Scones Away!. Cressida McLaughlin

do you mean?’

      ‘You squeezed my hand.’ He released his grip. ‘Luckily I still have the use of all my fingers.’

      His grin was usually calming, but Charlie couldn’t match it.

      ‘No shrugging,’ he said. ‘What’s wrong?’

      ‘Juliette is spending the evening with the yogis.’

      ‘And that’s bad because …?’

      ‘Because they’re Daniel’s.’

      ‘Daniel owns the yoga group?’

      ‘You know what I mean. I’m sure he set it up to piss me off, and now Jules has gone over to the dark side.’

      ‘You’re making this all very black and white.’

      ‘It is! He’s suddenly decided he doesn’t like my food market, and he’s sabotaging me.’ They started walking back to the car.

      ‘Or maybe the yoga has been organized for months and he forgot to tell you. Or he’s seen the positive impact your events are having on Porthgolow and has decided to put resources in to continue your good work, and bring even more people to the village? Look, I’ve only met Daniel briefly, and I told you before that there was something about him I didn’t like. But if you’ve got to know him, then why don’t you just talk to him? Get everything out in the open.’

      ‘Every time we see each other we end up sniping.’

      They had stopped outside Oliver’s temporary home, and he glanced at the upstairs window, gave someone a quick wave and then ran his hand through his hair. By the time Charlie looked, there was nobody there.

      ‘Ask him to move the yogis further down the beach,’ Oliver said, shrugging. His cheeks were fiercely red, and she wondered if his tanned skin had finally had enough sun. ‘Surely it could accommodate you all?’

      ‘If that’s the case, why didn’t he set them up at the other end of the beach in the first place?’

      ‘Just talk to him, Charlie. And let me know if Saturday’s still happening.’

      ‘Of course it is!’ Charlie said, aghast. ‘There’s too much momentum to stop now. You will come, won’t you?’

      Oliver brushed his lips over her cheek. ‘You know that I’m entirely at your disposal.’

      ‘Brilliant! Thank you, Ollie. For that and – and for today.’ She smiled, wondering if he would kiss her properly again, wondering if she should let him when, only two weeks ago, she had been kissing someone else. If she really wanted to take things further, she would have to tell him about Daniel, that it had been a one-off, an aberration. But Oliver just squeezed her hand, gave Marmite a quick stroke and let himself into the house.

      As Charlie drove back to Porthgolow, her mind refused to settle. Was it just a misunderstanding, another slip from Daniel that had resulted in the yoga group taking up her part of the beach, or was he playing games with her? Of course Oliver was right, and the only way of finding out was by talking to him, but the idea of facing him again after the hot tub evening made her palms clammy. She would just have to go ahead with the food market as usual; they’d been there first and what, realistically, could Daniel do about a whole load of vans and trucks driving onto the beach? If he didn’t want a horrible accident on his hands, then he would have to be the one to give way.

      The yogis looked serene, sitting on the beach equal distances apart, their shadows stretching long and thin behind them in the evening light. Charlie tried to make Juliette out but, from this distance, she could be any one of a number of dark-haired women. She slowed when she passed Myrtle’s pop-in, indicated, and was about to turn up the hill when she saw a figure leaning against Gertie, his attention focused on the water.

      His muscled calves were tanned below khaki shorts, his dark hair blowing in the sea breeze. A German shepherd sat placidly at his side, his tail twitching. Charlie’s heart began to pound. She had to face him sometime, and if she did it now they might be able to avert the impending disaster.

      She swung into The Seven Stars car park, attached Marmite’s lead and climbed out of the car. Daniel’s gaze was fixed firmly on the horizon and she felt a stab of satisfaction that she might be surprising him for once, but when she was ten yards away, Marmite barked and raced over, first sniffing Jasper and then putting his paws on Daniel’s leg.

      He looked down and then crouched to ruffle the ecstatic dog. As he stood, he caught Charlie’s eye and grinned. She stopped, taking a moment to compose herself.

      ‘Charlie, I wondered if I might bump into you here.’

      ‘Why, because I’m going to have to spend the next day and a half trying to work out how to fit twenty food trucks in among a group of flexible yogis?’

      His lips twitched. ‘No, because this is your bus.’

      ‘It’s after hours and I had the afternoon off, anyway. I don’t know why I’m explaining myself to you. It should be you doing the explaining.’

      ‘Do anything nice?’

      Charlie gave him a blank look.

      ‘This afternoon, were you doing anything fun?’

      ‘I went to the Eden Project, with Oliver.’

      Daniel’s smile wavered. ‘It’s a great day for it. You’ve caught the sun.’ He stepped closer, his eyes narrowing, and Charlie felt truly scrutinized. She wondered how red her cheeks were, whether her spray of fair-weather freckles had taken up residence across her nose. She forced herself not to look away and Daniel’s expression softened.

      She took her chance.

      ‘Why did you organize the yoga when you knew my food market was happening this Saturday? If it’s because of how we left things before, then …’ Then what? Should she apologize? She had been well within her rights to back off after their kiss. It had been so sudden, so intense. She was still struggling to work out exactly how she felt.

      Daniel dragged his gaze from her lips to her eyes. ‘Lauren organized it,’ he said. ‘She got talking to Belle when she was staying with us and asked if she could put on a course of yoga on the beach. I told her to go for it, because she’s a good colleague and I like to encourage initiative. I thought she’d have the common sense to plan it around the market.’

      ‘But she hasn’t,’ Charlie replied. ‘So what are we going to do about it?’

      ‘We? So you think we can try working as a team, now?’

      The heat in Charlie’s cheeks went up a few degrees. ‘The reputations of my events and your hotel rest on the outcome. We could do with working together to come up with a solution.’

      ‘I think you’re right,’ Daniel said. ‘What do you suggest?’

      Charlie sighed and leaned against the bus. It was easier being next to him than facing him. ‘You definitely have to have yoga on Saturday?’

      ‘Belle has been booked and paid for, and she’s got clients for every day that she’s here. I’m not sure anyone would be too happy about us cancelling it.’

      ‘And I can’t cancel the food market, because it’s a sure thing, now. I’ve got vendors invested in it, and I’ve promoted it on social media. We could move Belle further down the beach, but it’s still going to be noisy and busy. We don’t want to risk any yogis being squashed. Not even Belle,’ Charlie added, with only a slight trace of bitterness.

      Daniel laughed. ‘She’s not your cup of tea?’

      ‘She simpers,’ Charlie replied. ‘I mean, she obviously runs a very successful business and Juliette is beyond happy that she’s here but I just—’

      ‘You don’t think she’s on your side.’

      ‘Oi.’ She slapped him