Page 9 of The Plan
“Thank you, Luke. You’ve been very helpful,” I say before grabbing my bag and heading out the door.
Okay, so step one of my plan is done. As long as everything is okay, I should get the keys to my new home in two weeks.
I walk around town for a while, familiarising myself with the place I grew up. Not much has really changed, from what I remember. There are fewer independent shops, all replaced by bigger chains, which is a shame. I find the supermarket where it always was and set about getting everything on my shopping list.
* * *
“Oh my God, Addison, that smells incredible,” Aunt Addy says, putting her bags down on the kitchen table. “What is it?”
“Red onion and chorizo quiche with salad, and Eaton mess for dessert.”
“I really meant it when I said you can stay here for as long as you want,” Aunt Addy says, giving my shoulders a squeeze before starting to lay the table for us.
“I thought something light might be nice after last night and this morning.”
“Whatever you want to cook, sweetheart, is good with me. Wine?”
“Sure.” If she’d have asked me that this morning then I would have said never again, but I feel fine now. Better than fine, actually, because the plan is starting to take shape.
“I hope you don’t mind but I told my friend Angie I’d ask you to make her daughter a birthday cake. I thought it was never too soon to get started,” she says, referring to our conversation about starting a business last night.
“Of course,” I reply, feeling excitement start to flutter in my belly. “What sort of thing does she want, and when for?”
“Day after next, and she’s obsessed with handbags so suggested something involving them.”
“Looks like I’m baking tomorrow, then!” I say excitedly before remembering something. “You could have warned me about the electrician this morning. I practically flashed him!”
“What?”
“The power went out while I was in the shower. I went in search of the problem and found a guy telling me he was changing the fuse board in the garage,” I say as the deep blue colour of his eyes filters into my head. Aunt Addy laughs and I have no idea why; it’s far from funny. “What?”
“That wasn’t just an electrician, Addison. That was Blake. He said he’d pop around and look at it so I just said whenever. I didn’t even think to warn him you were here.”
“Thatwas Blake?” I ask, a little confused. Granted I’ve only ever seen a couple of photos of Blake, Kayleigh’s boyfriend and Sinead’s dad, but the guy I saw this morning didn’t seem familiar at all.
“Long blondish hair, blue eyes, McCarthy’s on his t-shirt?”
I’ve no fucking clue what was on his t-shirt but that sure sounds like him. “Yeah.”
“What’s that look for?”
“I just didn’t realise that was who it was. I would have been a little nicer if I’d have known.”
“Don’t worry, Blake’s lovely. A proper looker too, but you probably noticed that.”
“Not bad, I guess,” I say, trying to not make out like my girly parts had a party just looking at him. Now I know that the sexy guy in the jeans is practically Aunt Addy’s son-in-law, my reaction to him seems wildly inappropriate.
“I think you two would get along. I’ll invite them to dinner tomorrow night. I know Sinead would love to meet you.”
Holy shit, how am I going to be able to sit at a table with that guy without drooling or something else equally embarrassing? I can only hope having his daughter there will knock some sense into me.
