He grinned. ‘Coming from someone who works in a kitchen for a living, I’ll take that as a huge compliment. Cora says it reminds her of something off an American sitcom. She thinks it’s too black and grey and blokey. But then again, her favourite colour is purple, and I refuse to live with a purple kitchen.’
Caitlin laughed. ‘Spoilsport.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Right, I should get going. Thanks for the tea.’
‘My pleasure. I’ll go shout for the girls.’ He left the room and she heard him call up the stairs. When he returned, he said, ‘Maybe I could cook you a meal in my sleek kitchen some time. Although don’t expect lettuce and quinoa.’
Caitlin’s stomach fluttered a little and she nodded. ‘That would be lovely, thank you.’
He grinned. ‘Great. I’ll be in touch. Maybe we could make arrangements when I see you at the singles night?’
‘Absolutely.’ It felt bizarre, to say the least, to be discussing organising a potential date at a singles night they were both attending, but she pushed the thought away.
Grace walked back into the room with her bag. ‘I’m ready. Wait ’til you see our routine, Mum. It’ll blow your mind. We’re thinking of performing it in the talent show at the Glentorrin Highland Games.’
Caitlin hugged Grace to her side. ‘Can’t wait. What do you say to Mr Budge?’
‘Thanks, Mr Budge. I’ve had a lovely time. And your pizzas were really good.’
Lyle smiled widely and bowed. ‘Why thank you, kind miss. And come back soon, won’t you?’
‘I will, thank you.’
Once back in the car, confusion clouded Caitlin’s mind and she wondered if the semi-invite for a meal had been a simple, friendly gesture. Or perhaps he had thought she was hankering after an invite by talking about his kitchen.
Shit! I hope that’s not it, Caitlin thought.
‘I think Mr Budge likes you,’ Grace announced, pulling Caitlin from her thoughts.
Her stomach flipped. ‘Why? Has he said something?’
Grace smiled. ‘Maybe.’
Caitlin laughed. ‘Come on, out with it, you minx.’
‘He said you’re very pretty.’
Caitlin’s heart skipped. ‘Really? When did he say that?’
Grace shrugged. ‘When I asked him if he thought you were pretty.’
She sighed. ‘Oh, Grace, you didn’t?’
‘I did. I said, “Mr Budge don’t you think my mum is really pretty?” And he said “Yes Grace. She really is.”’
Caitlin couldn’t really say she counted that compliment as being 100 per cent genuine. What was he going to say? ‘Actually no, Grace, she’s a total minger!’ But she decided that things were certainly looking up.
And it was quite a nice feeling.
5
The following week was a busy one seeing as the fine weather had brought a rather large influx of tourists to Glentorrin. After leaving the shop looking and feeling frazzled at the end of each day, Caitlin resolved she would need to find another assistant now that her former one was on a gap year in America. Grace was still at school for another couple of weeks until she broke for summer at the end of June, and despite her volunteering to help when school was finished, she wasn’t at an age where she could legally work yet. And in any case, Caitlin wanted her to simply enjoy her break from school.
Thursday came around far too quickly for Caitlin to handle. She had lost track of the days, which had all blurred into one.
After another busy day, she spotted the school bus pulling into the village as she served a lady with the last of the rocky road, and as the bus pulled away, Grace walked into the shop with a huge smile on her face.
‘Muuum! Guess what?’ she said giddily.
Caitlin waited until the customer had left the shop and shook her head. ‘What’s up, chick?’
