After leaving the Mermaid Inn on Thursday, Seren walked along Hugh Street and through the centre of the town. Reaching Porthcressa Beach she caught sight of Kit, busy wiping down the seats of the train while several gulls gathered around his feet, scavenging for crumbs. She always saw him when she worked a day shift, both on her way into work when he’d be driving the train down to the promenade for his first trip of the day, and at the end of her shift when she was walking home. On the days when she worked in the evening, he’d generally come in for a quick drink at the end of the day.
Staring at him, she pondered how long it’d been that she’d seen him every day. It can’t have always been that way, but in the past year or two he’d featured heavily in her day-to-day life. The thought popped into her head that he engineered their meetings, but she pushed it hastily away again. Their overlapping work schedules and the fact that they lived on a tiny island were the reason they bumped into each other with such regularity. That was all it was. Surely. Unless …
Her thoughts were disrupted by Kit’s gaze meeting hers. His smile made her heart pound roughly against her rib cage.
He raised a hand and shouted a greeting.
“Hi,” she said, walking over to him.
“I was going to call you later,” he said. “Do you want to meet at the airport tomorrow, or shall we go over there together?”
“I can drive to the airport. I’ll pick you up.”
“Thanks.” He flicked the cloth in his hand, shaking out crumbs and sending the black-headed gulls into a frenzy. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Me too.” Eye-contact felt suddenly intense and she studied the screeching gulls before shifting her gaze to the boats bobbing in the bay. “I better go. I’m having dinner with Dad and Naomi.”
“Tell them I said hi. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Feeling self-conscious with every movement, she walked away, resisting the urge to look back when she reached the corner.
Her dad’s house was only a five-minute walk, and she spent the time lost in thought. Her brain churned over random encounters with Kit, trying to figure out if her feelings were one-sided or if he felt something for her too. The other day when he’d joked about her jumping his bones, had it really been a joke or had he just been covering his true feelings with banter?
What if she and Kit had feelings for each other? Could they ever act on them? He was practically a kid, and she’d known him his entire life. It’d be weird and creepy. No doubt she’d be branded a cradle-snatcher. She tried to imagine how Noah would react – and Mirren.
Abruptly, she brought her head up to find she was standing outside her dad’s door. Why was she even considering people’s reactions? There was no way anything could ever happen between her and Kit.
After ringing the doorbell, she pushed the handle and let herself in. She followed her nose to the kitchen, where her dad was stirring a pot on the stove while her stepmum, Naomi, leaned against the counter beside him. Technically, Naomi wasn’t really her stepmother, since she’d never married Dad. They’d been together for ten years though and living together for eight. Stepmum felt like a better description than ‘Dad’s girlfriend’.
“How was work?” Naomi asked, stepping forward to kiss Seren’s cheek.
“Fine.” When she moved to greet her dad with a kiss his grey beard tickled her cheek. “Busy over lunchtime, but the usual lull in the afternoon.”
Her dad turned the heat down on the hob. “I heard you’re having a weekend off and jetting off to London.”
“You heard right.” She took a seat at the table which was already set and poured herself a glass of water from the carafe, not surprised that they already knew about her plans.
“I had a pint with Charlie last night. He mentioned it.”
“It was a bit of a last-minute thing. Kit’s going over to visit Trystan and asked if I wanted to tag along.”
Naomi joined her at the table. “It’ll be good to do something different for a weekend. Have you got much planned for when you’re there?”
“Nothing so far. I guess we’ll see what Trystan’s in the mood for. It seems as though things are definitely over with Jenny.”
“They’d been together a long time,” her dad remarked. “It’ll be hard for him, I’m sure.”
Propping her chin on her hand, Naomi looked intently at Seren. “Will you get a chance to go to the Warner Brothers Studios?”
“I don’t think so.” Seren felt a flush of affection for Naomi and the fact she knew that the set of the Harry Potter films would be top on Seren’s list of places to visit in London. She’d been wanting to go since it first opened. “Apart from anything else, it’s not really within my budget.” She’d checked during a quiet period at work that afternoon.
“We can pay for you,” Naomi offered. “Call it an early birthday present if you want. It seems a shame to be so close and not make the effort to go.”
“Thank you,” Seren said. “But we’re only there for two days and I don’t think Kit and Trystan would be overly keen.”
Her dad rolled his eyes. “You have every one of those Treneary boys wrapped around your little finger. They’ll do whatever you say. Don’t pretend you don’t know it!”
“I won’t deny that,” Seren said lightly. “But Mirren’s worried about how Trystan’s doing after the break-up, so turning up with a load of sightseeing plans might be a little insensitive. I’ll wait and see what the mood is when we get there.”