talked about anything else.’
He turned to look at Kate as he continued.
‘The way Jo told it, you were smart and funny and talented as well as generous and friendly and loyal and an all-round wonderful person.’
He paused to take a sip of his wine and Kate wondered whether it was possible to die from a surfeit of praise. Josh was laying it on with a shovel. But, bizarrely, it didn’t feel as though he were making it up. When he looked at her and said these amazing things, it felt intimate and real, weird and wonderful, all at the same time. If it was an act, it was a damn good one. Kate felt dizzy.
‘About the only thing she could find to criticise was your lack of drawing talent.’ Jo sniggered and Clare joined in. The sniggers didn’t bother Kate, since she would have been the first to admit that her art skills were on a par with the average three-year-old. An uncoordinated three-year-old. They did, however, seem to remind Josh that he was supposed to be telling this story to Clare. He turned away from Kate to address her friend again.
‘But there was one thing that Jo didn’t tell me.’ Josh paused again. Kate got the distinct impression that he was doing it for effect and that he was enjoying himself.
‘She neglected to tell me that Kate was stunning.’ The butter knife that Kate had been fiddling with dropped from her fingers. Fortunately, since its fall coincided with Jo choking on her wine, it went largely unnoticed. With her peripheral vision, Kate thought she saw Crystal’s eyes narrow even further, but she couldn’t bring herself to look straight at her to be sure. Josh politely waited until his sister recovered, then went on, apparently oblivious to the inner turmoil being experienced in the seat next to him.
‘I didn’t stand a chance. I already knew I would like Kate. From what Jo had told me, she sounded fun and I was grateful to her for looking after my sister and making her happy again. But when she walked into our house, with her creamy skin and honey-coloured hair and devastating smile, she walked out with my heart.’
Clare, who was a hopeless romantic, and laden with pregnancy hormones to boot, had tears in her eyes. But it was all too much for Jo.
‘But you never told me you fancied Kate!’ she exclaimed.
‘Really, Jo?’ Crystal enquired, frighteningly mildly.
‘I meant, he didn’t tell me that he fancied her then,’ she recovered smoothly.
‘Of course I didn’t,’ Josh said, backing her up. ‘I was eighteen. I had my reputation to consider. I was hardly going to tell my fifteen-year-old sister that I had the hots for her best friend. You would have laughed at me! And mum would have
killed
me. You know what she’s like,’ he said, appealing to Jo. ‘She doesn’t think fifteen-year-olds should go out with anyone, much less eighteen-year-old layabouts with too much time on their hands.’
Jo nodded and Kate thought that that much, at least, was true enough. Jo’s mum would
not
have been impressed and she was not a woman to be trifled with. The layabouts crack sounded like a quote. But Josh didn’t give Jo a chance to say anything.
‘Besides, I wasn’t even on Kate’s radar,’ he went on. ‘I was just the geeky soccer-nut brother who was always hanging around. I’m sure she thought it was because I didn’t have anything better to do. She was always polite, but beyond please and thank you, I could barely get her to say two words to me.’
It was all Kate could do not to stare at him. It was true that she’d barely spoken to him in those days, but it wasn’t because she didn’t like him. It was because she’d had such a big crush on him she couldn’t make her vocal cords work in his presence. She’d always assumed he’d known that and the mortification of him knowing made the problem worse. But perhaps he really hadn’t known. She didn’t know whether to be pleased she hadn’t embarrassed herself as much as she’d thought, or sad about lost
He turned to look at Kate as he continued.
‘The way Jo told it, you were smart and funny and talented as well as generous and friendly and loyal and an all-round wonderful person.’
He paused to take a sip of his wine and Kate wondered whether it was possible to die from a surfeit of praise. Josh was laying it on with a shovel. But, bizarrely, it didn’t feel as though he were making it up. When he looked at her and said these amazing things, it felt intimate and real, weird and wonderful, all at the same time. If it was an act, it was a damn good one. Kate felt dizzy.
‘About the only thing she could find to criticise was your lack of drawing talent.’ Jo sniggered and Clare joined in. The sniggers didn’t bother Kate, since she would have been the first to admit that her art skills were on a par with the average three-year-old. An uncoordinated three-year-old. They did, however, seem to remind Josh that he was supposed to be telling this story to Clare. He turned away from Kate to address her friend again.
‘But there was one thing that Jo didn’t tell me.’ Josh paused again. Kate got the distinct impression that he was doing it for effect and that he was enjoying himself.
‘She neglected to tell me that Kate was stunning.’ The butter knife that Kate had been fiddling with dropped from her fingers. Fortunately, since its fall coincided with Jo choking on her wine, it went largely unnoticed. With her peripheral vision, Kate thought she saw Crystal’s eyes narrow even further, but she couldn’t bring herself to look straight at her to be sure. Josh politely waited until his sister recovered, then went on, apparently oblivious to the inner turmoil being experienced in the seat next to him.
‘I didn’t stand a chance. I already knew I would like Kate. From what Jo had told me, she sounded fun and I was grateful to her for looking after my sister and making her happy again. But when she walked into our house, with her creamy skin and honey-coloured hair and devastating smile, she walked out with my heart.’
Clare, who was a hopeless romantic, and laden with pregnancy hormones to boot, had tears in her eyes. But it was all too much for Jo.
‘But you never told me you fancied Kate!’ she exclaimed.
‘Really, Jo?’ Crystal enquired, frighteningly mildly.
‘I meant, he didn’t tell me that he fancied her then,’ she recovered smoothly.
‘Of course I didn’t,’ Josh said, backing her up. ‘I was eighteen. I had my reputation to consider. I was hardly going to tell my fifteen-year-old sister that I had the hots for her best friend. You would have laughed at me! And mum would have
killed
me. You know what she’s like,’ he said, appealing to Jo. ‘She doesn’t think fifteen-year-olds should go out with anyone, much less eighteen-year-old layabouts with too much time on their hands.’
Jo nodded and Kate thought that that much, at least, was true enough. Jo’s mum would
not
have been impressed and she was not a woman to be trifled with. The layabouts crack sounded like a quote. But Josh didn’t give Jo a chance to say anything.
‘Besides, I wasn’t even on Kate’s radar,’ he went on. ‘I was just the geeky soccer-nut brother who was always hanging around. I’m sure she thought it was because I didn’t have anything better to do. She was always polite, but beyond please and thank you, I could barely get her to say two words to me.’
It was all Kate could do not to stare at him. It was true that she’d barely spoken to him in those days, but it wasn’t because she didn’t like him. It was because she’d had such a big crush on him she couldn’t make her vocal cords work in his presence. She’d always assumed he’d known that and the mortification of him knowing made the problem worse. But perhaps he really hadn’t known. She didn’t know whether to be pleased she hadn’t embarrassed herself as much as she’d thought, or sad about lost
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