Joe looked at me and shook his head and I wondered if there was more to the situation than he was prepared to let on.
‘You know, Tess,’ he said, neatly changing the subject, ‘I’m really sorry my brother’s dog almost pitched you off that cliff, but I’m ever so pleased we met.’
‘So am I,’ I agreed, laughing at how chilled he managed to make the near-death disaster sound.
‘Do you believe in fate?’ he sleepily yawned.
‘I didn’t used to,’ I swallowed, ‘but I’m beginning to now.’
‘Well, I think it’s fate that we met,’ he said. ‘You arriving in Wynmouth more or less the same time as me, was meant to be, I reckon.’
‘Do you now?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Because you know exactly how difficult it is to try and work with family so I can talk to you, and I hope you know you can talk to me too.’
‘Of course.’
‘I daresay you’re fully acquainted with the divided loyalty and the guilt that comes with it,’ he said, yawning again.
‘And the perks,’ I cut in, reminding him how he had assumed I had extended my holiday on the back of being a ‘Daddy’s girl’.
‘I’m being serious,’ he said. ‘I think we might be soulmates, Tess. Maybe we met in another life?’
‘Maybe we’ve already met in this one,’ I said, throwing caution to the wind.
He didn’t answer and when I looked over at him, his eyes were closed and he was breathing evenly.
‘Wake up, Joe,’ I said, lightly shaking his shoulder a few minutes later. ‘We’re here.’
Had it not been for the full moon, the countryside around Wynmouth would have been pitch-black. Joe and I leant against the wall at the end of his drive and took a moment to admire the multitude of stars shining above our heads.
‘That’s the milky way,’ he said, competently pointing out the constellations, ‘and that’s the plough.’
‘How appropriate,’ I smiled, looking at where his finger was pointing. ‘Are you sure you’re going to be all right walking back on your own?’ The track behind us looked endless in the dark. ‘I could try and get the car down. I’m happy to give it a go.’
‘No,’ he insisted, ‘I’ll be fine. My phone’s got a decent torch and besides, I know it like the back of my hand. I won’t go twisting my ankle, if that’s what you’re worried about.’
‘I was actually thinking more about Black Shuck coming to get you,’ I said, giving a little shiver.
George had a definite fondness for telling the tale of the hound from hell and I felt myself shy away from looking out across the fields, for fear of seeing two red eyes staring back at me.
‘Oh, I shouldn’t worry about that,’ said Joe, moving to stand in front of me. ‘He’s probably down at the beach tearing backwards and forwards in search of that poor lost sailor soul.’
That was hardly a comforting thought. The beach was practically a stone’s throw from the cottage’s front door!
‘So, he might end up coming for me then,’ I said. ‘I’ve got to walk by there after I’ve parked the car behind the pub.’
‘I could always come back with you,’ said Joe, taking me by surprise as he stepped closer. ‘See you safely to your door.’
I leant further back against the wall, wondering if I was about to experience a repeat performance of that unforgettable first kiss. This wasn’t the end to the evening that I had envisaged, but I wasn’t going to object to the change of plan.
‘But then how would you get back?’ I breathed as Joe leant his body into mine and rested his hands on my waist.
His touch was gentle as was the feel of his breath against my neck as he bent to whisper in my ear.
‘Maybe you could run me back in the morning.’
His lips lightly brushed my collar bone.
‘But then—’ I began. I didn’t get the chance to finish before he covered his mouth with mine and kissed me deeply.
When he finally pulled away, I stood for a moment, breathless and dazed. My head spinning and my heart still doing that stupid skittering thing it had recently adopted, but not because I had been swept off my feet. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t an unpleasant kiss. It was really lovely, but my physical reactions were the result of surprise rather than red hot passion.
Joe dipped his head again and I ducked away.
‘I’d better be getting back,’ I swallowed.
‘Okay,’ he said, looking a bit baffled.
‘It’s been a great night though. I’ve had a brilliant time,’
‘Really?’ He frowned.
‘Really,’ I told him. ‘I haven’t kicked up my heels in ages.’
‘Me neither,’ he laughed. ‘And that kiss,’ he went on. ‘I didn’t overstep the mark, did I, Tess?’
‘Not at all,’ I said, keen to reassure him.
I had completely given him the green light to go ahead and it wasn’t his fault that I hadn’t felt what I expected to. But then it had been a very long time since our lips first locked. Perhaps our first kiss was something else from back in the day, that I had remembered wrongly. I had always deemed the experience as sacrosanct but perhaps it had been more run-of-the-mill. It was a shock to admit that, but obviously I couldn’t explain that to Joe because he hadn’t remembered it in the first place.
‘But you’d rather I didn’t do it again,’ Joe said, biting his lip.
‘No,’ I told him, ‘but not because I didn’t like it.’
‘What then?’
‘Well, I’m only going to be here for a few weeks, aren’t I?’ I pointed out. ‘And you’ve got all this stuff with Charlie and the farm to deal with. I don’t think either of us needs another complication in our lives right now, do we?’
‘It doesn’t have to be complicated.’
‘In theory, I agree,’ I told him, ‘but in practice, how often do these things stay simple?’
‘That’s true,’ he agreed, thankfully not sounding too put out. ‘So, what are you saying, Tess? That you want us to be just friends?’
I thought how I could do with a friend right now, especially since Hope was home and I didn’t feel able to pop into the pub and chat with Sam whenever I felt like it.
‘Given the amount we have in common,’ I nodded, ‘yes, I’d really value your friendship, Joe.’
I held out my hand and he shook it, before pulling me in for a platonic, but nonetheless pleasurable, hug.
‘Friends it is then,’ he agreed.
Chapter 14
I lay in bed the next morning while the sun crept over the horizon, filling the room with light and making the dust motes dance as I mulled everything over. Not only had I missed the signs that my parents’ marriage had hit the rocks, I’d also been rating snogs out of ten on the memory of a kiss that turned out to be unworthy of the pedestal I had placed it on. I was beginning to think that nothing from my past bore any resemblance to the fantasies I had spun around them.
Visions of Dad, Mum, the diary, my job, my first kiss, Sam, Hope, Joe and me, swam in front of me, making me feel dizzy, nauseous and more unsettled than I had been when I first arrived. I needed to get out and clear my head.