The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,56
kind of is. I’m here now, I dragged Gammy back into this place and I persuaded everyone that it was a good idea, and now I feel I have to see it through. I could have left it alone but I didn’t, and I have to take responsibility for that. It’s only fair – I can’t give hope and then take it straight away again, especially not when it comes to Gammy.’
He caught a tear with his sleeve pulled up around his hand, just like he used to do whenever she got upset, and, for a moment, she felt she’d stop breathing.
‘Thank you,’ she said, and she’d never meant those words more. And if he’d asked her what for, she wouldn’t have been able to tell him. It was for too much, far more than she had words for. Most of all, that he could still be this kind and patient, this supportive, this much of a friend after all she’d done to him. She’d never felt so grateful and yet so undeserving, and like such a snake for the unwanted thoughts she had: that if she could see a way to removing Melissa from his life with no comeback and no recrimination then she might be sorely tempted to do that so the way would be clear for her again.
‘Look,’ he said, ‘is there anything else I can help with while I’m here? I don’t have to be anywhere in particular for a while.’
Sadie forced a smile. ‘You’ve just done a full day at work – the last thing you need is to start again here.’
‘I want to help; tell me what I can do.’
At that moment, April emerged from the kitchen. Sadie glanced at Declan, relieved that she wasn’t still in his arms because who knew what kind of confusion that might cause.
‘Oh, darlin’…’ April said cheerily, wearing a broad smile, ‘if you really want to help then we could sure use your muscles to take all that garbage out to the bins on the promenade. It’s such a walk for me these days.’
Sadie hadn’t heard Gammy coming back to the dining room, but her grandmother had clearly heard some of what they’d been saying. There was no way to know how much of the rest of the conversation she’d picked up without asking her straight out, and Sadie wasn’t about to lift the lid on that potential nest of vipers, but, judging by her breezy attitude, it didn’t appear to be much. So Sadie hurriedly rubbed her eyes and put on her brightest smile. Declan flexed his biceps with a grin that made April giggle like a teenager.
‘Your wish is my command!’ he said. ‘Show me what you want moving and I’ll be happy to do it for you.’
‘Oh, you are just a dear,’ April began. ‘This way… I’ll show you…’
They went through to the kitchen together. A moment later Sadie heard laughter from them both as she turned her attention to moving the chairs that Declan hadn’t finished doing and sweeping the floor. Declan had always found it easy to charm April, even as an awkward boy. He was just one of those people who exuded warmth and kindness, whose good soul shone through. No wonder Melissa was so keen to keep any potential competition for his affections firmly out of the picture, and no wonder she didn’t trust Sadie. And she didn’t trust Sadie an inch – that much was evident. Sadie wouldn’t trust Sadie either, and this evening was a dangerous reminder of those feelings that she constantly fought to keep locked away. Natalie would have said Sadie needed a distraction, though Lord knew that Sadie had been trying hard enough over the last few years to find one that might finally become more permanent than that, someone who could banish the regrets over Declan that she couldn’t seem to shake – her long list of unsatisfactory boyfriends since Declan was testament to that.
She looked up as he came back from the kitchen lugging a large refuse sack, chatting easily to April as she followed to unlock the front door for him. He shot Sadie a smile full of sympathy and understanding that seemed to tell her not to worry, that she wasn’t on her own, that she could share her worries and stresses with him whenever she needed to offload, and her heart gave a lurch like a ship tossed on an unseen swell.
God, she needed a distraction and she needed it pronto.