The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,109
hiding? We haven’t seen you in ages!’ Georgia called.
Sadie laughed. ‘Yes you have. You saw me last week.’
‘That’s ages,’ Natalie said. They both turned to Luke.
‘Hi, Luke,’ they said as one, voices loaded with mischief.
‘Hi, ladies,’ Luke replied with a mischievous look of his own.
‘How are you?’ Georgia asked. ‘Still working hard on that house?’
Sadie let out a guffaw and both Georgia and Natalie stared at her.
‘Yes,’ Luke said. ‘So, so hard… at it day and night, hammer and tongs. Screwing and screwing. I’m exhausted.’
With every syllable he uttered Sadie’s giggling became louder and Natalie turned to her with a grin. ‘Oh, now I get it. And I suppose you’re at the house all the time now that you don’t have any other commitments… helping…’
‘I might be,’ Sadie replied, trying to straighten her face.
‘Jammy cow,’ Georgia said, and Natalie gave a sympathetic nod of solidarity.
‘My thoughts exactly.’
‘I am doing other things too,’ Sadie said. ‘Like trying to find a job.’
‘It sounds like it.’
‘No, really, I am. In fact, I’m working on Ewan right now to find me something at the dive school because technically it’s his fault I’m unemployed anyway.’
‘Oh…’ Natalie winked at Georgia and smoothed a hand over her hair. ‘Talking of Hercules, where is he?’
‘Hercules?’ Sadie laughed. ‘Hardly!’
‘Not from where you’re standing, sweetie,’ Natalie said, ‘but we wouldn’t expect you to understand.’
Sadie rolled her eyes. ‘He’s over there with my mum and dad.’
‘Oh.’
‘I thought that might put paid to your flirting,’ Sadie said. ‘And Kat’s due any time now.’
‘There’s another jammy cow,’ Georgia said. ‘The world’s full of jam for everyone but me.’
‘And me,’ Natalie said.
‘Yes,’ Georgia replied, ‘but you’ve had two blobs of jam already – it’s not my fault you picked the wrong flavours when you had the chance.’
Natalie looked across the beach towards the promenade. ‘Talk of the devil.’
Kat was just arriving with Freddie and Freya. But then Sadie saw that she had someone else with her.
‘No!’
In the next second, she was haring across the beach to meet them, throwing her arms around the newcomer.
‘Lucy!’
Sadie’s older sister laughed and hugged her tight.
‘Oh my God!’ Sadie cried. ‘I can’t believe you’re here!’
‘To be honest it was a last-minute decision. Kat phoned me and told me about a few things that had been going on here and then she reminded me that the fireworks would be on and… well, I had a couple of days to spare and I thought, why not drop in?’
‘Wait until everyone sees you!’ Sadie said, laughing. She held her at arm’s length and regarded her fondly. ‘You look amazing!’
‘So do you,’ Lucy said. ‘Your hair looks pretty piled up like that. And you’ve lost weight too.’
‘Oh, I look like a country bumpkin compared to you.’
‘You look like a natural beauty; you always did. Like someone who’s been able to walk by the sea in the fresh air every day. I spend most of my time cooped up in an office and any glow my skin has comes out of a very expensive bottle.’
Sadie beamed at her. Then she looked at Kat. ‘How did you keep this a secret?’
‘With great difficulty,’ Kat said, smiling. ‘And Ewan found it even harder. But with all that’s gone on we thought it would be a good time to bring our little family together properly, remind ourselves of how important it is.’
‘And there’s always one person missing, I know,’ Lucy said.
Sadie grabbed her hand. ‘Come and meet Luke.’
‘Who’s Luke?’ she asked, having no choice but to go with Sadie, who was pulling harder than an excited Labrador.
‘My boyfriend.’
‘And how long has this one managed to last?’
‘Not long,’ Sadie said with a laugh. ‘But the difference is, I think he’s gonna.’
‘Going to what?’
‘Last.’
Lucy raised her eyebrows. ‘Really?’
‘Yes. He’s… well, he’s pretty special.’
‘In that case,’ Lucy said with a grin, ‘this is a guy I have to see!’
Natalie and Georgia had already abandoned Luke, and now he was standing alone waiting for Sadie to return. He smiled broadly as she did, taking Lucy with her.
‘This is my big sister!’ Sadie squeaked. ‘All the way from New York!’
Luke stuck out his hand. ‘Lucy, right? I’ve heard all about you.’
‘Well,’ Lucy said, ‘I haven’t heard about you at all, but I think I need to. Sadie seems to be very excited about you.’
‘Right,’ he said. ‘So that’s good.’
‘I’m sure I’ll be grilling you as the night wears on. I’ll wait until you’ve had a few drinks and then the secrets will be much easier to extract.’