On Thursday evening, Gaby checked her face in the new mirror she’d bought for her room. It was on the small side, but it worked well enough. She twisted round, trying to catch a glimpse of her bum in the new dress she’d ordered from an online store. Stuff took longer to arrive but she hadn’t been able to resist. It was a fit and flare with a subtle flower print, appropriately enough, and considering she hadn’t been able to try it on, she was quite pleased with the fit which skimmed her bottom and ended a couple of inches above the knee. It wasn’t too tight, was it? Or too short?
She was wearing thick opaque tights and suede ankle boots with it which kind of made it OK, and the cropped military jacket over the top, which she hoped to cut through the girliness of the dress. That had been a vintage buy from a craft market when she’d gone home to see her parents at Christmas.
‘Hello.’
She nearly jumped out of her skin. Will stood in the doorway. Her cheeks heated up. How long had he been watching her twirling this way and that? She planted her hands on her hips. ‘Do you have a problem, Will? Only you’re staring at me in a most peculiar way? Do I have spinach between my teeth?’
‘You look fine to me,’ he muttered, then added, ‘Exciting plans?’
‘Yes, we’re going to the St Saviour’s Hotel.’
He did one of his ‘humphs’; as if she’d supplied precisely the answer he’d been expecting, then shuffled awkwardly.
‘Was there anything you wanted in particular?’ she asked, with a smile.
‘I was wondering if you’d given any more thought to my offer of a summer job.’
He just came straight out with the request without hesitation or jokiness. Wow, he must be serious. She caught her breath. She’d thought of it most of the time since he’d initially asked her. In one way, she wanted to stay longer, mainly because the thought of leaving Will was very depressing, even if nothing had really happened between them or was likely to.
He folded his arms and she wasn’t sure if he was impatient for an answer or bracing himself for disappointment. At times he was very easy to read and at other times, impossible.
August wasn’t that far away and there was work to do here. He wouldn’t have asked her if he didn’t want her here …
‘If you really need more help with the summer chalets and you can’t get anyone else, I suppose I could hang on a bit longer.’
‘I’m not forcing you,’ he said sharply.
‘I know that.’ Gaby softened her tone. ‘Honestly, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful.’
‘You don’t have to be grateful. We need staff and you’re already on the books and you know the way we operate. It makes good business sense to take on someone we can rely on, that’s all …’ He hesitated, then spoke firmly. ‘But of course, if you want to leave, then I’d appreciate it if you’d let us know so I can make other arrangements.’
‘There’s no need for that,’ said Gaby, her spirits sinking at his eagerness to let her know he wasn’t bothered if she stayed or not. Was it all an act and he was only trying to clumsily cover up that he wanted her to stay? Every sensible instinct told her to take him at his word and say she had to go. Hell, she ought to leave. That had been her plan: come to Scilly, live here and then go and see the rest of the world, landscapes, wildlife, gardens … That had been her pledge to Stevie and herself … She looked at Will and saw something flicker in his eyes: hope? Need? He did want her to hang around, she was almost sure of it.
‘I’ll stay,’ she said.
His jaw dropped and his eyes lit up with surprise.
‘Until August,’ she added. ‘But then I really ought to go. I have things I want to do, need to do …’
‘Of course you do …’ He sighed and looked her up and down. ‘You look nice … you’d better get your skates on. He’s on his way.’
It was Gaby’s turn to be taken aback. ‘Who’s on his way?’
He frowned. ‘Luca, of course. I was in the top field and I saw the Petroc boat pull into the jetty ten minutes ago. Bloke got off it looked an awful lot like him. I expect he’ll reach the farm any moment.’
‘Oh,’ said Gaby. ‘You mean Luca as in “Luca The Tool”?’
Will folded his arms defensively. ‘That was a joke. I never started it. Patrick did and, yeah, there is only one Luca it could be, isn’t there?’
A light bulb went on in Gaby’s head. Aha. So that was it. Will had seen Luca, seen her getting ready and put two and two together. He obviously thought she was going on a date with Luca, when she was actually going to a hen party for a girl from the St Piran’s rowing club. Will was so frustrating, blowing hot and cold, so she decided not to put him right just yet.
‘Hmm. I suppose it would be way too much of a coincidence that there were two hot Italians called Luca on Scilly …’
He grunted. ‘Well. I’d better leave you to it. Don’t want to cramp your style.’
Before she could have second thoughts about enlightening him, he stalked off, leaving Gaby staring after him in puzzlement.
That left another mystery. Why was Luca on his way to the farm? Maybe Will was mistaken and he was headed somewhere completely different like the hotel or the pub. Whatever Will had assumed, Luca most definitely wasn’t coming for her.
Or was he?
Grabbing her bag, she went out to the front of the staff house where Natalia and a couple of the other girls from the farm were waiting. She hoped Luca wasn’t going to ask her out and would be very surprised if he was. Although he was fun to talk to and some people thought he was the hottest guy on Scilly, she didn’t want to get involved with him. He was witty and charming, but he was too aware of his own appeal for her tastes. She liked her men a little ragged round the edges, and a pair of muddy Hunters would always trump Burberry boots every time.