Page 101 of Washed Up

‘Morning,’ he said with a nod, as she stopped alongside him.

‘Morning,’ she said, wishing he would look at her.

But he kept staring out to sea, his jaw clenched. ‘This must be a bit surreal,’ he said. ‘Saying goodbye to him again so soon.’

‘That’s very insightful of you,’ she said. ‘It is weird, I won’t lie.’

‘Hey, it’s not only fancy musicians who can talk about their feelings, you know,’ said Jake, and he glanced down at her, a small grin on his face.

She smiled up at him, so grateful for that small grin. The tension in her shoulders began to dissipate.

‘I know that,’ she said.

‘Good.’

‘Good.’

‘Jake, listen, I need to say something.’

He turned to her, crossing his arms as he did so to form a barrier between them. She peered up at him, put one hand on his arm. He studied her, his green eyes bright, a slight frown on his forehead. ‘Go on, then,’ he said.

‘Yes. Well, it’s not easy.’

‘I’m sure.’ A muscle in his jaw feathered.

‘It’s just…’ She scratched around for the right words, trying not to say ‘I didn’t want you to think I’d ditched you for Dylan’ out loud. Instead, she said, ‘I didn’t want you to think I didn’t enjoy, you know, the kiss, or that I didn’t appreciate the picnic and all that.’

‘But…?’ he prompted, his eyes flashing.

‘There’s no “but”. That’s it. I didn’t want you to think–’

‘What? That you ditched me for the famous musician as soon as he walked back onto Herm? Practically the very same second, in fact.’

Frankie took a step back, as if struck. Regret or something bloomed in Jake’s face for an instant but it quickly disappeared.

‘It… it wasn’t like that,’ she said, suddenly cautious.

‘How was it, then?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Then I suggest you work it out,’ he said, his voice a little softer.

She studied his face, his blonde hair, those green eyes. Did she feel anything for him? Would she want him to kiss her again? If Dylan wasn’t on the island, if he hadn’t come back, would she ever have thought about him again? That was the question. The question she simply couldn’t answer. Dylan had come back and that moment changed everything.

‘I will. Just give me some time,’ she said, putting a hand back on his arm, her eyes as big and pleading as she could manage. In the back of her mind was a twinge of guilt, a voice telling her to just end it now, put him out of his misery, but she swallowed it down. Why did she keep causing so much hurt? Jake had been the one who told her to take what she wanted, after all. It had seemed so easy then, on the bench. In the dark. But all she actually seemed to be doing since was driving people away. First, she’d hurt Sally. Now Jake. Everything was changing and Frankie wasn’t sure how to pull it back.

‘You’ve got one week,’ said Jake, his eyes hooded. ‘My contract is up at the end of next week and I’ve got to decide whether to come back next season or not.’

Frankie blinked at him. ‘Seriously?’

He nodded. ‘Seriously.’

‘Fine. One week.’

‘Good,’ said Jake, and with that he was looking back towards the ferry as it docked, and her mother and Sally were crying again.

‘I’d better go,’ said Frankie.