Chapter Ten

Hal

The taxi rolls up outside Albie’s house at 7.25 p.m.

I’m nervous, excited, and hopeful, all rolled into one. I can’t believe Izzy agreed to go out on a date. I know what she means; it does feel odd, dating at our age. God knows how people cope if they’re single in their forties or fifties. I haven’t gone on a first date for a year, and it feels like an eternity.

I get out of the car and pause a moment to brush myself down. I’m taking Izzy to a classy Italian restaurant on the seafront. It’s only about five minutes away, but we work late almost every night, so I’ve never been there, and Izzy says she hasn’t either.

She left work at six, but I stayed late because I didn’t want to go to Leon’s and have him mock me, and I got dressed at work. I then made the mistake of visiting Miss Daisy, who insisted on jumping on me and sitting on my lap so she could show me how much better she feels. Consequently, I’m covered in hair and slobber. Hopefully Izzy will realize it isn’t mine.

I approach the front door and knock.

Albie answers and stares at me, baffled. “Dude, what are you doing?” This is small-town New Zealand. The front door is always unlocked until they go to bed, and normally I just walk in.

“I’m on a date. I’m being polite.”

“Whatever. Please, come in.” He bends at the waist and gestures for me to precede him.

I roll my eyes and walk into the house. I’m expecting Izzy to be in the living room, but it’s empty, and I turn around and look at Albie, puzzled. “Where is she?”

“In the bedroom with Nix.” He looks amused. “Trying to decide what to wear.”

Izzy’s thinking about what to wear on her date with me. I go all gooey inside. “Aw.”

“I think she’s tried on every outfit in her wardrobe,” he clarifies.

“Albie!” Nix comes into the living room. “You don’t tell her date that!”

He pulls an eek face. “Oops. Sorry. I keep telling you I shouldn’t be allowed to talk to people.”

I laugh. “Is she ready?”

“Yeah, she’s coming.” Nix scans me up and down. “You look nice.”

“Thank you.”

“You’ve got dog hair on your pants.”

“I’m a vet,” I remind her.

“Well, I’m a secretary but I’m not covered in Post-It Notes.”

“Jesus, Nix, I’m nervous, don’t tease me.”

She laughs. “Come here, for God’s sake.” She gets a thing that looks like a paint roller out of a drawer and proceeds to run it down my trousers.

“Just the one coat,” I tell her.

She laughs. “You’re on form tonight.”

“I told you, I’m nervous.”

She smiles and gets to her feet. “Oh… You two do have it bad.”

I open my mouth to ask her what she means, but the words melt away as Izzy walks into the living room.

We stare at each other. She’s wearing a skirt. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in a skirt. It’s knee length and made of some kind of floaty green material. Her top is cream, long sleeved and high necked, but beautiful, nonetheless. She’s also wearing high-heeled sandals. Heels! Holy smoke.

But what entrances me more than anything is her hair. It’s down, falling to her chest in soft chocolate-brown waves.

“Fuck,” I announce.

“Wow,” Nix says. “Your command of English is astounding.”

“Apparently he can tie his shoelaces as well,” Albie says.

“You two are having far too much fun over this,” I tell them. I hold my hand out to Izzy. “Shall we escape?”

“Oh God, please. I’ve had it since six o’clock. I’m about to murder them both with an ice pick.”

To the laughter of the other two, we head out, waving goodbye, get in the taxi, and I ask him to drive us the short distance to the restaurant.

Izzy exhales, and I glance across at her. “You look amazing.”

She smooths down her skirt. “It’s the only one I own. It feels odd.”

“It looks great.” Now we’re closer, I can see that she’s wearing mascara and a touch of glittery eyeshadow. I like it, but I don’t want her to think she has to do this. “I want you to know, though, you don’t have to change yourself, Izzy. It’s you I want to date. The you I see every day.”

“I know. I… wanted to make an effort.” Her gaze rises to meet mine.

“Okay,” I say softly. “Fair enough, me too.”

Her gaze skims me, as light as if she’s brushing her fingers down me, bringing me out in goosebumps. “You look good tonight.”

“Thank you.” I’ve made an effort, too. I’ve showered, trimmed my short beard, and I’m wearing chinos and a new silvery gray dress shirt with black thread that I rather like. No tie, but this is New Zealand, and we don’t do ties. Most of the other diners will be in shorts, but I wanted to look good for her.

I hold out my hand. She looks at it for a moment.

“You’re supposed to put yours in it,” I clarify.

She gives me a wry glance and slides her hand into mine, and I close my fingers around hers. “This is weird,” she says.

“You’ll get used to it.” My nerves have dissipated. She’s here with me. She wants to be with me. All I’ve got to do is make sure I don’t do anything to startle her, and we’ll be fine. She’s like a deer in the forest, or a skittish horse. This filly needs careful handling.

Luckily, that’s my forte.

We arrive at the restaurant, I pay the driver, and we head inside. It’s relatively new, and they’re obviously keen to make an effort. I’ve asked for a good table, and we’re shown to one in a prime position by the windows overlooking the ocean. The sun’s setting to the west, and the sea to the east is light-red in the shallows like arterial blood, and dark-red on the horizon, like venous blood, deep and rich, almost purple.

I take the menu that the waiter gives me, wait until he walks away, then say, “Is it weird that in my head I’ve just compared the sunset to different colors of blood?”

She laughs. “I was thinking how it looked like a bruise, so no, not really.”

We smile at each other. I love that we have the same passion. We love animals, but it goes deeper than that. Although neither of us likes seeing animals in pain, we do call each other into our surgery sometimes if we find something of interest—an unusual bone break or tumor, a fascinating problem with an eye or a jaw. We do operations together, and she has the same approach as me—she’s quick, efficient, thorough. We’re a good team.

But I don’t want to think about work tonight. This isn’t about Noah’s Ark. We’re not two Animal Welfare Inspectors this evening. We’re Hal and Izzy, two people who’ve been friends for a long time, and who are ready for more.

Izzy drops her gaze to the menu, and I smile and peruse it myself.

The waiter returns after giving us time to think about our choices. Izzy doesn’t want a starter, so I tell him, “I’d like the vegetarian lasagna please.”

Izzy stares at me. “I’m not having a steak.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.”

“Why are you having a vegetarian dish?”

I just shrug.

She looks baffled and gives the waiter an embarrassed glance. He studies his notepad and tries not to smile.

“I’ll have the goat’s cheese and spinach pasta,” she tells him.

“Red wine?” I ask her, because although we’re having pasta, we both prefer red. She nods, and I order a bottle of Merlot. The waiter retreats.

“That’s the most expensive bottle on the list,” she says.

“I know. I’m trying to impress my date.”

She gives a short laugh. “I forget you have money, most of the time.”

“It’s easy to say when you have it, but I forget, too.” I’m not like Leon, into flash cars and suits. Albie has all the latest technology, a dozen different phones, half a dozen laptops, every kind of console available, but I’m fine with my iPhone and laptop, and my Mitsubishi, which is large and comfortable.

“You like comfort,” she says. “That’s how you use your money. You’re a very sensual man.”

I raise my eyebrows.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she scolds. “You like good food, expensive whisky. You fly first class. You might only wear jeans but they’re designer ones. You’ve only got one phone but it’s the latest model. You like having the ability to get what you want, but that doesn’t mean you flaunt it. It’s a nice balance.”

My lips curve up. “Thank you.”

She sits back in her seat, and we survey each other for a moment. “Why did you choose the veggie option?” she asks.

“Because… I want to please you.”

She frowns. “Why?”

“Because we’re on a date, Izzy.”

“It makes no difference to me what you eat. I know you like steak. I know you hate vegetables. Why would you choose something you don’t like?”

“Well, firstly, I don’t hate vegetables—you sound like my mother. I happen to like vegetables a lot. I just prefer steak. But I can live without it for one night. You’re a vegetarian, it’s our first date, and I don’t want you to have to sit there looking at half a cow on a plate when we’re both nervous and trying to feel comfortable.”

She looks at me with something like wonder. “You’re nervous?”

“Of course I’m nervous. Well, not so much now we’re actually here. I was, though.”

“Why?”

“I thought you might back out at the last minute.”

“I nearly did.”

I smile. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

She holds my gaze for a moment, then clears her throat and looks out of the window. “Miss Daisy looked good, I thought. Those sores on her back are healing well.”

“They are. But we’re not talking shop tonight,” I tell her.

Her gaze comes back to me, surprised. “Why?”

Izzy’s out of practice, I think, with dating. She’s not had a relationship for a while, as far as I know. The last guy I saw her dating was in our final year at uni, which is… what, six years ago now? She’s obviously been out with men since, because I’ve heard her joke about dates once or twice with Nix or Jules, but clearly nothing serious. Plus, of course, it’s me, and that’s unnerving her.

“We’re not going to talk shop because we’re not here as vets,” I tell her. “This is about me and you. Hal and Izzy.”

“I’m not sure I have anything else to talk about,” she admits.

I know what she means—the Ark is our life. We think about animals twenty-four-seven. But tonight, I don’t want to think about them. I want to think about Isabel Fitzgerald and her long brown hair, and her beautiful light-brown eyes.

But she’s nervous, and she doesn’t know where to start, so I decide to begin with the Ark and we’ll take it from there.

“All right,” I say. “Let’s pretend we’re going to spend a million dollars on the sanctuary. What would you like to do with it?”