Page 9 of Awake in Cheshire Bay
“Just Amber. No ma’am needed.”
“My captain call. The plane is adjusted.”
I scanned the area, before settling back on my handsome dinner date. “What does that even mean?”
He drummed his long fingers on the table and narrowed his eyes in deep concentration. “How do you say… The plane off the belly.”
“Ah, the landing gear is down now?”
“Ja.” He nodded and ran his hand through his thick hair, pushing it off his forehead and exposing a hint of a widow’s peak.
“And it’ll be ready to fly?”
“No.” He took a casual sip of wine and stretched out in his chair. “New plane arrive tomorrow. I have morning meeting in Seattle.”
A new plane was arriving to pick him up? Who was this guy? And what kind of a meeting did he have warranting an immediate departure by morning? I couldn’t imagine much, but thinking of real estate development, maybe he was buying land? I had no idea. As long as it wasn’t here.
Cheshire Bay was a small town with no chains or franchises, and every place was locally owned. It added to charm and ambiance of the sea-side village. The nationally known places were in Stewart Surf, or more so in Spirit Bay. My beautiful town had been untouched by corporate greed, although sometimes an influx of cash wouldn’t hurt to help update the buildings. However, that’s what summer was for, and tourists were always welcome.
“You’ll have to make sure to have a good time here then, tell your friends to come and visit in the summer.” I pressed the wine glass to my lips, chastising myself for always being an ambassador to our village. It was crazy how much I loved it here, despite the gossip mill, and small town mentally.
He ran a long finger along the edge of his wine glass while locking his gaze onto me. “Tell me, what is fun times here?”
“There is so much. Lots of trails, nice easy walks. Lighthouses to see, two working, one not. There’s the wharf where the boats dock for the night or the week, and some really big ones like yachts. There are plenty of excursions and many activities to fill your time. Or you can hang out on one of the local beaches and watch the sun set.”
Corked or not, the wine was hitting me as I was rambling. It was possible I may have misjudged the contents by its bottle. My glass went down fairly fast, even though I was trying to nurse it. Antonio’s did as well and by time our food came around, we’d already finished a bottle, and I was spewing all sorts of little-known facts about Cheshire Bay. It should’ve been embarrassing, but Antonio seemed to be taking it all in.
He tapped the wine as the waiter walked by. “Another, please.”
As the conversation flowed freely, my mystery guest inquired what the weather was like. Yes, we were a coastal village with heat and sunshine and ocean breezes in the summer, and more rain than snow in the winter, but there was a beauty in it all, to the point where I couldn’t imagine living in a metropolis on the mainland.
Try as I may though, Mr. Welsh was tight-lipped about the weather where he was from, so I was unsuccessful in getting any personal information out of him and he was exceptionally good at dodging the questions. Too good. What’s up with that?
My intuition tickled with the possibility of my handsome dinner date, who worked in development, was only taking an interest in me and my ambassador mouth to buy up land in the area. Good thing outside of town was provincial land. However, it didn’t stop him from flashing cash at the locals. Damn. I needed shut my mouth.
Chapter Four
Our dinner ended, and the waiter appeared with the bill and a point-of-sale machine. Antonio produced an unfamiliar credit card complete with a merchant name I’d never seen before, and I’ve seen a variety of different cards. Even the waiter looked at it with curiosity.
“Here,” I said, pulling mine out from my wallet.
“No, Ember. My thank you for lovely dinner and lovely talk.”
I waved my card, not taking no for an answer, even if the mispronunciation of my name was cute in his accent. The meal was expensive, and I wasn’t about to be trapped in an uncomfortable situation.
“Honestly, it’s no big deal.” And it wasn’t since I didn’t go out much, and I could afford to splurge on a meal. It had been an enjoyable one, after all. Even as he struggled to speak in full sentences, I could’ve listened to him talk all night long.
Antonio handed the waiter the card. “Please.”
There was a strength in his voice that made me not want to challenge it further.
The server didn’t even glance once in my direction and quickly swiped the card through, the beeping sounds echoing off the rocks behind the tables. He passed the machine to Antonio and asked the question that always made me cringe. “What are you two up to this evening? Going to take in one of the lighthouses?”
Thanks to a website I’d read on smart comebacks to that question, I had one ready in my pocket. “If anyone asks, we were here all night.”
The server froze and stared at me. “What?”
“You can cover for me, right?” I leaned my forearms on the table, and tilted my head while I quickly, playfully, darted my gaze around.