Page 96 of Go Cook Yourself

Her laugh eases some of my anxiety. Grandma and she must have gotten in trouble a lot when they were my age. Kath is trouble enough on her own now.

“Your head is spinning,” she says as Mum and Dad lead us through the car park.

My head is all over the place for more reasons than whatever secret Mum and Dad are keeping. “Garett hurt me, and I can’t hide from that. How much of our relationship—which wasn’t supposed to be a relationship—was real if he could lie to me so easily about something so important?”

“All I’ll say is,” Kath replies, “if it was the other way around, if Garett needed the money and was going into a competition to win it, no matter the consequences, would you have lied to him?”

“I don’t know. Probably. I helped him get Cookie even though it was dangerous.”

“And he protected you then, too.”

“I knew he was keeping something from me. How can I trust him? And it’s messed up that he did that rather than let me decide for myself.”

Kath nods. I wait for some of her wisdom, but it doesn’t come.

I sink my face into my hands and add, “But he’s never had a relationship. There was no ex-girlfriend. He’s barely had a family, and most of those close to him have double-crossed him, like Clive and his own parents. Do you think he was not only scared of losing me but of letting me in, too?”

Kath chuckles. “I appear wise, but I barely know what’s happening in my head most days. Maybe it’s all that, or maybe he wanted you to have what you wanted. You had us, but when Clive did what he did, Garett had no one except Flora.”

Mum and Dad lead us to the pub next to the cookery school.

“Mum, this is trespassing,” Jem hisses as we approach the door where Garett and I sneaked in the week before.

“Oh shush, Jem, you’re the worst badass ever,” Mum replies with a grin. Dad holds the door open, and we step through.

“Do you love him, Ruby?” Kath asks.

I remember all those nights when he showed me how to cook, the looks he gave me when I achieved something new, and how he was there for me when I couldn’t get out of my own head. He took me for a walk, and we ended up here. I consider all those times he didn’t force a relationship even though a part of me suspected that’s what he was hoping for. I lied to him, too, just not in the same way. I pretended we didn’t have a future when I could have sat down and spoken to my parents rather thanhide from the impact of my past. He was always about me, and I ignored him.

“Yes,” I reply.

“Welcome to your Christmas present, kids,” Mum announces from the restaurant part of the pub.

“What?” Jem bellows.

“This is our new venture,” Dad says. Jem freezes, and I sit on the nearest chair I can find. Wicksy leans against the table Garett pinned me on. Awkward. “We should have said sooner. Your mum and I are bored in retirement. We miss running something. The old owner came to us months ago and asked if we would buy the place, but we pretended we were happy gardening and going on trips.”

“We were lying to each other because we thought the other person was happy,” Mum adds before Dad continues. The subtext isn’t lost on me.

“Even couples in long-term relationships sometimes lie when they think they should. And we’ll learn from that. When you’re in a relationship, you’re always learning, making mistakes, and trying not to make them again.”

“Ruby gets it, Dad. Move on,” Amber grumbles.

“Anyway, we decided to buy the pub with the help of some investors. Didn’t we, Kath?”

Kath offers a wide smile. “I have a lot of savings, and I’ve always wanted to invest in something.”

“We hoped Garett would run the restaurant and be one of the partners. We’d manage it for the first couple of years, and then it’s up to Ruby and Jem. That’s if you want it. Kath would also move from the cookery school to the restaurant, and Ruby, you’d lead the sessions at the cookery school, with Wicksy working as head kitchen assistant. Kalen and Amber would manage the school when they could, and me and your mum would step in when needed.”

“And me?” Flora asks, although she does it so quietly that we’d have missed it if we hadn’t been silent.

Kath takes Flora’s hands. “Flora, honey, you can work in the cookery school or the restaurant. You believe you’re not good at things, but you’d be brilliant as a party planner, project manager, or workshop leader.”

“Don’t forget dog napper,” Jem adds, and Flora chuckles. It’s like when Garett gives out prizes at the end of a children’s cookery session and the shy child realises they have value. I wish Flora could see what we do.

Mum laughs, too. “How could any of us forget that?”

“I do have a plan for you, Flora, but first, I want to see what you do and enjoy. How would you feel shadowing me and Ruby at the cookery school and the restaurant?” Kath asks.

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