Page 120 of Cooking Up a Christmas Storm
Pavel nodded.
‘We can do the ones in walking distance from here and then drive round to the far side.’
Jodie zipped her black top up to the neck and pulled a dark beanie out of her pocket.
Pavel shook his head.
‘What?’
‘You worked here less than a month ago. I don’t think putting a hat on will stop them recognising you.’
‘Dark colours blend into the shadows better. I’m not trying to go unrecognised. I’m trying not to be seen at all.’
‘You’re not James Bond.’
‘When you’re in a McKenzie holding cell waiting to be waterboarded and I’ve got away scot-free don’t complain to me.’
‘I don’t think they have holding cells.’
‘You don’t doubt the waterboarding though.’
She knew she was watching his face for every reaction and there was, unmistakeably, a tiny hint of a smile there.
‘Made you smile,’ she teased.
Pavel’s face turned back to granite. ‘Jodie, don’t. Please don’t.’
‘Don’t what?’ As if she didn’t know.
‘Don’t act like things are OK.’
She started to protest that she wasn’t and stopped herself. She knew things weren’t all right. She just couldn’t stop hoping that might change.
He pulled the first few signs out of the van and marched off into the forest.
They only had one sign left to deploy when they pulled into their final parking spot. She waited while Pavel pulled the van slightly off the track to be better hidden by the trees and checked her map again. ‘The junction is up there, and we need people to come this way?’ she confirmed. ‘Shall I go?’
‘I can. I’ll be quicker.’
He was right, but the assertion still bristled. ‘I can manage.’
‘I never said you couldn’t. I just said I’d get it done quicker.’
Something prickled at Jodie. ‘You’re saying I’m not good enough.’
Pavel frowned. ‘No.’
‘It’s fine. I know what you meant.’ The same as everyone meant. Jodie wasn’t up to it. Jodie wasn’t good enough. The tiny flicker of belief that that wasn’t true was still small inside Jodie but it was there.
‘I was just trying to help.’
‘I don’t need help.’
‘I know. I was just trying to make things easier.’
There it was again. Jodie needed someone to come in and fix things. ‘I don’t need you to fix me. I’m not a project you can swoop in and make right.’ Pavel was Lowbridge’s Mr Fix-It. Why wouldn’t Jodie be a project to him?
‘I don’t want to fix you.’ His face was pained. ‘I never wanted to fix you.’
