Page 99 of Suddenly Beck
‘Yeah, meet me there later?’
He nods and drops a quick chaste kiss on my lips before returning to the sculpture. Glancing down at my watch, I realise I’m running late, so I turn and jog back up the beach towards Sully’s, heading up the wooden steps to the terrace and into the building toward the staff room. I wave to my sous chef, Hayley, and my line cook, Toby. They’ll be in the main kitchen today handling the restaurant while Mel and I have set up a station on the deck, overlooking the beach for takeaway tacos.
I open the door to the staff room and stop dead when I see my sister and Beck’s older brother Reed, in what looks to be a low heated discussion. They stop mid-sentence and turn to look at me. Pia’s face instantly softening as she sees me.
‘Pia?’ I step into the room and let the door close behind me. ‘What’s going on? I’ve been worried about you. I haven’t been able to reach you for days.’
‘I know,’ she replies quietly. ‘My phone got damaged, and I haven’t been able to replace it yet. So, I came to see you instead.’ She swallows hard, her hands restlessly fidgeting. ‘I wanted to apologise.’
‘For what?’ I frown.
‘It was my fault.’ Her shoulders curl as she folds into herself slightly. ‘What happened the other day. Avery found your phone number in my phone and gave it to Father. He also showed him the photos from the social media posts I had of you on my phone, so he knew where to find you. I’m so sorry. I should’ve been more careful.’
‘Pia, it’s not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for.’ I step forward and pull her into my arms, feeling her body tight with tension as I hug her. Something’s going on with her, and I’m determined to find out what it is. I look across to Reed whose troubled eyes are locked on my sister, but I can’t read his expression. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Nothing.’ Pia steps back and shakes her head.
‘But…’ I begin but stop when the door flies open.
‘Nat.’ Mel pops her head around the door. ‘Oh, hello, Pia, love, I didn’t know you were coming today.’
‘Um, it was a spur of the moment thing,’ Pia murmurs.
‘You want some lunch?’ Mel asks.
‘Actually,’ Reed interrupts. ‘Pia agreed to help me run some errands.’
I stare at the two of them, and for a second, I’m sure I see a brief flash of gratitude and… relief in her eyes.
‘Pia,’ I begin again, but Mel interrupts.
‘I’m sorry, Nat, but you’ll have to catch up with her later. There’s a queue halfway around the restaurant for the taco stand, so I need you out front.’
‘Okay.’ I nod reluctantly before turning back to Pia. ‘We’ll talk later?’
‘Sure,’ she agrees, not quite meeting my eyes.
‘Nat!’ Mel calls, and given no other choice, I head out.
The rest of the day passes in a taco fueled blur. There’s a never-ending queue, and by the time night rolls around, I could quite cheerfully never see another taco again in my life if it wasn’t for the fact I have to do this all over again tomorrow.
The customers have dwindled down to almost nothing as I clean down the taco stand and pack everything away.
‘Well done, love,’ Mel kisses my cheek fondly. ‘You did great.’
‘Tell that to my feet,’ I grumble. ‘I can no longer feel them.’
She laughs warmly and heads into the main restaurant as Beck climbs the steps, handing me a cold beer.
‘Hey, baby.’ He kisses me softly, and I lean into him, burying my face in his neck. ‘Long day?’
‘I think they’ve broken me,’ I mumble against his skin and feel him chuckle.
‘Come on, let’s head home.’ He strokes my back comfortingly. ‘You’ll feel better once you have a shower and put your feet up.’
‘I can’t,’ I sigh. ‘I need to go find Pia and speak to her.’
‘She’s gone, Nat,’ Beck tells me softly.