It was the town’s third or fourth pier, which back in the less safety-conscious times of good Queen Vic had had a nasty habit of catching alight. The current incarnation was long, broad and meticulously fireproof, laden with the sort of seaside entertainment that kept tourists happy and townspeople solvent: a greasy spoon caf, penny arcade, kiddies’ Teacup ride belting out a tinny circus tune, and a naff old cabaret club, Tuxedo’s, that doubled as a bingo hall during the day. Right at the end was a glass pavilion, The Orangery Tearoom, which boasted the best sea view in Cragport. I shot it a smug look as I dawdled along. Once the lighthouse was open for business, they’d have to drop that tagline.
I was sauntering past the industrial 1970s-style cafe, smiling as I thought about the lighthouse, when I pulled up short and stared through the window. I gasped, blinking to reassure myself I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing.
It was Ross! Ross Mason, who not half an hour ago had assured me he was heading for home. Ross Mason, squirting ketchup lavishly over a plate of chips.
And he wasn’t eating alone. A petite woman with long strawberry-blonde hair was sitting with her back to me, tucking into some chips of her own. Ross was laughing at something she’d said, crinkling his handsome eyes. As I watched, the woman leaned over and rested her long, manicured fingernails on his forearm.
I swallowed hard, then darted into the amusements next door before they spotted me.
Inside, the flashing coloured lights and assorted buh-buh-bips of the one-armed bandit aisle greeted me. Schools hadn’t broken up yet and it wasn’t quite peak tourism season, so the place was nearly empty.
The proprietor eyed me suspiciously as I shuffled to one of the Coin Cascades. Rummaging in my jeans pocket, I located a few twopenny pieces and started feeding them mechanically into the slot.
With my free hand I pulled out my phone.
“Hm?” Jess said when she answered my call. It had been another late shift, or a late date with Gareth, I forgot which, and I’d clearly woken her up.
“Guess who I’ve just seen,” I hissed.
“Well it’d better be someone pretty A-list if you’re interrupting my beauty sleep.”
“It was Ross. Having chips at the caf on the pier.”
“Wow, living the dream. Very happy for him. Ring me back in two hours.”
“Wait, don’t hang up,” I said urgently. “There’s more. He wasn’t alone.”
“Sorry, can you speak up?” she said as one of my 2p pieces got lucky and the machine started paying out in a series of noisy chinks. “Where the hell are you?”
“Hiding out in the slotties.” I raised my voice. “I said, he wasn’t alone!”
“What?”
“WASN’T ALONE! ROSS!”
The stiff-necked proprietor was subjecting me to a properly filthy look now, the kind he reserved for customers who carried out loud phone conversations while winning all his tuppences, and I flashed him an apologetic smile.
“Look, I can’t talk here,” I muttered to Jess while I scooped up my winnings. “Come meet me in the playground, ok?”
“Oh, what, get dressed?” She groaned. “Can’t you come home?”
“Please, Jessie. The natural light’ll do you good. And you can bring Monts for his walk.”
***
The old playground perched halfway up the hill, overlooking the sea. A fat, muddy cloud had swallowed the sun and the water wasn’t sparkling any more. Instead it looked clotted and greasy, like my mood. I pushed my swing back and forth with my feet, eyes fixed glumly on Monty foraging for treasures in a nearby patch of shrubs.
“So it was probably just a mate,” Jess said for about the third time as she swung past me. “Or a client maybe. Graphic designers meet with clients, don’t they?”
“And buy them chips?”
“Yeah, when they’re hungry. If someone’s your bread and butter you have to keep them sweet.”
“Do clients touch your arm and giggle and stick their boobs out at you?”
She shrugged. “If they’re paying for the platinum service.”
“Don’t joke. It was a date, Jess. What else could it be?”
“Any number of things. Lass from school, maybe.”
I slowed my swing down and twisted to look at her. “No. This was a stranger.”
Jess stopped swinging too. “You only saw her from the back, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but I could tell it was no one we knew.”
She sighed. “Look, I want to be supportive sister and all that, Bobs, but… well, what’s it to you? He’s not your boyfriend.”
“It’s just he’s – I mean, since we started this, it’s felt like we’ve been –” I broke off. What the hell did I mean, exactly? “I can’t believe he’s still dating, that’s all,” I finished lamely.
“Why can’t you believe it?”
“Because he’s married, Jess! He told me he couldn’t even think about seeing people until his divorce came through.”
“Did he?”
I hesitated. Actually, thinking back, had he said that? Or had I told him that’s what he ought to do and then just assumed his agreement?
“I’m not sure. I thought he did. I thought…”
“What did you think?”
I flushed. “That he liked me, I guess. The flirting, the way we just seem to click. In the back of my mind I think I had an idea that eventually his divorce would come through and me and him and the lighthouse would live happily ever after. And now he’s off guzzling chips with another woman, on top of the wife he keeps back in Sheffield for emergencies.”
Jess stretched her arm around my shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “You don’t know it means anything.”
“It bloody well looked like it did.”
I stared absently at Monty, still scrabbling in the shrubs like his little doggy life depended on it. It made me smile in spite of myself, watching him cover himself in dirt with his tail wagging excitedly.
The playground Grandad had taken us to so often as kids was steeped in a sepia layer of nostalgia and neglect now, just like the lighthouse. A fancier modern affair with a zipwire on the other side of town was more of a draw for local children, but Jess and me still liked to come sometimes to swing and reminisce. Whenever one of us felt down, it was safe money that’s where we’d be.
I heaved a deep sigh. “The worst thing is, Ross lied to me about it. Why would he do that?”
“What did he actually say?”
“Said he was going home to work on a big project.” I scoffed. “Actually had me feeling sorry for him, offering to take on more of the lighthouse stuff so he could get some rest. Turns out he’s knackered from nights on a different sort of job.”
“I could be right though, couldn’t I?” Jess was like a dog with a bone when she got a fixed idea in her head. “If she’s a client it could’ve been a working date.”
“Pretty touchy-feely for a graphic design client.”
Jess shrugged. “He’s a good-looking lad. Not his fault if his lady clients want to feel him up.”
“Trust me, he wasn’t exactly fighting her off.”
She