Page 9 of The Wedding Proposal
Elle relaxed into her seat. From Seadancer she was treated to the sight of hundreds of boats across the creek glistening under the sun, and her joy in spending the summer in Malta began cautiously to re-emerge. ‘It’s in Triq Bonnard in Gzira. Joseph, who runs the centre, says it’ll take me ten or fifteen minutes to walk from the marina. Schools don’t finish until nearly the end of June so my opening sessions will largely involve sixteen- to eighteen-year-olds who are out of school already. My work with younger children will mainly be supervisory or helping them with the technology, although I’ll run some fun sessions in the holidays. Timewise, my sessions will be dotted around — mornings or afternoons.’
‘I’ve always enjoyed earning money, myself,’ Davie observed. ‘But I admire you for what you’re doing.’
‘I earned money in IT. I was appalled when I received my redundancy notice because, like every other wage slave, I judged my worth by my salary slip.’ Elle sank deeper into her chair. She hadn’t slept well, over-aware of the gentle swimming motion of the boat. And of Lucas sleeping in a cabin only a few feet away. ‘But when I began to job hunt, what excited me were the openings abroad. Dubai, Canada, Germany. The idea of applying for overseas jobs opened my mind to possibilities. I noticed on online forums that the people who were most enthusiastic about their travelling were those who were volunteering. I’m not quite adventurous enough to volunteer in Africa or India but I asked Simon what he thought about me finding a voluntary post here. He’s been mad about Malta since he bought the boat.’
She paused to smile. ‘He offered me the use of the Shady Lady and asked around for someone who might want to give me a part-time job. Which was you.’
Davie toasted her with his water glass. ‘The world’s your oyster if you’ve got no ties.’
Elle laughed. ‘Then I hope my oyster is more about pearls than grit.’
Presently, Loz took Elle on a tour of the boat, keeping up a stream of chatter. Four big cabins had their own bathrooms, a smaller cabin was more modest, and the stateroom boggled Elle’s mind with its run of lacquered wardrobes and drawers, two squashy sofas and a king-sized bed. The main saloon was equally as impressive, with glass doors that opened onto the foredeck just behind where they’d been sitting. Above that was a sky lounge, a gorgeous room with only glass walls between it and the breathtaking glories of the marina.
They ended the tour in the galley, so that they could wash the salad. By the time they’d eaten lunch with a civilised couple of glasses of red wine, sipped coffee and renewed their sun cream, any shops that might have shut for siesta would have opened again. They left Seadancer sunbathing at her mooring and wandered through the gardens to the road.
Elle was pleasantly surprised by what she found. ‘I didn’t realise there would be so many shops close to the marina.’
‘It’s a residential neighbourhood, which works out well for the yachties.’ Loz paused at a rack outside a shop to pick up a straw hat with daisies dancing around the brim. She popped it on Elle’s head and stood back to admire. ‘You’re such a pretty girl you’d probably look good with a paper bag on your head, but that really suits you.’
Elle made to put it back on the rack. ‘I don’t like hats.’
‘Better have one,’ advised Davie.
Loz nodded. ‘It’s not even hot, yet. Only about twenty-seven Celsius today. It could be forty in July and August and if you don’t protect yourself you’ll be scarlet, in agony and probably heaving over a bowl.’
‘OK,’ Elle sighed. The hat was cute enough, with a brim that turned up at the back, and she bought a pair of sunglasses with green mirror lenses to go with it.
When they arrived at a grocery store with a Wall’s ice cream sign outside, Elle enjoyed the mix of familiar and unfamiliar products and filled her basket with salad stuff, ham, cheese, bread, eggs, butter, milk, cereals and a few tins and packets.
‘Drinking water,’ said Davie, puffing as he hefted a pack of six big bottles. ‘Don’t drink from the boat’s tanks.’
‘Of course,’ said Elle, gratefully. ‘I’ll have to remember to keep my supplies up.’
Slowed by the stultifying heat, they wandered back to the marina, Elle and Loz each toting two shopping bags and Davie staggering in exaggerated exhaustion under his load of water.
Loz put in a sudden stop as they neared the Shady Lady. ‘Oh my,’ she breathed. ‘I think Keanu Reeves is on Simon’s boat.’
Lucas was lounging on the cockpit seat, facing the shore. He wore only a pair of black board shorts, his skin golden in the sunlight, feet bare, the ends of his glossy black hair blowing around his jawline as he concentrated on something he held in his hands.
‘Oh yes.’ Elle prickled with annoyance but swung her shopping bags with studied unconcern. ‘Simon’s nephew’s living on the boat, too.’ She said it loud enough for Lucas to hear.
Slowly, he looked up, and his inscrutable gaze locked on the trio as they approached.
Elle made formal introductions. ‘Loz and Davie StJohn, meet Lucas Rose. Lucas, these are Simon’s friends, Loz and Davie. Simon lined me up a job with them.’
Lucas smiled his easy, charming smile, which Elle hadn’t seen much since her arrival. ‘Simon’s mentioned you.’ He put down what looked like three gauges on a thick stick of liquorice, and with a stride and a jump arrived on the quay without having troubled the gangplank. He took the water from Davie, swinging it easily across to the platform. ‘Coming aboard?’
‘That would be lovely.’ Loz beamed, flushing coquettishly, thrusting her shopping bags at Davie while she shuffled towards the edge of the dock as if she didn’t know quite how to broach the gangplank. Obligingly, Lucas offered his hand, which made Loz’s cheeks even pinker as he steadied her over the eighteen inches of dead calm water that lay between boat and shore.
When four people and the shopping had been transferred successfully to the saloon, Lucas got hospitable with fruit juice and water from the fridge as Loz sought his views on the Shady Lady, the marina, the island, the Malta heat and how great it would be if Loz and Davie were still on the Seadancer when Simon came over from the States in the autumn. ‘Your uncle’s as mad as a box of frogs, but such fun. Do you know many people here? We’re having a little party on Friday — why don’t you come? Any nephew of Simon’s is a friend of ours.’
As they chatted, Elle carried the shopping bags down the galley steps. She’d been too busy and unsettled to do more than glance into the compact galley till now. It didn’t take her long to locate the fridge but she found it was jam-packed with bottles of beer and water.
She glanced over at Lucas. ‘Where does the food go?’ She gazed around in case another fridge might be tucked away. There was a cocktail cabinet in the saloon, but she knew it wasn’t chilled.
‘I eat ashore.’ He returned to answering Loz’s stream of questions.
Elle began removing bottles from the fridge and standing them in the little sink. The boat was rolling gently and she didn’t want bottles doing the same.
