Chapter Five
Zane yawned and opened the curtains. Wednesday morning and the sun was out. Perfect. Over the last few days he’d had to work like mad to free up some time today for his date with Faith. But it had been worth it. He was looking forward to it.
When he’d turned up at the Coffee Pot the other day to find Faith snowed under with customers, he’d known straight away that he’d have to stay and help her. There was no way he could have just left her. When he’d explained to Becca what was happening, she’d not only been delighted at the chance to go off and do some serious shopping all on her own, but also equally delighted that he was sort-of-dating someone.
Well, Becca had kind of assumed the sort-of-dating bit, but he hadn’t corrected her. He wanted to date Faith anyway. He wanted to get to know her better. It was just a matter of timing. Becca knew that what had happened had hit him pretty hard, and having overcome her own demons she was keen for Zane to do the same. He was glad he’d taken the step and invited Faith along for the dinner at the Royal, though he’d made Becca promise not to mention anything about the past in front of her.
Afterwards Faith had invited him in for a nightcap and he’d happily accepted. They’d chatted, and drunk yet more coffee. He hadn’t really wanted any, but it gave him an excuse to stick around and enjoy her company for a bit longer.
As she’d got to her feet to refill their mugs, she’d casually brushed a hand against his knee as she’d moved to walk past him. He’d turned in his seat on the sofa, watching as she’d made her way to the kitchen, and as she’d filled their mugs and fetched milk from the fridge he’d had a full-length view of her. He’d let his eyes travel from her high heels and slim ankles, up her long shapely legs, and across the fabric of the burgundy dress that did a perfect job of showing off her figure in a less-is-more kind of way. Her hair was pinned up in an elegant style. It was the first time he’d seen it like that. Usually it was tied back in a no-nonsense ponytail which swung around her shoulders.
He recalled how she’d placed the mugs of coffee on the table and sat back next to him.
“You’re looking thoughtful.”
“Sorry.”
“No need to apologise. Everything OK?”
He’d nodded. “Just thinking.”
Everything was better than OK. Which was why she’d caught him looking thoughtful.
It would be so easy to let things develop with Faith. Another date, then another. He liked her. A lot. But this wasn’t supposed to happen. He’d invested everything he had in Carrdale. He had business loans which made him wake in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. He had to give Carrdale everything and make the place a success. He wouldn’t have time for a relationship, for getting involved.
But he liked her.
“Thinking about what?” she’d prompted, looking at him, a flicker of amusement in her eyes. “Or shouldn’t I ask?”
She knew.
She knew exactly what he’s been thinking about. He could see it in those blue eyes.
He knew he had no time to get involved. He didn’t actually want to get involved. After what had happened in the last few years he shouldn’t even have any inclination to get involved.
But he liked her.
He’d met her gaze and realised she was still looking at him questioningly.
“I was thinking about doing this.”
He’d leaned forward to kiss her.
Along with his various lists of jobs to sort for Carrdale, Zane could have made another list. A list full of reasons not to get involved with Faith.
When they were younger, Becca had been a huge fan of Friends, and he could remember her complaining about an episode where Ross made a pros-and-cons list about whether or not he should date Rachel. Becca had said that lists like that were very insulting. But Zane knew there was little point in making a list like that for Faith. He could think of plenty of reasons to put on the Don’t-Get-Involved list – and none of them would have anything at all to do with Faith. They would all be about his own – what did they call it nowadays? – emotional baggage.
Yeah. That was it. Emotional baggage. A neat and tidy term for all the horrible times you’d accumulated in your life. No, he knew it didn’t matter how many reasons his past might give him for not starting a relationship with Faith, because he would ignore them all. There would only have been one item on the Date-This-Woman list, and it was the most important reason of all. He liked her.
Asking Faith out on a walk and picnic had been his way of seeing her again without putting too much pressure on the early stages of their relationship. When he’d looked on the internet and checked out the walk route she’d chosen for them, he’d discovered it was a five-mile route with a steep ascent to the top of the fell. Graded, according to the website, as medium to strenuous. Faith had mentioned it was one of her favourite walks so she was obviously serious about her hill trekking, a fact which made her even more attractive to him. He had a weakness for women who weren’t prima donnas; the kind who weren’t even remotely bothered about breaking a nail, and didn’t refuse to go out in public without full make-up and high heels. A woman who was happy at the idea of going on a date which involved making a five-mile hill trek certainly ticked all his boxes.
“Ready for the off?”
“Yep,” Faith replied, swinging her rucksack on to her back.
Zane couldn’t help admiring how she had all the proper gear, yet she still managed to look stunning. Sturdy trail boots teamed with brown close-fitting combat trousers showed off her long legs to perfection, and her snug purple fleece hinted perfectly at her curves. The trousers she was wearing were, he noticed, the real deal – designed especially for hikes such as this one. She even had a whistle – a key part of the safety kit of any serious hill-walker – on a lanyard around her neck, along with a compass. She clearly knew her stuff. And he found that very sexy indeed.
She locked her flat and he followed her down the stairs to his car, feeling faintly embarrassed that his eyes hardly moved from noticing how good her behind looked in her top-brand walking trousers. Good grief, what was he, twelve years old? Shouldn’t he have more maturity about him these days?
He smiled to himself. Obviously not.
“You OK?”
“Fine. I’d forgotten quite how steep this walk up to the top of the fell is, that’s all. I guess I’m out of practice. I used to be part of a local trek group and we went out every week, but now they only meet on Sundays, and we’re so busy at the café at weekends that I had to stop walking with them.”
Zane slowed and turned, walking up the hill backwards now, waiting for Faith to catch up. She’d done really well, pretty much keeping up with him throughout the steady climb. He’d known she was quite fit (after all, entering the hill race wasn’t for the faint-hearted), but maybe, he conceded, he’d been walking just a little too fast on this occasion. He was used to gauging the right pace for treks when he led groups on hill walks as part of his work. Today though, for some reason, he’d not been concentrating properly, and had ended up pushing the pace too much. No matter how fit Faith might be, it hadn’t been very gentlemanly of him to go racing off up the hillside.
“Nearly at the top of this bit!” he smiled, offering a hand of encouragement as Faith clambered up the hillside towards him. She accepted his hand and Zane turned so they were walking the last few feet up this part of the hill side by side and hand in hand.
Faith had told him how much she missed getting out for proper walks. Today was a chance for them both to forget about business and just enjoy the great outdoors together. He was glad she’d lagged behind slightly as they’d reached the top of this section. Not for reasons of macho pride, but because firstly he got to hold her hand and help her up the last part of the climb, and also because it meant he wasn’t following her up the hill. The rear view of her had been making it pretty tricky for him to concentrate on looking where he was putting his feet on the rocky hillside.
“Ready for the tough bit?” Faith asked, releasing her hand and pointing ahead of them. “This last climb up to the top is the really steep scrambling part. But then I’m sure this is just child’s play to a serious climber like you.”
“Lead on,” Zane laughed.
As they neared the rocky slope where they would both have to quite literally scramble their way up, he wondered what he should do. Ought he to go first and help Faith up, or would that seem condescending? OK, it was his job to handle things like this, but he didn’t want Faith to think he’d instantly assumed that she would struggle with the challenge ahead of them. Especially as she’d said this was one of her favourite walks and she’d done it many times before. She knew what she was doing, and if he offered his help it might make her think he was some kind of chauvinist. But then if he didn’t offer to help, that wouldn’t be very gentlemanly either, would it?
He held back slightly, pretending to re-do the lace on his boot, to see what she would do. Without a moment of hesitation she set to, finding footholds, hauling herself up the slope, using her hands as she did so. He grinned and started to follow her. Faith’s attitude was making him like her more and more. The only problem was, now he would have to follow her up the slope and have that distracting view of her perfect bum again. Oh well, if he lost his footing a little it wouldn’t lead to any serious harm for him, would it?
But at this precise moment, the prospect of losing his footing was the very least of his worries.
“There’s a good spot over by the stone wall to set the picnic up,” Faith said as they reached the top. “It’s away from the edge as well, so it’s sheltered from the wind. And you can’t see the sheer drop on this side of the fell!”
Zane followed her to the designated spot. “Not keen on heights then?”
“No. I’m fine with climbs and scrambles like we’ve just done, because they’re a steady slope. It’s the sheer drops I hate.” Faith pulled a rug from her backpack and flopped gratefully onto it. “Good to sit down for a while.”
Zane sat down next to her. “Have you always been scared of heights?”
“No. An old boyfriend of mine had an accident. He fell. He was OK, but it freaked me out.”
“Understandable. Can I ask what happened?”
“We were just kids. He was messing around, climbing this cliff when he shouldn’t have been. Trying to show off. Fortunately he wasn’t seriously hurt.”
“And after that, you hated heights?”
Faith nodded. “Yes. I suppose we’re all scared of something aren’t we? Heights, spiders, enclosed spaces, giving speeches.”
“Yes, we are.”
“Even you?” Faith asked. “The guy who does extreme sports for a living?”
“Even me.”
“The adrenaline junkie?”
Faith pulled her hair from its band and re-did her ponytail. The wind on the way up the fell had tugged several bits free.
“I’m not an adrenaline junkie. Far from it. I don’t do all that crazy bungee jumping stuff. I don’t have a death wish. I just love climbing.”
“So, what are you scared of?” she asked.
“Putting everything I have into Carrdale and it not working out. All my savings, plus business loans. It keeps me awake at night.”
“That fear I admit to sharing with you. Been there, done that. Thankfully the café is doing great nowadays, but it takes time with a business and that’s terrifying.”
“I guess you’ve just got to give it everything you’ve got, hang in there and pray to the money gods that you made the right choices.”
Faith nodded. “Anything else keep you awake at night?”
“Yeah. But let’s not get into that. We’re supposed to be having fun today, some time away from work, not analysing my crazy worries.”
“In other words, you don’t want to talk about it,” Faith laughed.
Zane shook his head. “Not really. Are you going to let me get away with that? Or do I need to try for a distraction?”
“Oh, distraction, definitely.”
Zane edged himself closer and gently drew her towards him.
“Good distraction technique,” Faith said when their lips eventually parted.
“Hungry yet? Or do you want a drink first?” Zane asked, as he leaned back and started to pull tubs and cartons from his backpack.
“After that climb, definitely food first I think.”
Zane handed her a plate. “I hope you don’t have great expectations about the food at this picnic.”
“What, you mean it won’t be to the same standard as the food at the Royal the other night?” she teased.
“Nope.” Searching through the various tubs he added, “I have cheese and pickle or chicken salad sandwiches. I’ve also got some sausage rolls, bags of crisps and a couple of chocolate bars. Anything take your fancy?” He thought he saw a flicker of flirtatiousness in her eyes, and for a moment he wondered what she was going to say.
“Cheese and pickle, please.”
“I know you’re signed up to this hill race and are in training for it already,” Zane went on, as he handed her the appropriate Tupperware tub. “But I’m doing this charity challenge in a month or so, and training myself as well, so if you fancy some company on one of your runs anytime, just say the word.”
“You’re on. I hate running alone. What charity challenge are you doing?”
“It’s like a mini triathlon, but this one’s a run, a cycle ride, then kayaking. It’s up in Cumbria, near Penrith. Matt and I were crazy to agree to do it really, when we’ve got so much on with the Centre. But it’s an old mate of ours from Austria who’s organising it. Anyway, we said we’d do it, good cause and all that. Plus, it’ll be a chance to do some promoting for Carrdale as well. We can wear the T-shirts and take some flyers to dish out.”
“Yeah, makes sense.” Faith reached for another sandwich. “Have you done any other charity challenges over the years?”
Zane nodded. “Quite a few.”
“What’s the most difficult one you’ve done?”
“The North Pole.”
Faith almost choked on her sandwich. “Seriously? You’ve trekked to the North Pole?”
“I have. It was a few years ago now though.”
“That’s just amazing. I’ve never met anyone who’s been to the North Pole. I’m well impressed. What happened? What’s it like? Come on, tell me everything.”
Zane reached into his backpack for a bottle of water. He wasn’t comfortable talking about his trek to the North Pole; it had been a low point in his life. Although actually reaching the North Pole had felt like a fantastic achievement, the edge had been taken off it by the reason why he was on the trek in the first place. How much should he say to Faith now about it all? As little as he could get away with, he decided.
“It was about five years ago Matt and I did the trek,” he began, choosing his words carefully.
“The same Matt who’s your business partner?”
Zane nodded. “Yeah. You do the trek in April. That’s the only time of year the conditions are right for them to build a temporary airport on the ice. You fly into the ice camp at Barneo. They have heated tents, a medical centre, all sorts. For safety reasons you can’t do the trek on your own. They put you in teams, with an experienced guide and a team doctor. Once the conditions are deemed OK by the guy in charge – this fearsome Russian who, believe me, you do not want to start an argument with – you go out on the ice and start the trek to the Pole.”
“How long does it take?” Faith asked, staring at him intently.
“About eight days of walking. You have to pull all your gear with you on a sledge, which slows things down quite a bit. The North Pole is on ice, not land, so the ice is constantly shifting as well, and the wind can move it back, so sometimes you spend all day walking and pretty much end up back where you started. You get totally fed up when that happens.”
Faith nodded. “I’ll bet. What was the weather like? How cold was it?”
“The weather was bad most days. Average about minus twenty degrees, and strong winds.”
“I can’t even begin to get my head round conditions like that. You sleep in tents on the ice in those kinds of temperatures? Weren’t you cold? Did you actually get any sleep?”
“Yeah, it was pretty cold, and if you weren’t so exhausted from the walking and sledge-pulling then you’d probably struggle to get to sleep. Even with all the gear on, and the special tents and sleeping bags, it was still freezing.”
Faith leaned forward and kissed Zane on the lips.
“What did I do to deserve that?” he asked, smiling at her.
“That was my way of saying I’m proud of you for doing something so incredible. You must have raised loads of money for charity too.”
“Our group raised about thirty thousand pounds. One of the guys did some regular work with a local hospice which had helped his family when his Gran passed away, so we decided all the money should go to them.”
“Going to the North Pole, wow! That must have been the experience of a lifetime, surely? You haven’t been doing any other extreme treks have you since then?”
“No I haven’t. And yeah, it was an experience. But never again.”
The food all eaten, Zane started to stuff the empty tubs and wrappers into his backpack.
“I love living here,” Faith said quietly, leaning back against the stone wall.
“I can see why. The scenery is pretty stunning.”
Zane smiled to himself. He didn’t just mean the scenery in landscape terms. He thought Faith was pretty stunning too.
How should he play things, though? Technically he wasn’t looking for a relationship. He was here to make the Centre a success. That was – had to be – his priority. Yet being with Faith was making him think that maybe he could manage to combine work and play after all. There was already something between them, he was fairly sure of that, but, with his track record on relationships, a part of him still didn’t know whether or not taking that next step with Faith would be a good idea. He didn’t want to scare her off by telling her the truth – it was too soon for all that anyway – and he wasn’t sure just how involved he was going to allow himself to get. But at the same time he knew he couldn’t stay away from her, and found her in his thoughts far too often.
On the way back down the hill Zane made sure he walked at a more suitable pace, and kept a careful eye on Faith as she negotiated her way around the rocks and boulders which littered the steep path.
When she lost her footing and stumbled he instinctively reached to steady her, slipping one hand under her arm and the other on her waist. He found himself standing behind her on the hillside. She was so close. He wanted to kiss her. Properly kiss her.
He released her hand and slid his now free hand down to join the other one at her waist, then, slowly, turned her around to face him. With the way they were standing on the slope of the hillside, her head barely reached his chest. If he leaned down to kiss her like this they’d probably both lose their footing and end up in a heap on the floor… Then again, would that be such a bad thing...?
No. Don’t go there.
As if she had read his thoughts, Faith slipped her hands around his waist. Zane felt a rush of emotions – happiness jumbled up with chemistry and a powerful sense of connection; things he hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Easing away, he took her hand and led her across the slippery path towards some flat ground at the bottom of a steep rocky face. Once there, out of the wind and out of sight of any passing walkers, he slipped his hands around her waist again, inside her jacket this time. He could feel the heat of her through her T-shirt.
He took a few careful steps back so he could lean against the rock face and gently pulled her, arms still around her waist, towards him. She pressed herself close and reached up, winding her arms around him, allowing her fingers to caress the back of his neck.
He still didn’t know if he was ready for all this, but he did know that he didn’t want her to stop. From the first time he’d seen Faith he’d known there was something about her. And now, as his hands took on a mind of their own and explored her body inside not just her fleece but inside her T-shirt as well, he knew he was in deep trouble. He only hoped he wasn’t making a huge mistake.
But, for now, he shoved all those thoughts from his mind, and revelled in the fact, as her hands began to explore under his own T-shirt, that she clearly liked him too.