The Mermaid Garden(132)
When her phone rang, she looked at the name on the screen and pulled a face.
Rafa raised his eyebrows. “Joe?” he asked. Clementine nodded. She wished he’d mind, but he simply smiled at her. “Aren’t you going to answer it?”
Reluctantly, she put it to her ear. “Hi, Joe.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at a pub with a friend.”
“The Argentine and his dog,” Joe stated flatly. Clementine was taken by surprise. She hadn’t expected him to know. “I came by your office, but you had already left. Look, Clemmie, we need to talk.”
“You’re right, we do.” She watched Rafa stroke Biscuit, but she knew he was listening.
“When are you coming back?”
“Soon.”
“We’ll talk then.”
“Okay.” She hung up. “Sylvia told him I went off with you. He’s not over the moon about it.”
Rafa sat up and looked at her, his brown eyes full of understanding. She remembered the first time he had gazed into her eyes like that, in the church when she had told him she believed Marina had stolen her father, and he had been as irresistible then as he was now. “You should move back in with your parents.”
“I know.”
“You don’t love him.”
“That obvious, eh?”
“I’m afraid you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that you used him just to get at your stepmother—and perhaps to get at me, too.”
She blushed but brushed aside his analysis. “I’ve only just moved in.”
“That’s irrelevant. You cannot stay in a relationship if your heart isn’t in it.”
“I’m very proud.”
“Pride only hurts the proud. Let it go. Everyone makes mistakes; there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s life. But if you hold on to unhappy situations just because you’re too proud to relinquish them, then you’re the fool.” He took her hand in his. “Don’t be the fool, Clementine. You’re way too clever for that.”
She felt her blush deepen. Nothing else existed but his hand and the feel of his skin touching hers. She tried to act as if it meant nothing, but she was sure her heart was jumping through her T-shirt like a cricket trying to find its way out. He was looking at her so intensely she could barely hold her ground, but she was determined not to look away. “You’re a very special girl,” he said softly. “The trouble is, you don’t see yourself that way. You have to start looking at yourself through my eyes.”
“What do you see?”
“I see a very beautiful smile. I see blushing cheeks and pretty blue eyes, but I see beyond all that to the person you are inside, and I like that person very much.”
Clementine shuffled on the bench. “I don’t know what to say.”
He shrugged. “Then don’t say anything at all. I’m simply stating things the way they are.”
“Do you say these things to everyone?”
“Only if I mean it.”
“But do you see blushing cheeks and pretty eyes in everyone? Or … or …” She hesitated. “Or is it just me?” She laughed to hide her embarrassment.
“It’s just you, Clementine,” he said seriously, and his gaze felt like a caress as it swept across her face.
They drove back into town with Biscuit at Clementine’s feet. The air was highly charged now that they had both gone some way towards declaring themselves. And yet they hadn’t, quite. Clementine wished Rafa would just stop the car and kiss her, then it would clear the air like a thunderstorm after days of heavy humidity. But he pulled up outside Joe’s house and got out to open her door. She stepped onto the pavement.
“Would you like me to wait for you?” he offered.
She wanted to run upstairs, grab her bags, and drive off into the sunset with him. “No, I’ll be fine, thank you,” she said instead. “I don’t know how long this is going to take.”
“Do you want me to warn Marina?”
“No, don’t say anything. I’ll say it myself when I see her.”
“She’ll be very pleased, you know. I think she’s missed you.”
Clementine sighed heavily. “To tell you the truth I’ve missed them all, too. I knew from the beginning that I was making a mistake. I feel bad for Joe.”
“Text me if you need support.”
“After your heroics in the sea, I have no doubt that you would come to my rescue if I needed you.”
“You know I would.” He watched her unlock the front door.
“Here goes,” she mouthed, before disappearing inside and closing it behind her.