s been surfing forever, haven’t you, love? He’s patient and a good teacher. He taught my daughter how to surf.”
And there it was, right on time. If I didn’t love her so much, I would’ve happily throttled her, right then and there.
“I don’t want to be any trouble.”
She looked more embarrassed than I did.
“I know you’re busy,” Bridget said, making her way back over to the table with a takeaway coffee and a paper bag. “I didn’t mean to drop you in it. Maybe you could think about it, and let Maia know at the party tomorrow night?”
I smiled graciously, as if we hadn’t had this conversation only moments ago.
“Coffee for you, chocolate éclair for the old man,” she said. “I’ve put an extra one in there, too – it’s for you, not for him, so make sure you stake your claim. You know what he’s like.”
She set the coffee and paper bag down in front of me.
“The chocolate éclair’s look lovely,” Maia said, indicating the brown bag. “I’ll have to try them. I had a chocolate and raspberry muffin earlier – to die for.”
“Bridget’s a great cook, and she makes a mean coffee,” I said, grateful for the subject change, snatching at the small-talk like a life preserver in an unforgiving sea. “If you have a sweet tooth, you’re in the right place, too.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Oh, I do. I can see myself eating my way through the menu while I’m here, that’s for sure.”
“I make no bones about the fact that I think chocolate can pretty much cure most things,” Bridget said, blushing slightly at the compliment. “One of the great things about being in business for yourself, isn’t it love? Being able to do what you like, without being answerable to anyone?”
“Oh? What is it you do?”
I suddenly felt inadequate, as I always did when talking about how I spent my days. Pushing around a lawn mower, pulling weeds, digging flower beds – hardly the dream career everyone longs for.
“I mow lawns.”
“Ha!” Bridget scoffed, turning to Maia. “He’s being modest. He’s probably the most under-paid landscape gardener you’ll ever meet. He does a beautiful job – lawns, weeds, planting, planning – the whole lot. If it wasn’t for Heath, there’d be a lot of ragged-looking holiday homes around here.”
Compliments were something I never knew what to do with, but I did my best to take it like a man. As if laughing at me, my body rebelled and I could feel the back of my neck heating up again. Bridget pimped me out like a pro, but the truth was much less glamorous.
“Hardly,” I mumbled, reaching for my coffee and the bag of cakes. I needed to get out of there before I lost it completely. “Anyway, it’s been really nice meeting you, but I have to go. I have a cantankerous seventy-nine year old waiting for his chocolate éclair. If I’m late, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Maia smiled. “Sounds intriguing. I better not hold you up.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” I kissed Bridget on the cheek then turned to Maia. “Nice to meet you. Sounds like I’ll see you tomorrow night, at my brother’s party.”
“See you then,” she smiled.
I PULLED UP OUTSIDE Henry’s house, grabbing my coffee and the éclairs from the centre console of the truck. I’d have to tell Henry about Maia. If the two met, I didn’t want the old man to have a stroke, and the possibility was a very real one, going by my own reaction.