Beth dipped her head so the hood shielded her face from his view. ‘He won’t be.’
There was something in the way she said it. So final. So cold. He couldn’t help himself, although he really didn’t want to have any interest in her life ‘Why not?’
Slosh … slosh. Silence.
‘Beth?’
Even the whale seemed to flinch at the sudden outburst of skinny arms to its right. ‘We’re not together any more, okay? I no longer answer to anyone.’
Her marriage was over? The King and Queen of Pyrmont High were no more? A nasty imp deep inside him badly wanted to smile. But there was nothing satisfying about the pain on her face.
‘I’m sorry, Beth.’
‘Don’t be,’ she mumbled from down the tail end of the whale. ‘I’m not.’
She moved like a car wash up and down the three metres of the whale’s body, sloshing as she went. The animal was relaxed and trusting enough now to let her do it without fussing. Her hand trailed along the marbled mercury of its skin as she went and every now and again it shuddered as though ticklish. He empathised completely. There was a time he would have given just about anything to have her hands touch him like that.
He slammed a door on that memory.
So she’d married McKinley young but now she was single again. And hot on the trail of her old pal Marc. A light bulb suddenly came on in his mind. ‘I hope you’re not expecting to pick up where we left off, Beth?’
She froze and looked up at him. ‘Excuse me?’
Ooh. He hadn’t forgotten that arctic look. The ice princess. There was a masochistic kind of pleasure in having it levelled on him again after so long. ‘Because as far as I’m concerned we were done that day behind the library.’
Even under the hood of her oversized sweatshirt he could see her nostrils flaring. About as wildly as the whale’s blowhole. ‘You think I’m here to come on to you?’
‘I’m still waiting to find out why you’re here. You came a long way for something. Go ahead and say what you wanted to say.’
Permission seemed to paralyse her. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly several times. Whatever she was going to say, it wasn’t easy.
Her hands stilled on the whale. ‘I hurt you back in school and I wanted you to know I’m very sorry,’ her soft voice began.
Every part of him stretched sling-shot taut. He cast her a sideways glance. ‘You didn’t hurt me.’
Her pretty face folded. ‘That can’t be true. I was there, I remember.’
‘What do you remember?’
She blew air out of full lips. ‘How you looked. How we left things.’
How badly he’d handled himself? He shrugged. ‘Like I said. Friendships end.’
‘Not usually like that. You kissed me, Marc.’
Right on cue, he got a flash of the wide-eyed awakening on her face. The coconut taste on his tongue as her mouth had parted with surprise. As he’d sunk into the heaven of her lips. He clenched his teeth against the bittersweet memory. Forced it back down deep where it belonged. His muscles clamped up again. He calmed himself for the whale’s sake. It was stressed enough for all of them.
‘That wasn’t a kiss, Beth. I was trying to make a point.’
Confusion marred her pale skin. ‘What point?’
A lip-searing, unforgettable point. A friendship ending point. ‘That you would have kissed anyone offering at that point.’ That you didn’t need McKinley for that.
She disguised her sharp intake of breath behind loudly dumping her whale-washer in the drink and then she bought herself some recovery time by wringing the life out of his old T-shirt. For one second he felt like a heel for hurting her. But he pushed that away too. Best course now—like back when he was a kid—was not to let himself feel anything at all for Beth Hughes. Time had passed. They’d both moved on. In a couple of hours she’d be gone.
‘It’s been ten years. It’s not like I’ve been sitting around obsessing about it.’ At least not for more than a few months. ‘What else is there to say?’
Slosh … slosh. Her eyes glittered as she measured what he’d said. ‘Other than “Good to see you, Beth”.’
Her tight words cracked and his stomach flipped fully over. He was still a sucker for those big brown eyes if they were awash. Either she was a master manipulator or this really was a big deal for her. But it was for him too, after years of not letting himself think about her. Good to see her?
‘We never lied to each other before.’
Her face grew pale beneath his hoodie and he turned his attention back to the whale, unable to stomach her expression.
They worked silently for another twenty minutes until Marc couldn’t stand the quiet. ‘If you want to take the Cruiser back to my place, that’s fine. I’ll get a lift back when reinforcements come.’
She lifted tired eyes. ‘No, thank you.’
No? ‘Why are you still here? You’ve said what you came for. You’re sorry for the hurt you imagine you caused. ‘ He made his shrug much more casual than he felt. ‘Doesn’t that mean we’re done?’
It should. If it was the real reason. He could see in her eyes it wasn’t.
They flicked away and back in a blink. ‘You haven’t accepted my apology yet.’
That stopped his hands and he slowed his bend to re-wet his towel. ‘Is that a requirement?’
Her eyes held his. ‘I’d like you to.’
Which meant the apology was more about her than him. Why does that surprise you? Just acknowledge the woman’s apology and get her the hell off this beach! Yet something in him couldn’t do it. ‘I don’t see you for ten years and then you turn up looking for absolution?’ Uncertainty filled her eyes. ‘Why would you expect it?’
‘Because … ‘ Her pale face scrunched up, confused. As if she hadn’t thought about that until now. ‘Because you’re Marc.’
He had to take two steps back from the whale for that one. In case it felt his surging anger through his touch. ‘That might have been our dynamic as kids, Beth, but a lot has changed in the years you’ve been gone. I’m not a gutless boy any more.’
She seemed shocked. ‘You were never gutless, Marc. You always went straight for what you wanted.’
Not always. He struggled to get his temper under control, his hands back on the whale. ‘Bully for me.’
‘You don’t believe me?’
‘I don’t believe that’s why you thought I’d fall for your apology.’
Her colour started to rise. ‘I just want to know that you forgive me for what I did.’
And here we go … ‘Ah, now we’re getting to it. So, in addition to accepting your apology, you want forgiveness? What is this, some kind of twelve-step programme?’ He’d studied up on those back when he was researching his mother’s condition. Back when he still gave a damn. ‘Make good for all the people you’ve burned in life?’
It was Beth’s turn to sway away from the whale. He crashed onwards, too worked up to give much care for her enormous eyes. ‘Where did I fall on the list, Beth? How did I fare against your other screw-ups in life? I hope I was at least in the top half.’
Her eyes blazed and it was beautiful and awful at the same time. Now