The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,64

called time for the Listing Ship’s bar. Luke had fared better, though Sadie was sure he’d drunk just as much as her.

‘Are you deliberately trying to get me drunk?’ she’d asked as he’d come back to their table with the last one. He’d just tapped the side of his nose and laughed, and Sadie had informed him that if that was his plan then it would probably work.

The moon was still low and full in the sky as they came out of the pub, a salt breeze rolling in from the sea that heaved and sighed as the tide crept in. It would never fully cover the beach, and that was one of the big attractions of the bay for many holidaymakers because it always felt safe. Tonight, though Sadie could see the shoreline, still only a dark, undulating line on the sand. Mellow streetlamps lined the promenade while the technicolour lights of the rides on the pier reflected back from the black mirror of a calm sea.

‘I’ll see you home,’ Luke said as they stepped out onto the tarmac.

‘There’s no need. I’ve walked home a million times before.’

‘Drunk?’

‘I’m not drunk. And even if I was a little drunk I’ve walked home way drunker than this too.’

‘Probably, but I’d still rather see you were safe.’

‘I’m perfectly safe here. The only crime we have in the bay is committed by the occasional thieving seagull.’

‘Well if you won’t let me see you home to be safe, will you let me see you home because I want to spend a bit more time with you?’

She looked up at him with a soppy smile. ‘You do?’

‘Why wouldn’t I? I’ve had such a great time tonight, why would I refuse the opportunity of a few more minutes of your company?’

‘Me too,’ Sadie said. ‘But it might be a good idea not to come right up to the house.’

‘Probably – at least for now,’ he agreed.

As she turned to walk the promenade towards the cliff road that led home she felt his hand close around hers – not forced or unwelcome, just natural and right. It was the first actual physical contact they’d made that evening and it sent sparks shooting through her. She hadn’t reacted to a man’s touch like that since…

‘Heads up,’ he said, nodding towards a couple of figures up ahead. They looked as if they were arguing – at least the body language from this distance didn’t look too friendly – though Sadie couldn’t make out whether it was someone she knew or what they were saying.

‘Perhaps we should hang back,’ Luke said.

‘Maybe…’

Sadie halted, staring along the road. Luke had a point, because if it was someone she knew that would probably mean a bit of an awkward exchange, at the very least, considering she was out with Luke. Even if that wasn’t awkward, she didn’t want to get in the middle of a dispute. But the couple had stopped too now, the flailing of their arms intensifying and the volume of their voices increasing. There was no doubt they were in the middle of a huge bust-up.

‘They could be there all night,’ Sadie said.

Then one of the couple changed direction and started to head towards Sadie and Luke instead of away. The other followed. Sadie still couldn’t see who it was but now the voices sounded like… sounded like…

‘Shit!’

Sadie looked closer. She couldn’t make out anyone’s features but she could now recognise the woman’s long, graceful – if slightly agitated – strides, and the gait of the man who’d begun to chase after her.

‘Oh shit…’

Sadie cursed under her breath and yanked Luke across the promenade towards the darkness of the beach, out of sight.

‘Do you know them?’ Luke asked as she marched towards the shadow of the pier’s underside, taking him with her.

‘Um, yes. It’s just someone I don’t want to talk to right now… Might be awkward…’

‘Why? Is it your brother?’

‘No, it’s…’

My ex-boyfriend.

She couldn’t say that, could she? That would sound weird, wouldn’t it? Not weird that she had one, but weird that she was bothered he was there. Though that wasn’t really it – the problem wasn’t so much Dec being there but that she was certain Declan and Melissa had been having the most almighty argument, and even more certain that she’d heard Melissa screech her name. If Sadie had really been dragged into whatever the argument was about, to run into them at this precise moment would be horribly awkward – not only for her but for