The bar was much quieter now, with only a few locals lingering around, chatting to Patrick. There was no sign of Jess, or any of the other farm workers apart from Natalia who was waiting by the front door.
The moment she spotted Gaby, Natalia knocked back the dregs of her lager and beckoned her over. ‘Where’ve you been? The boat’s here for us. Everyone’s already gone to the quay.’
‘Sorry. I was in the loo,’ she said hastily, not wanting anyone to know the length of time she’d spent with Will.
‘For so long? We need to leave.’ Natalia frowned then handed over a white cardboard box to Gaby. ‘Don’t forget the rest of your cake.’
‘Thanks!’ she shouted to Maisie, Hazel and Patrick, but Natalia tugged at her arm and in seconds they were hurrying through the beer garden towards the track that led to the jetty. Natalia was bubbling with excitement and giggling over being chatted up by one of the St Saviour’s locals who was twice her age.
‘That was a great night,’ said Natalia. ‘Good food and a good laugh. Have you had a nice time?’
‘Great,’ said Gaby, holding onto the cake box and trying to focus on everything that happened up until her row with Will.
‘And Will’s not all bad, is he?’ said Natalia as the boat came in sight.
Gaby stumbled in her heels. ‘What do you mean?’
‘He bought all the champagne.’
‘What? How do you know it was him?’
‘I overheard Maisie and Jess talking about it … I think it was meant to be a secret but I guess it isn’t now.’ Natalia hiccupped. ‘Whoops. That was the curry. Oh, Jess is freaking out. They’ll go without us if we’re not careful. Come on.’
She grabbed Gaby’s arm and practically dragged her towards Jess who was waving her arms and shouting: ‘Come on!’
Gaby’s head swam as they slithered over the stones of the jetty to laughter from her waiting mates in the boat. She’d had too much to drink, but she could remember exactly what she’d said to Will. Buying champagne and knowing a bit of poetry didn’t mean he wasn’t a boor … But still. Oh, shit … she’d let him get to her and probably overreacted. She could blame the wine, of course, the wine that Will had paid for, but that would be a cop-out.
She practically fell into the boat, to sarcastic whoops from her friends and – oh God – a stony-faced glare from Will. Damn. She’d forgotten he’d asked to hitch a ride home. She kept stealing sneaky glances at him when she thought he wasn’t looking at her. Their conversation on the beach had begun so promisingly. Where had it all gone wrong? Oh wait, he’d started the path downhill with his boorish remarks about poems … She’d called him a few choice names, but they were accurate at the time and she wasn’t going to apologise.
Anyway, she was starting to feel too queasy to worry too much about the row. She tried to keep her eyes on the horizon, but even that was moving up and down with the boat. Every few seconds, the low dark shapes of other islands would come into view, along with a flash from the lighthouse at the western edge of the isles, before disappearing as the boat rose and fell.
She tried to distract herself by listening to a conversation that had started up about gig rowing and the Mixed team that St Saviour’s were hoping to enter in the island championships when the Athene was seaworthy. With the noise of the wind, the roar of the engine and the smack of the hull on the waves, it was conducted in shouts. Although that didn’t seem to matter after all the fizz. The cake box bumped around in her lap so she had to keep two hands on top of it and her stomach was jumping in time to the boat’s lurches.
‘We’re still two people short for the Mixed boat,’ Jess was telling Will. ‘Even if I do row, we only have you, Natalia and Lawrence. I heard that Petroc’s gig already has a waiting list of people who want to join.’
‘That’s because the resort on Petroc has dozens of staff who don’t want to let their boss down; I wish my staff had the same attitude,’ said Will. ‘I’m prepared to row in the Men’s crew as well as the Mixed, so I don’t see why we can’t find two more. I was thinking of asking Robbie; he turned up to the Men’s practice and while he’s a complete novice, he seemed keen. After all, the Mixed event is only a bit of fun.’
Jess snorted. ‘Fun?’
‘What about you?’ Natalia screeched down Gaby’s ear.
‘What about me?’ said Gaby as the boat thumped its way over wave after wave. She hoped she could make it home without throwing up.
‘You could join the St Saviour’s gig crew. We need another female.’
‘Great idea.’ Lawrence leaned forward. ‘Gaby?’
‘No, I can’t row.’
‘Yes, but we are desperate,’ said Will.
Under normal circumstances, Gaby would have been pissed off at Will’s comment but she felt too nauseous to care.
‘Gaby may be small, but she’s strong and very fit. Isn’t she, Will?’ Natalia said, teasing him.
Gaby got her answer in before he could reply. ‘However, you’re not that desperate.’ The boat lurched again and she rescued the cake box from flying off her lap. She wished her stomach would be tamed so easily.
‘Oh, go on. You must have rowed in a boat when you were at Oxford. Everyone does, don’t they?’ Lawrence shouted from opposite. His fine blond hair was blowing so hard in the wind, Gaby was worried it might be ripped out.
‘It was Cambridge, actually. I’m not big enough to row in an Eight and if I’d been a cox in the races I’d have probably caused a massive pile-up on the river.’ Even if she’d had the courage to overcome her fear of the boat overturning, the after-race ritual of throwing the cox in the slimy river petrified her.
‘In that case we’re not even going to be able to raise a boat,’ Will muttered.
‘You’ll find someone else,’ said Gaby, standing firm. ‘Trust me, you do not want me in that boat.’
Jess intervened. ‘Look. Gaby’s said she doesn’t want to do it, so let’s leave it at that.’
To her enormous relief, Gaby spotted the St Saviour’s jetty ahead. The roar of the engine faded to a dull throb and the swell subsided as the jet boat nudged into the shelter of the quay. The sickly whiff of diesel made her stomach turn over, but they were back at the quay.
Everyone started to clamber out of the rib. Feeling light-headed, Gaby’s foot slipped as she stepped off the bobbing boat in the semi-darkness. She swore and before she knew it, Will was pulling her onto the quay.
‘Are you OK?’ he said, letting go of her hand.
‘Fine. Thanks. Too much wine,’ she said, instantly regretting it when she remembered it was the wine he’d bought.
Everyone was laughing and talking around them so she didn’t think they’d noticed her lose her footing, thankfully.
‘It is your birthday,’ he said. ‘By the way, Jess is right. I don’t want you to think I was forcing you to row. No one’s going to make you do anything you don’t want to, even if we might have to pull out of the race.’
Gaby searched his face. Was he trying to make her feel guilty again or trying to apologise in his own clumsy way?
‘I accept that getting hot and sweaty with a bunch of us isn’t your thing,’ he added, with a glint in his eye.
Unsure if he was teasing – or if the hot and sweaty remark was an innuendo – Gaby decided to call his bluff. Now she was safely on dry land, she felt a lot more equal to the task. ‘You don’t think I could handle that?’ she asked.
‘I think you could handle the hot and sweaty part but like I say, I don’t want to be accused of bullying you – or of being a boor …’
He was the most infuriating man on the planet and a fire of anger and pride shot through her. ‘Look. As it obviously means so much to you and everyone else, I’ll have a go, but I can tell you now that you’ll regret it.’
His lips parted and she was delighted to see she’d taken him aback. His eyes met hers and he raised an eyebrow. ‘Is that a threat or a promise?’ he said in a low, husky tone that turned her on despite her annoyance – and her still queasy stomach.
‘You decide, Mr Godrevy.’
They locked horns a second longer until Jess bustled up to them, preventing Will from getting his reply in.
‘Are you two coming or not?’ Jess demanded.
‘Yes,’ said Will and a triumphant smile tilted his mouth. ‘And I have some good news. Gaby’s agreed to row, so we have a team for the championships.’
Jess frowned. ‘I thought you didn’t want to do it? Are you sure? Will hasn’t badgered you into it, has he?’
Gaby glared at Will. ‘Believe me, Will could never make me do anything I didn’t want to.’
Will’s eyes gleamed wickedly. ‘As if I’d try.’