Ruby gasped and waved an excited hand. ‘Yes! That’s who he reminds me of! You’re absolutely right! Do you know I’ve been trying to figure it out for ages!’
Caitlin glanced at her other friend. ‘Again… he’s not green?’
Ruby blurted, ‘Mark Ruffalo, that’s his name! The actor who plays the Hulk. Such a nice guy. I met him and his wife, Sunrise, at the Golden Globes. She’s so sweet and he’s quite ruggedly handsome, in that just-got-out-of-bed way, don’t you think?’
Jules nodded dreamily. ‘Oh yes, and his eyes…’
Caitlin glanced with incredulity between her two closest friends. ‘I think I’ve slipped into a parallel universe.’
Ruby smiled and nodded at Jules. ‘Yes, such kind eyes…’
Catlin snorted. ‘Oh yes, lovely eyes for a mutated humanoid who tears off his clothes and breaks stuff when he’s pissed off.’
Jules whacked her arm and laughed. ‘Mark Ruffalo, you muppet!’
Caitlin scrunched her brow. ‘I know the name, but all I can think of now is a shirtless, green man with a thickset brow and fluffy green hair, wearing ragged shorts, like that man from the seventies TV show. You know? The one with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.’ A memory returned and she smiled. ‘My dad used to love that show. I used to watch reruns of it with him.’ She shook her head. ‘You do realise, it’s unlikely I’ll ever look at Archie the same again, don’t you?’
Ruby picked up her phone. ‘You’ve got the wrong bloke. We don’t mean the guy from the seventies.’ She tapped at the screen. ‘Look, here, this guy.’ She thrust the phone in front of Caitlin’s confused gaze.
Caitlin pursed her lips and took the phone to get a closer look. She recognised the man on the screen from an early 2000s film she had watched recently with Grace called13 Going on 30. ‘I suppose he is good-looking, yes.’ She played down her response, remembering thinking how gorgeous he was when they had watched the movie.
Ruby rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, but don’t you think he looks like Archie?’
Caitlin tilted her head and narrowed her eyes as she scrutinised the image. They were right, the two men could’ve been brothers. ‘Actually… I think I can see what you mean. He does have a look of him, doesn’t he?’ She shrugged and handed Ruby’s phone back. ‘Makes no difference though because I’m not interested in Archie. I’ve known him for years and there’s never been a spark there. And I’m not being funny, but just because he’s pretty much the only single man in Glentorrin, apart from Dex and lovely old Hamish Gair, doesn’t mean I’m going to fall for him. And that’s even if he was in the slightest bit interested in me. Which he’s not. He’s spent all these years presuming I like women, for goodness’ sake.’ She laughed.
‘How does that saying go? There’s plenty more fish in the sea?’ Jules said with an encouraging smile.
Caitlin was suddenly reminded of the misunderstanding with Archie about fishing and worms and couldn’t help snickering.
‘What’s so funny?’ Ruby asked with an intrigued grin.
Caitlin shook her head. ‘Oh, nothing. Just remembering something that Archie said last night.’
Ruby and Jules exchanged a strange look and Caitlin shook her head.
‘Oh, seriously, you two, just stop!’
* * *
Around four that afternoon, Caitlin pulled up outside Grace’s friend’s house. She’d made a special effort to look nice, just in case there was the slightest chance that Lyle might be interested in asking her out.
She knocked on the door and it was tugged open.
‘Oh, hi, Caitlin, come on in. The girls are just getting ready.’
Caitlin stepped through the door into the modern family kitchen, which was in juxtaposition to the very traditional exterior of the old cottage. It wasn’t necessarily a design she would have chosen, with its sleek, shiny black surfaces and stainless-steel appliances, but it was spotlessly clean and that impressed her.
‘Can I get you a cup of tea or coffee?’ Lyle asked with a warm smile.
‘Tea would be lovely, but only if you’re making one. I don’t want to impose.’
‘I’m always up for a cuppa. It’s no imposition, really.’ He clicked on the kettle. ‘Have a seat.’ He gestured to the breakfast bar. ‘So, how did last night go? Any dream men in attendance?’
Caitlin felt her cheeks heating and tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘Sadly no. It was a bit of a damp squib of an evening.’
He widened his eyes. ‘Really? That does surprise me. I felt sure you’d be full of the joys today after meeting some buff Sam Heughan lookalike.’
She laughed lightly at his reference to the extremely attractiveOutlanderactor. ‘Oh, I wish. No, it turns out that singles nights may not be for me after all.’
