‘I cooked a rice thing.’
‘Oh?’ Surprised, I lifted the lid on a pot gently bubbling on the stove, dipping my head to investigate. ‘It smells fabulous.’
‘After working flat out since before dawn I’d imagine beans on toast would smell equally as delicious.’
‘No, I love chorizo and prawns together. And is that feta?’ I straightened up. ‘For a straight down the line cheddar guy, this is impressive.’
He kept his eyes on the newspaper, pretending not to be bothered, but his eyes crinkled up at the corners. ‘Well, your fancy metropolitan cooking ideas seem to have inspired me. And I presume Hope and I are going to benefit from all that bumping and scraping up on the top floor. This is the least I owe you.’
I fetched bowls from the dresser and ladled out two glistening mounds of deliciousness.
‘Well, I can’t start the master bedroom until you’re out of there, so that makes the top floor next on the list.’
He filled glasses with flavoured water and handed me a fork. ‘I’d have been happy to leave it undecorated, particularly considering everything else that needs doing.’
‘You can’t relax properly while surrounded by thirty-year old unicorn wallpaper, covered in Blu Tack stains and blobs of make-up! And Hope deserves a beautiful bedroom.’ I paused, squeezing the sudden rush of tears back behind my eyeballs. ‘I needed to feel close to her, today. Even if I was removing her wallpaper, I think she’d have approved.’
Daniel looked at me, his own eyes glistening. ‘She’d have been so thrilled.’
I nodded in acknowledgement, unable to say anything more.
‘This is really good!’ I finally managed, a few forkfuls later. ‘I might add the recipe to the retreat folder.’
‘Why, thank you for the compliment, but it’s a top-secret recipe.’
‘I’m not sure it’sthatgood.’
‘Maybe not, but due to being unable to remember what I chucked in there, even I don’t know the secret.’ He put his fork down, turning serious. ‘I am really grateful. I would have come and helped, only Hope’s been grizzly all day. Bringing her up there would only have been frustrating for both of us.’
‘I’m not sure a baby should be in all that hot steam anyway. And I thought we’d agreed that we’re both equally grateful, so don’t need to go on about it any more?’
‘Yeah.’ He pulled a rueful smile. ‘You know. Still working through a few self-sufficiency issues.’
Daniel had given me a new start – a home, a purpose, and the chance to spend time with Charlie’s beautiful baby, who made me laugh even harder than her mother had.
We were not equally grateful.
22
Sunday, I finished the last of the wallpaper-stripping and then took Hope out while Daniel got on with some work. After dillying and dallying about whether it was time to brave a stroll down Old Main Street, I decided to start by heading to the orchard. I could then choose whether to keep going along the river, and see where we ended up.
After the recent sunshine, the sky hung heavy with ominous rainclouds. Once Hope was in the sling, Daniel stepped closer to adjust her hood. He glanced up, meeting my eyes, and there it was again. That fizzle that started deep in my stomach and whooshed up through my body, sending my heart spinning.
‘Have fun. Enjoy the river.’
‘You too! Enjoy the spreadsheets.’
Such a snapshot moment of domestic bliss, if Daniel had leant closer and given me a goodbye peck, it would have felt perfectly natural. I dashed out the door before the flush on my cheeks gave me away. Definitely time for a brisk, breezy walk, with the added risk of encountering some verbal abuse at the end of it.
I found Ziva checking out the boy bees and their queens. Thankfully, she had the courtesy to take a break from poking about in a beehive while a baby was in the vicinity.
‘Recovered from last week’s excitement?’ she asked, taking her beekeeping hood off and making the obligatory coos and smiles at Hope before perching on a nearby tree stump.
I shuddered. ‘I’m completely mortified. That speech will be echoing in my ears for years to come.’
‘It was an excellent speech!’ Ziva declared. ‘Clear, engaging, well delivered. You had us all transfixed. What more can you ask for?’
‘Not being booed, heckled or having someone throw a drink at me before everyone storms out in disgust?’
