very hard for you, not having any closure.’
‘Thanks … it was a long time ago now.’ She went on, trying to sound firm but upbeat. ‘It’s a time I don’t want to dwell on.’
‘No.’ His tone softened. ‘I get that … Look, I’d love to ask you round so we can talk some more, and show you I can be a normal – well, partly normal – human being, but I’m in no fit state at this particular moment.’ He wrinkled his nose but Marina didn’t think she’d mind that much and she wanted to hear more about his background to help her understand him better.
‘You don’t have to show me you’re “normal”.’ She laughed. ‘Who is, anyway? I like people who are different.’
‘That’s good …’ He hesitated. ‘Maybe another time when I’m fit for company and you don’t have your hands full?’ There was hope and apprehension in his voice. She liked that. He hadn’t assumed she was going to say yes but clearly wanted her to.
‘Yes. I’d like that.’
‘What about next Sunday lunchtime. If you’re free?’
‘I have some marking to do early then a Wave Watchers shift but I should be free by half one, if it’s not too late?’
‘Not too late! I can do a basic roast? Although I ought to warn you, I’m no chef.’
‘A basic roast sounds perfect. I’d probably have made do with a sandwich.’
He nodded. ‘Great. See you on Sunday, then.’
‘Yes. I’ll look forward to it.’
Lachlan left and Marina strolled back to the cottage with the plant food, trying to look as if she’d merely had a chat with a neighbour and not been invited to lunch with the first man she’d been truly attracted to since Nate. The way she was already willing the weekend to come, she had to admit that Lachlan McKinnon had most definitely made a big impression on her.
Chapter Eleven
Tiff rocked up at Dirk’s lair early on the Sunday morning, wrinkling her nose at the sky. The weather was a fitting metaphor for the cottage’s owner: the clouds could be in a Turner painting, looming over steel-grey seas topped with whitecaps.
She hoped her ‘purchaser’ hadn’t got anything too outdoorsy in mind, like laying paving slabs or creosoting fences.
‘I’m here, bright and early as requested,’ she trilled when Dirk opened the door. Wearing trackies and a T-shirt and unshaven, he had the rumpled look of someone who had just tumbled out of bed. Tiff tried not to speculate too much and saluted.
‘Not sure what my duties are or I’d have brought a mop and bucket, unless, of course, you want to spend the day practising your bow tie knots …’
She was met with a growl. ‘Oh. Right. You’d better come in.’ To say her reception was an anti-climax was an understatement. She’d expected a sarcastic riposte and to be gleefully informed she’d be learning how to operate a mini digger or fillet a kipper. She’d run through so many scenarios over the past few days that nothing seemed too outlandish.
‘Coffee?’ Dirk asked once she was inside the sitting room.
‘Um. Why not? It is very early. Are you sure we have time for sitting around drinking?’
‘Yes. There’s time. What do you prefer? I have blonde, medium-dark, or Italian.’
Well, she thought, whatever horrors the day had in store, at least it would begin with a decent cup of coffee.
He returned with two mugs and a plate with four croissants, which were fresh from the oven, judging by the delicious aroma. ‘Have you had breakfast?’
Tiff didn’t like to say her stomach had been churning too much. ‘I didn’t have time. Headed straight over here, as commanded.’
‘It wasn’t a command.’
‘You did say seven a.m. sharp.’
‘Yeah … Well, I didn’t think you’d take me literally. Look, would you like a croissant or not?’ he said, offering the plate.
She reined in her irritation at his apparent lack of enthusiasm. ‘Thanks.’
Tiff bit into the warm and crumbly pastry, growing more confused by the minute. She sipped the coffee while Dirk checked his watch before vanishing upstairs to have a shave. She was left alone to finish her breakfast, admire the artwork on his walls and rifle through his collection of jazz and classical music, some of it on vinyl. He certainly had some expensive audio tech, she thought, wondering if she should tell him how impressive his Bose speakers were.
When he returned, clean-shaven and smelling faintly of cologne, she decided to be upfront with him.
‘Look, Dirk. I know the auction wasn’t that serious and was all