Page 39 of All Wrapped Up
‘I’m not going to say goodbye.’ He swallowed. ‘With any luck, she won’t even notice I’ve gone.’
She didn’t either, but I decided I wouldn’t tell him that when he came back later.
Pixie and I companionably whiled away the day together. I talked to her about what I had been through since losing Callum and told her that I hoped she really did feel an affinity with me as a result. She seemed to listen intently and I knew some of it must have sunk in, because she had run off to her toy basket once I’d finished explaining and then solemnly presented me with a toy which looked like a mallard duck. I didn’t think there was any significance to what she had picked out, but it was a kind and heartfelt gesture.
While she napped after lunch, I sorted through her pack from Ash and then went back through my list of festival ideas and had a look at more of the comments that had been added to the meeting announcement post on Facebook. I could see quite a few businesses were going to be represented and if the owners really were as keen as their comments suggested, then finding hosts for the events was potentially going to be a doddle.
Ash arrived at six on the dot, looking handsome in a burgundy cord shirt and smelling wonderfully masculine. I felt my face flush as I closed the door behind him. Since losing Callum, I’d got out of the habit of noticing that sort of thing, so the observation, and the way it had felt so natural to take in Ash’s clothes and aftershave, gave me a bit of a jolt. It had been on the tip of my tongue to say how the shirt colour suited him, but I decided not to. It made his eyes look even more intensely blue than usual, but that was another observation I kept to myself.
‘How was the flat?’ I asked instead.
‘A total duffer.’ He grimaced. ‘Even worse than I expected.’
‘Oh dear.’
‘Um, back to the drawing board. But never mind about that, how’s Pixie?’
‘Perfect, of course,’ I was delighted to tell him. ‘It’s not going to be five minutes before it feels like she moved in when I did.’
‘Well, that’s great.’ Ash smiled. ‘I’m certainly going to miss her, but knowing she’s settled and happy here with you, Clemmie, is also a huge weight off my mind.’
‘Good,’ I said, feeling pleased. ‘And now you can travel to see your family at the drop of a hat. Should you need to.’
‘I can,’ he agreed. ‘And talking of traveling, are you ready?’
I still hadn’t changed out of the comfy clothes I wore around the house, but that wasn’t because I was running late for the meeting, rather that I was going to suggest a change to our plan.
‘Not quite. I was actually wondering if you’d prefer to eat here, rather than in town?’
‘You’re not worried about Joanne getting the wrong idea if she sees us having a meal out together, are you?’ Ash frowned.
‘No,’ I said, though I was a little then, because he’d jumped straight to that conclusion. ‘Given that Lizzie and Jemma have set her straight on more than one occasion, that hadn’t crossed my mind. I was thinking more about Pixie. I don’t want to leave her for so long on her first proper evening here. I’m worried she might fret that I’m not coming back.’
Ash’s comment when he’d arrived back from Bakewell, that he put some of her excitement at seeing him again down to her being relieved that he’d returned, had stuck with me, but he wasn’t unduly concerned.
‘She’s used to being left alone at the barn,’ he pointed out, ‘so I don’t think that will be a problem, but I’m happy to fall in with you.’
I was pleased he was willing to agree, but my mind was rather preoccupied then with what he’d said about Joanne.
‘You don’treallythink Joanne has still got designs on pushing us together, do you?’
‘No,’ Ash said, as he bent to untie his bootlaces, but he was a little flushed when he stood back up. ‘Of course not. I don’t know why I said that. Now, what’s on the menu?’
I’d made a classic quiche which was hearty enough to satisfy Ash’s healthy appetite and I served it with a homegrown late summer salad and freshly made slaw which was full of apples, red cabbage and chopped walnuts and was a nod to the approach of autumn.
‘Do you eat like this every day?’ Ash asked, once he’d had his fill, having enjoyed an extra slice of the quiche.
‘No,’ I told him. ‘Not anymore, but I do love to grow and cook with some of my own ingredients.’
‘And you do it wonderfully,’ he gratifyingly said. ‘But why did you change?’
‘Change?’
‘Your eating habits. You suggested that you used to eat like this, but that you don’t now.’
‘Oh.’ I blushed, as I gathered the dishes together. ‘I just meant that what with the cottage renovation taking up so much of my time and being without a finished kitchen for so long, I just got out of the habit.’
‘And now you’re getting back into it?’
