holidays with friends, sometimes on the south coast, sometimes in Newquay. Other people were flying to Spain and Greece, but I still preferred Cornwall.’ The cab swung around a sharp corner and Ellie clutched the door handle to stop herself sliding against him.
Zack wished she would. ‘And then you met Jamie.’
‘I did. And he loved Cornwall too. We used to get down there three or four times a year. It’s where we spent our honeymoon, in this brilliant little hotel in St Ives. We used to talk about moving down there one day. It was our dream.’ She paused for a moment. ‘But that didn’t happen.’
More than anything, Zack wanted to comfort her. Never mind that problem-solving was his thing; this wasn’t a problem he could magic away. For a second, as Ellie shook back her hair and he breathed in her now-faded perfume, he wondered what she’d do if he kissed her.
Jump out of the cab, probably.
OK, better not try it.
Aloud he said, ‘Anyway, you were right about Florence. It might be a beautiful city but it’s boiling hot and crawling with tourists.’
‘Is it?’
‘Oh yes. And you get hassled by beggars. Really smelly ones.’
They were heading along Portland Place now. He’d managed to make her smile again. Thank goodness he’d taken control of himself and hadn’t gone for the kiss. That would have ruined everything.
Ellie tilted her head. ‘So how about you? Ever been to Cornwall?’
‘I have.’
‘OK, silly question, everyone has at one time or another. Did you like it?’ She waved a hand in apology. ‘Sorry, bit abrupt. It just drives me demented, people like Kara criticizing the place whenI love it so much.’
‘I did like it. I still do. It’s where I grew up.’ He saw her expression change, her mouth fall open.
‘Seriously? You never told me that!’
‘I didn’t know I had to.’ Something relaxed inside him; at last, a connection, and it had been there all along. ‘My family still live there. I head down whenever I can.’
‘Whereabouts?’
‘Perranporth.’
‘I know Perranporth! Just down from Newquay! Oh my God, I know Perranporth!’ Her eyes were shining, her whole face was lit up.
‘And I know Newquay. I used to spend whole weeks at a time on Fistral Beach.’
Ellie clapped a hand to her chest. ‘I love Looe to bits, but Fistral Beach is the best for surfing. Full of oiks, obviously.’
‘Oh, I like being an oik.’
‘Me too. Better an oik than a lizard.’ She pulled a face, mimicking Kara’s stretched skin and yanked-back, reptilian features.
Zack said, ‘Shall I tell you why I finally broke up with Louisa? Because she wanted us to join some friends at a villa in Tuscany for a child-free, fun-free, oik-free fortnight.’
‘No!’ Ellie burst out laughing. ‘Is she related to Kara?’
‘You know, it wouldn’t surprise me. Anyway, that was it. That was my breaking point.’
‘I call it a narrow escape. Start going on holidays like that and you’ll end up reading books by Salman Rushdie. OK, I’m being a bitch now. Tell me to shut up.’
‘Not only reading them,’ said Zack. ‘Discussing them. In interminable detail.’
‘When you’re not talking about wine-tasting and vintages, and how your favorite Montepulciano has undertones of Marmite and top notes of Shredded Wheat.’
‘With just a touch of peanut butter and a dash of deodorant.’
‘Will you just listen to us?’ Ellie’s eyes were dancing. ‘We are complete oiks.’
‘Thank God for that.’
‘Tell me about your family in Perranporth.’
‘My parents still live in the house where we all grew up. It’s far too big for them now, but they don’t want to move.’
‘Sea views?’
‘Oh yes.’
‘I wouldn’t want to move either. What are their names? Sorry,’ Ellie flapped her hand. ‘Being nosy. You don’t have to tell me that.’
He wanted to tell her, almost as much as he wanted this cab ride to go on forever. ‘Why wouldn’t I want to tell you about my family? They’re embarrassing, but they’re not that embarrassing. My mum’s Teresa, but everyone calls her Tizz. My dad’s Ken. They ran a landscape gardening business up until they retired a couple of years ago. And I have three sisters who all live in Cornwall. Claire’s in St Ives, she’s married with three children. Steph’s living with her chap in St Austell and they have twin girls. And Paula’s in Helston with her two, a boy and a girl.’
Ellie was suitably impressed. ‘Wow. So you’re an uncle, big time.’
‘Just a bit. Five girls and two boys aged between three and eleven. When we all get together it’s not what you’d