He frowned. ‘Yeah, did your nan not tell you?’
‘No, I’m afraid I don’t know anything about you other than you’ve lived with my nan for the last six months and that you’re “a nice boy”.’
Luke smiled. ‘Is that what she said?’
‘Yeah, she’s very fond of you.’
Nicewas a word a lot of women had said about him but never in favourable terms.Too nicewas the most common description as if it was something bad. Although he didn’t mind Audrey describing him in that way.
‘Where are you going?’ Flick asked.
‘I’m moving to the Isle of Skye.’
‘Oh that’s a beautiful place, I’ve hiked around there, it’s so pretty. They have a gorgeous little harbour village called Portree.’
‘That’s where I’m moving to, I have a house right on the water’s edge. It has a massive studio out the back to do my work. It’s a beautiful old house and I’m looking forward to doing it up, making it my own. And Skye is one of my favourite places. I’m going to get myself a dog and hike all over the island every day. It will be peaceful and remote and honestly I’m so excited.’
‘What made you want to move all the way up there? It sounds like you’re swapping one beachside house with a studio for another.’
He chewed his lip as he thought about how toanswer that question. In truth, since everyone in the town had found out who he was, life in Lovegrove Bay had become untenable. He wanted to walk the streets without people giving him funny looks or striking up a conversation with him purely because of what he could do for them. He’d always considered himself to be a kind and generous man but that generosity was starting to wear a little thin. But he couldn’t tell Flick any of that, not yet anyway.
‘There are… things that have happened recently that I’d like to get away from,’ Luke said, cringing at how ambiguous and mysterious that sounded. She was bound to want to know more.
‘Women,’ Flick said, knowingly.
‘Well, that’s part of it,’ Luke said, truthfully. There were lots of women around the town who he’d like to avoid lately. Some of them had made it their mission to get him to date them, making him retreat into his shell even more.
‘Relationships are hard,’ Flick said. ‘And when they come to an end, sometimes it’s only natural to run far away from them. I get that.’
He frowned. She thought he was running away from an ex. Oh well, that was easier than explaining the truth. ‘I’m looking forward to making a fresh start,’ he said, honestly.
‘Funny, I was just thinking the same about coming here. I’m not sure there’s anything for me in London anymore. And I love it here, it’s one of my favourite places. And not to be rude or opportunistic but with yougone, maybe I could move in with my nan for a few months while I save up enough money to get my own place.’
‘That doesn’t sound rude at all,’ Luke teased.
‘It was a little. And so is my next question. When do you leave?’
He laughed. ‘Three weeks. Well maybe four. I exchanged contracts yesterday actually and the official date I get the keys is just over a week from now. Although I’m having some work done on it before I move in, so it’ll probably be four weeks until I actually go. Is that soon enough for you?’
She laughed. ‘It’s a shame actually. You know when you meet someone and you just know you’re going to be very good friends? I get that feeling about you. There’s not many people who would have reenacted the famous scene fromTitanicwith me. I think we could have been good together. We’d have had fun. Still, we can make the most of the time we have left.’
He looked at her because he got that feeling too, there was something about her he knew he could really connect with. If only he’d been staying long enough to find out.
‘So what is it you do?’ Flick asked.
He thought about whether to bypass the earlier part of his working life. He really didn’t want her to know who he was, at least not yet, but he didn’t want to lie to her either. ‘Well, I used to make music for adverts or products, a ten or twenty-second music clip that would become synonymous with that brand. It wasn’tsomething I particularly enjoyed, I fell into it somehow but it turned out I was quite good at making a catchy little ditty. But I’ve, erm… made some good decisions in my life which have meant I can concentrate on doing what I love, which is wood carving and sculpting.’
‘Oh you’re the wood carver, that’s cool. Nan showed me some of the pieces that have gone on sale lately, you have an incredible talent.’
He smiled. ‘Thank you. And what is it you do? Audrey said you’re quite crafty yourself. Will you be opening up your own studio space?’
‘Oh no, it’s just fun stuff, it’s not real art.’
‘What is it?’
She looked embarrassed and he felt a bit bad for pushing her.
‘Well, they’re not in the same league as your work. You’re an artist and I… I love what I do but it’s not art. I make wish jars. I use real dandelions which I pick with the fluffy heads. The stems are hollow so I use craft wire up each one to keep it upright and then I stick it in a jar with some fairy lights and little handmade toadstools, leaves, berries, moss, so it looks like a little piece of an enchanted woodland inside the jar.’
