Firestarter (17 page)

'No, but I'll bow to your superior knowledge in the matter.'

'Very wise; I know a lot of uses for chocolate.'

'Sounds promising.' His face was doing that trying and failing to look innocent expression she liked so much.

'It's too cold to melt out here.' Oh rats, she'd just admitted she knew what was on his decidedly naughty mind.

They found a suitable rock to sit on and Hamish produced both the flask of drinking chocolate and a bar to eat. So far she calculated he was way ahead of her on points.

'So is this really a good spot to see your choughs, or shall we go somewhere else?'

'There's a reasonable chance of finding them here and as we're here already and there's plenty more to see, we might as well carry on. If your feet are up for it we can go down to the beach the other side of this hill then loop round inland back to the car.'

'OK, let's do that.' Her feet might not thank her, but if she didn't burn off the calories she was going to eat this week then they'd soon have more to complain about.

They continued along the coastal path, which got steeper the closer they got to sea level. The last bit was such a scramble she was glad they weren't going back the same way. Hamish went ahead, stopping frequently to check she was OK.

'I'm fine as long as I go slowly,' she told him.

'There's no rush at all.'

They stopped several times to look at different birds. In addition to those they'd seen already they spotted kittiwake, cormorants, Manx shearwater, razorbills and oyster catchers. Alice enjoyed looking at them, but didn't pay much attention to memorising distinguishing features. Staying upright and not twisting her ankle were taking priority in the concentration area of her brain. When they reached the beach, more oyster catchers raced about on the shore and 'chatted' to each other exactly as the ones at the sanctuary had done.

'Do you think they came to see me?' Alice asked.

'Nope. They have just one thing on their mind.' He indicated a pair of mating gulls. 'Disgraceful, isn't it? Who'd spend all their time eating fish and having sex?'

'No idea.' Alice grinned. 'By the way, how about tuna pasta for dinner tonight?'

'You're a bad, bad girl and I like you very much.'

She felt the same way about him. Maybe it was time to tell him so.

Chapter 17

The path away from the beach was, of course, up-hill again; a fact Alice had tried not to think about on the way down. It wasn't that steep, but it was long. She made good use of the binoculars as a chance to get her breath back during the climb. Twice she saw birds she thought could be choughs, but were proved to be more carrion crows when Hamish looked. Once he was sure he saw a pair of them, but by the time she'd focussed on the area they were gone and he couldn't find them again.

Alice had been a bit worried she'd get bored birdwatching, but she was enjoying herself far more than she'd imagined. She wouldn't want to move up here permanently, but it was a nice feeling that her phone was off for the next few days, that she didn't have to go anywhere or do anything other than follow Hamish and look at the view.

'Sorry, it's further than I remembered,' Hamish said during the long walk back across the heathland.

'That's OK, as long as the 'no rush at all' thing still applies?'

'It does,' he assured her. 'More chocolate?'

'Best idea you've had since your last good idea.'

'Which also involved chocolate, if I recall correctly.'

'Quite a lot of good ideas do,' Alice pointed out.

'But not all?'

'Oh no, definitely not all.' Some involved lovely fluffy quilts and a certain fireman out of uniform.

This time their seat was a tree stump. As Hamish poured their drinks and fished in the bag for the remains of the chocolate bar, Alice did a sweep with the binoculars. More crows swooped a little way off. The way they twisted and turned, sometimes seeming to perform loop the loops, made it appear they were showing off their acrobatic skills just for her benefit. With feathers splayed out like fingers on the tips of their wings it was easy to imagine they were waving a casual acknowledgement of her appreciation. They were smart looking birds. Not as elegant as the oyster catchers, but the classic black plumage made a statement and was set off to perfection by the red of their beaks. Red!

'Hamish,' she hardly dared to whisper in case the birds heard her and soared away from view. She slowly moved the binoculars away from her eyeline towards his and gestured, with a tiny movement, in the direction of the birds.

'Where? Oh, I've got them.'

'Are they...?'

'Yes. Yes, definitely choughs.'

Watching his face was even better than watching the birds chase each other through the air in synchronised twists and arcs. She did look at them too though, without the aid of binoculars, as she drank her chocolate. Hamish would probably want to talk about the sighting; she knew she would in his position. Plus she needed to check there were enough to keep her in massages for the rest of the trip. There were, and one left over for after they got home.

'Here.' Hamish gave her the binoculars.

When she looked again she tried hard to fix their exact shape in her mind, so she'd be quicker to recognise them if she saw any more. She handed the binoculars back as soon as he'd gulped down his drink, which must have been completely cold by then.

Hamish was able to study the birds for a few more minutes before they flew away.

'Seals and choughs in one day, we're doing well,' Alice said.

'You're good at finding things.'

It wasn't as though she could have missed the seals and she almost didn't realise it was choughs she was looking at, but she accepted the compliment. 'You'll have to take me on all your trips then, so you don't miss anything.'

'Starting to look that way. You know, I was a bit worried you'd get bored.'

'How could I when there's so much here to keep me entertained?' She snuggled close to him and kissed his cheek.

He gave her a proper kiss in return, then they continued the journey. By the time they got back to the car, the chocolate supplies were long gone, Alice's feet and legs were aching and the light was fading. She didn't creak as she got out again but felt as though she did.

'You OK?' he asked.

'Nothing a warm bath and soothing massage won't fix.' Some more hot sex wouldn't go amiss either. She might not be used to so much fresh air and spending hours on her feet, but she wasn't as tired as all that.

'If you don't mind macaroni cheese, you could soak in the bath while I get started on that. I'll come and scrub your back once it's in the oven.'

'Macaroni cheese has never sounded so appealing.'

He was as good as his word. Just as the novelty of lying in the big bath on her own was starting to ease off, he got in with her. She got her massage too, even if he spent less time on her shoulders, feet and aching calves than on the area between.

After they'd eaten and made love in front of the fire again, they cuddled up on the sofa for a while. As she'd guessed he talked about spotting the choughs, telling her that although he'd caught glimpses of them before, or seen them from a much greater distance, that day had been the first chance he'd had to really watch them.

'I'm glad I was there to share it with you,' Alice said.

'Me too. Is there anything else you'd like to do while you're here? There are enough walks and things to keep us busy, but if you fancy a change we could visit St David's or something. Are you interested in history?'

'A bit, I suppose.' Looking round a big house or castle might be fun, but she didn't want to spend all day in a museum unless it rained and there wasn't anything else to do.

'There are probably shops around somewhere.'

'Are you interested in shopping?'

'Not especially,' he admitted.

Alice was pleased. If they were honest with each other from the start, they'd be happier in the end, wouldn't they? 'We'll give that a miss then. If I get a shopping urge, I usually go with Kate.'

'Ah, good. I'm sure she's much more help than I'd be.'

'She chose the red dress I wore when we went to Tangs with your watch.' Oh, Red Watch. That colour was becoming a bit of a theme.

'Then she has excellent taste. Was the orange jumper her idea too?'

'What do you think?'

'I'm guessing not.'

'Even though that too is very tasteful, stylish and sophisticated?'

'Even though.'

'As it happens you're right.'

They didn't talk for a while, which was nice. Life didn't need to be all about making plans and bettering yourself, did it? Sometimes it was nice to just enjoy the moment.

'Hamish, there is something I'd like to do this trip.'

'Hmmm?'

'Would you carry me upstairs?' All three of them, but in her mind they'd be a tall ladder and the fire he'd be taking her away from wouldn't be safely retained in a grate.

'Are you really that tired?'

'It's not that.' She told him about her fantasy of being lifted over the shoulder of a handsome fireman and carried away from a fire, making it clear he more than qualified.

'I offered to do that at the New Forest Show. You needn't have put up with all the mud and birdwatching.'

'I was with Tony then. It's not right to carry out a fantasy, however innocently, with one man whilst dating another.'

'True.' He nodded as though acknowledging she had behaved properly. '...and the mud and birds?'

'I enjoy it, honestly. I wouldn't have thought I would except as a novelty, but I really do.'

'Good, because I thought it'd be nice to go out at dawn and listen to them singing, then walk out to St David's Head to look for choughs silhouetted against the sunrise.'

'In that case you'd better carry me up those stairs right now and give me something to help me sleep.'

He did.

The rest of the week was just as blissful. Well, perhaps getting up before dawn wasn't blissful in itself, but it was romantic watching the sunrise with Hamish and it was a lovely feeling to know she'd still be by his side at sunset. On the days at the end of the week when it rained they bought and wrote postcards. Alice also taught Hamish to bake scones and coconut cookies and he quizzed her on her bird identification.

Because the phone signal had been as bad as Hamish had warned her it would be, Alice had switched her mobile off and hadn't bothered charging it until their last night. She'd told everyone she'd be out of reach anyway, so didn't expect there to be many missed calls. There weren't, but most of the ones she did have were from Tony. There were also two texts asking her to call him.

Hamish dropped Alice off at her parents' home to collect her mum's car as arranged before she went to Wales. Alice's parents were pleased to see her, but had plans to go out so she didn't stay long. When she got home she found two notes from Tony pushed under her door. She ripped them up, wondering who he'd got to buzz him into the building while she was away. It wasn't unease over that which meant she felt lonely for probably the first time in her life. She missed Hamish already. Fortunately her loneliness didn't last long as Kate was keen to come round and hear all the details of the trip to Wales.

Alice described the way he'd surprised her with the seals and how cute they were.

'That's sweet. Go on.'

Alice explained about the scenery and the miles they'd walked and how she was sure her thighs were slimmer.

'Bonus. Go on.'

Alice told her about the gannets, choughs and oyster catchers.

Kate interrupted before she'd mentioned a quarter of the species they'd seen. 'Fascinating. Go on.'

Alice tried to tell her about the lovely cottage.

'Alice! You know these aren't the details I want.'

She did know of course, and wasn't deliberately keeping anything from Kate. They'd always told each other pretty much everything, but come to think about it, although there was no doubting that Pete made Kate very happy, she only spoke about him in vague terms. 'Well they're all the ones you're going to get. You've got Pete, you can fill in the blanks.'

'Like that, is it?'

'Like what?'

'You're in lurve.'

Alice couldn't deny it.

'Alice? Is this it? The real thing?'

'Yes. Yes, I think it is.'

Back at work, as they made coffee, her colleagues asked Alice if she'd had a nice break. She'd barely begun giving them the details she'd shared with Kate when the phone rang. No one moved to answer it. It wasn't so surprising they'd rather catch up on her gossip than get to work dead on nine in the morning, but there seemed more to their reluctance than that.

'What's up with you lot?' Alice demanded.

They looked decidedly uncomfortable. Emma and Lucy looked at Kath as though willing her to answer.

'Oh no, the hoaxes haven't stopped?' Alice said.

'No they haven't.' Kath picked up the phone. 'Tatisuz, good morning. How can I help...? Hold on.' Those last two words were said with none of the cheery professionalism with which she'd answered the call. Kath pressed the mute button. 'It's Tony. I'm guessing you don't want to talk to him?'

Alice shook her head.

'She doesn't want to talk to you, so please stop calling here and stop calling the fire brigade!' She banged the phone down.

Kath explained that there had been two more hoax calls since the paramedic had come expecting to find Alice trapped under fallen shelving in the warehouse. 'Tony kept calling too. We told him you were away for the week just to stop him.'

'Did it?'

'Yes and there haven't been any hoaxes since.'

Miles came out into the main office. 'Nice to see you back, Alice. Pop in for a chat will you, when you're ready.'

'I'll come now.'

Miles was very sweet, asking if she felt better after her ordeal and if she'd enjoyed her holiday. She answered yes to both.

'I'm sorry to have to tell you there have been a couple more hoax calls.'

'Yes, Kath said.'

'I want to assure you that I don't blame you in any way, but it does seem that this might all be more to do with you than with the company.'

She nodded.

'If there's anything you can think of which might help the police stop... whoever is responsible, then please let them know, or tell me if that's easier. And if you need time off to make a statement or anything...'

'Thanks, Miles. You don't have to be tactful, I know my ex-boyfriend seems to be the person responsible and I've already given the police one statement. If I think of anything else though, I'll pass it on. I want this person caught as much as anyone else.'

'I'm sure it will all be over soon and now there's some good news. I haven't told anyone else yet, but at last I can announce your pay rises.' He went back out with her and told the women they'd each be getting a fifteen per cent pay increase. 'The men are getting a raise too, but not quite the same amount, so I'd appreciate it if you were to be a bit discreet.'

'No problem,' Kath said.

Miles nodded and returned to his office.

Naturally that good news required a fair bit of talking about.