Удерживая маску. Николай Метельский

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СКАЧАТЬ She had no more savings. They’d been used up buying the house and setting up the gallery.

      Thoughtfully, Harry had left her to her own devices, realising she needed privacy to shop. He was only her neighbour after all. The poor man didn’t want to traipse around a load of women’s stores. He was hardly her boyfriend. Even Connor had hated shopping with her.

      ‘Shall we find somewhere to have a coffee? Then I’ll drive us home.’ Catching Maddy off guard, Harry took her shopping bags from her, adding them to his own, like the perfect gentleman. Connor never offered to hold her bags; she’d always had to ask him to carry them. She certainly hadn’t expected Harry to insist on it.

      ‘Yes, that sounds like a good idea.’

      Harry led the way and found a quaint coffee shop down one of the narrow lanes. As it was so warm, Maddy opted for an iced skinny latte feeling the need for caffeine but not fancying something hot, while Harry asked for a normal latte.

      ‘Do you want anything else? Cake or a sandwich?’ he asked.

      Even though the cakes did look delicious, Maddy shook her head. She’d lost her appetite, which usually happened when she was stressed. ‘No thanks. Better not.’

      The woman behind the counter patiently held her hand out for payment as Harry opened his wallet. ‘I’ll pay,’ Maddy said, purse in hand, taking a five-pound note out.

      ‘No, I’ll get these.’

      ‘No, it’s the least I can do. I insist. You’ve done so much for me since Wednesday evening.’ Harry frowned as Maddy handed over the money. With a playful nudge, she said, ‘I’ll let you carry the tray.’

      With the sun shining, Maddy and Harry opted to sit outside at one of the small bistro tables. Maddy stared in horror while Harry emptied four sachets of sugar into his coffee.

      ‘You’ll never stay fit if you keep putting sugar in like that.’

      ‘I burn it off,’ Harry said, grinning. ‘I have a high metabolism.’

      ‘Can you actually taste the coffee?’ Maddy sipped her iced latte, not having to wait for it to cool down.

      ‘I like sweet coffee.’

      ‘It’ll catch up with you one day. You’ll wake up and wonder where all your muscle went.’

      ‘I don’t take sugar in my tea, though – and I drink that mainly when I’m at work.’

      ‘I drink too much coffee. I’d be the size of a house if I put four sugars in every cup. I barely make time for the gym as it is.’ Just looking at Harry’s tanned arms, his biceps bulging under the light blue T-shirt he was wearing made Maddy feel flabby. Now the weather was getting warmer, she’d have to make sure she took more dips in the sea after work. She enjoyed body-boarding and the exhilaration of catching a wave, even though she wasn’t as good as those who did it regularly, those who had been born surfing, living in Cornwall all their lives.

      A silence fell between them. The cathedral bells chimed three o’clock. Shoppers and holidaymakers passed them by, seagulls squawked from rooftops, and for a while, they people-watched and drank their coffee without talking. Two people who barely knew one another and thrown together under unusual circumstances, Maddy thought to herself. If this were a date, they’d be trying to get to know one another better rather than sit in silence. It was an odd situation. Would there be any harm in finding out more about her neighbour?

      ‘So … you know the fire crew then?’ Maddy asked, wanting to break the now awkward silence developing between them.

      ‘Yes,’ Harry said, nodding. ‘I used to be a fireman. I transferred from Exeter, but I was only with them six months.’

      ‘Oh, why did you leave?’

      Harry grimaced for a split second, and he looked at his half-full latte glass. Without meeting Maddy’s gaze, he said, ‘I’d rather not talk about it.’

      ‘Oh, okay, sorry …’ Maddy found herself fumbling with the straw in her iced latte. Change the subject. Quick. ‘So, can you tell me why one is called Shep?’ She’d heard one of the firemen call another by this name, and had thought it unusual.

      Harry’s expression softened. ‘His real name is Shaun.’ Maddy frowned at him in confusion. ‘As in Shaun the Sheep? At first he was Sheepy, but it got shortened to Shep.’

      ‘Oh, I get it, as in a sheepdog.’ She smiled her understanding. ‘And Barrows?’

      ‘That’s his surname.’ Harry chuckled.

      ‘That’s not very exciting. Why do they call you Roses?’

      ‘Tudor … War of the Roses …’

      Maddy laughed. ‘I get it! Firemen are odd. Why don’t you all call each other by your real names?’

      ‘Where’s the fun in that?’

      ‘And Dixons … because he likes spicy curries? Get it – Curry’s – Dixons?’

      Harry chuckled. ‘Not quite, but I like your line of thinking. It is actually because he has to have every latest top of the range gadget going. 3D HD TVs whatever they are … surround sound, you name it the man’s got it. He was named Dixons before they merged with Carphone Warehouse – obviously.’

      ‘Obviously.’ Maddy nodded, finishing her drink and feeling more relaxed in Harry’s company. Harry emptied his glass.

      ‘Shall we head back? Have you got all you need?’ Harry crumpled his paper napkin and poked it inside the empty glass so it wouldn’t blow away.

      ‘Yes, I have so much to do, it doesn’t bear thinking about.’ However, she wasn’t sure she’d get much done by the time they returned. Maddy stood, gathering her shopping bags. Harry took them off her as if it was the most natural gesture in the world – that a man should carry a woman’s bags. To remove the temptation to link her arm through Harry’s, like she would have with a close friend or Connor, and cause herself more embarrassment, Maddy pushed her hands into her pockets, unsure what to do with them. They started walking, weaving their way through the crowds, towards Lemon Quay where Harry’s truck was parked.

      ‘Oh, cat food!’ Maddy said, spying a Tesco supermarket by the car park. All of her food had been destroyed in the kitchen.

      ‘Good idea,’ Harry said. ‘I only had the one can of tuna.’

      ‘What did you feed her this morning?’ Maddy asked. Her brain was all over the place, and she was even forgetting to feed the cat.

      ‘I nipped round to number twenty-two – I know she has a cat, too. She gave me a can.’

      ‘Oh, it’s all right that she owns a cat,’ Maddy said, smirking. ‘I bet you haven’t fallen out with her over her cat.’

      ‘Funnily enough she’s never moaned about where I park my truck.’ His eyes narrowed on Maddy, but there was mischief behind them.

      ‘You know, she has two cats, don’t you? So there are plenty of cats in the close that could be crapping in your СКАЧАТЬ