“You still didn’t say anything?”
Slowly, she shook her head. “Your dad had gone missing the previous day. People were still out looking for him. A couple of steak dinners seemed completely insignificant. At least as far as the hotel was concerned. They will always be significant to me. I came to the funeral. Didn’t get a chance to speak to you though.”
“It was a weird day.” The day he’d said goodbye to his dad and fallen head over heels for Seren.Weirdpretty much summed it up.
“Sorry,” Holly said. “I probably shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“It’s okay. I like hearing new stories about him. Especially the funny ones.”
“I told him that I went to school with you, so he was chatting about you a lot. Saying how well you were doing with the train, and how impressed he was by how much you’d accomplished so young.”
Kit took a swig of his beer. “He was the one who always encouraged me. Mum was supportive too, but I’m sure she thought the idea of buying a train to give tours of the island was slightly mad. Dad always saw the potential and was as enthusiastic as me.”
Holly gazed out over the water. The sun sank lower on the horizon, causing the vibrant colours in the sky to fade to more muted tones. “He told me another story, about getting called into school one day because you’d thrown a doughnut at the teacher.”
Kit cracked up laughing. “Mr Thompson! Do you remember that?”
“Yes.” She put a hand in front of her mouth as she snorted a laugh. “He had a huge nose and the boys were all joking that he could be a fairground attraction … people could try to hook a ring on his nose!”
“I can’t believe I threw the doughnut. In my defence, there was a lot of peer pressure. And it wasn’t me who brought the doughnuts into school, so I think it was unfair that I took all the blame. Jim Courts threw one too – the only reason he didn’t get into trouble was because he’s a bad shot.”
“The poor teacher,” Holly said, not looking at all sympathetic. “Your dad said when he got called in he could barely keep from laughing. He had to pretend to take it seriously and told them he’d think up a suitable punishment, but really he just found it hilarious.”
“I didn’t get punished at all. Mum tried to give me a lecture about it, but at the dinner table that night we were all in hysterics. Even Mum gave up on trying to be stern about it. It was mean though. I wonder what happened to Mr Thompson. He left not long after that. I tell myself it wasn’t me who drove him away.”
Holly was silent for a moment. “Maybe he went to join the circus.”
Once they’d stopped laughing, they got more drinks and spent another hour chatting about their schooldays and old school friends, exchanging information about the people they’d stayed in touch with.
The walk back into town was infinitely more relaxed than the way up there.
Casually, Holly slipped her arm through his. “I’m going to have to ask. Why are you so against the tourist office selling tickets for your train tours?”
“This again,” he said on a sigh.
“I’m curious as to why you’re so against it.”
“It’d cause a lot of unnecessary hassle. What happens if it rains in the afternoon and you’ve already sold a load of tickets in the morning?”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“It also means I’d have to print physical tickets. Which is a massive waste of paper.”
“You don’t have tickets?”
“Nope. Being eco-friendly is part of my brand. One of the only reasons I was approved for the train was that it’s electric and because I was replacing the bus with an electric one. We live on this amazing island and I think we have a duty to be conscientious about the environment.”
“I wasn’t expecting that answer.” She bumped her shoulder against his. “I actually thought I might dig up some dirt about the owners of the tourist office. Like maybe you didn’t want to work with them.”
“Wyatt seems to think I’m being awkward. I’ve tried to explain to him, but I think I’m wasting my breath.”
“He’s pretty set in his ways.”
“Do you like working there?”
“Yeah. The work is pretty nice. It definitely beats working for my ex-boyfriend’s parents.”
“Oh!” Kit winced. “Gavin is the owners’ son?”