Page 55 of Eden's Comfort Kitchen
‘Bilbo,’ she began sweetly, ‘could you give Cam a hand with the ingredients for the pasta bake? He’ll need help finding things in the kitchen, so if you team up with him, it will speed all that up a bit.’
Bilbo gave a smart salute. ‘Ma’am!’
‘Eden…’ Liam called over, and she nodded.
‘That’s fine – I know you’re already way ahead of me. You start setting up in the dining room, and I’ll be in to help you shortly.’
When she looked back, Bilbo was questioning Cam about his great-uncle, and Cam was being about as pleasant in his replies as Eden had ever seen him. She glanced away to catch Livia flashing her a grin. Eden returned it. So Livia had worked it out just as she’d done. It was going to take more than a chance family connection, of course, but perhaps winning Cam over wasn’t going to be such an impossible task after all.
As everyone went back to their work, Eden tried to keep tabs on how Bilbo was getting on with Cam without making it too obvious. She realised Cam might not be so easy to hoodwink, but as Bilbo was entirely innocent of any ulterior motives, she trusted that his good humour and easy-going nature, coupled with the instant connection, would go a long way to softening Cam without it being contrived.
She listened as Bilbo launched into anecdotes involving Cam’s uncle, and she could hear Cam laughing easily from time to time. He even asked questions, so he was clearly engaged. Eden couldn’t believe her luck and wondered when Cam was going to turn back into the man she knew and loathed. She didn’t dare look for fear that Cam would catch her and read her expression. If he did that, the jig would most definitely be up. And she had to admit that it seemed as if Cam was getting stuck in. She’d expected him to be reluctant to get his hands dirty, perhaps mess around in a corner of the kitchen and stay out of proceedings as far as he could, but she was pleasantly surprised to see that wasn’t the case. Perhaps it was because he’d clearly warmed to Bilbo, but whatever the reason, Eden wasn’t going to complain about that either.
She’d worried that him being there might be disruptive for everyone else, especially if he made his disdain for what theywere doing known, so it was a relief to see that nothing of the sort was happening. In fact, Eden heard one or two occasions where he’d taken a job from Bilbo and told him to take it easy. Bilbo only laughed and said he would do nothing of the sort, but it was a kindness that Eden struggled to equate with the Cam she knew.
‘Would you like a cup of tea, Cam?’ Julia called over from the giant teapot that she was filling with freshly boiled water. Julia filling the kettle had become the unofficial signal for a quick break over the past few weeks. Everyone would down tools for ten minutes or so, and catch up on how the work was progressing and what still needed to be done, as well as catch up on the odd bit of gossip or news.
‘Thanks, Julia,’ he said gallantly. ‘I’d love one.’
Julia smiled and nodded. She didn’t need to ask anyone else because none of the regular volunteers ever refused her tea. Eden looked around the room at her team – as she’d come to think of them – and wondered how much longer this would last. It seemed she’d only just got used to them all and started to think of them as not only essential help but as friends too, and already that was in danger. Julia and Livia weren’t going to be doing this forever, for a start. They couldn’t spare the time long term – they’d begun with that understanding, and Eden respected it. But what about the others? Would her kitchen even survive past the next two weeks and Cam’s influence? She supposed they could keep going for a while until the land was sold and the hut demolished, but having that fate hanging over them would change the way people viewed the project and perhaps make them decide it wasn’t worth investing their time. She hoped not, but she wouldn’t blame them.
As Julia handed out the drinks, Eden edged closer to Cam with hers, wondering if he’d say anything about how he was getting on.
‘This is a good cup of tea, Julia,’ was all he said, though he threw Eden a sideways look that said he was fully aware of what she was hoping for and he wasn’t going to oblige. As far as he was concerned, she could carry on guessing.
‘We’ve got some biscuits in the tin over there if you want one,’ Julia said, angling her head at a shelf. ‘Technically they’re the scouts’ biscuits, but I know they won’t mind too much if we have the odd one.’
Cam went to look inside the tin and pulled out a chocolate digestive. ‘I can’t remember the last time I had an old-school biscuit.’
‘I’m surprised you’ve ever eaten one,’ Eden said. ‘Did they eat pov food at Eton?’
Cam grinned, seemingly unfazed by Eden’s taunt. ‘I didn’t go to Eton. It was a good old state school for me.’
‘Really?’ Eden frowned. Not that she’d ever known much about his past, but to her mind, he’d always had the air of someone privately educated: he was well spoken and eloquent, had immense confidence and assurance of his place in the world. He’d always seemed like a man brought up in the belief that he was superior. She supposed it just went to show how wrong someone could be. But if his self-belief didn’t come from school, she quickly decided his parents must have done a real number on him.
‘Really,’ he said. ‘My parents are working class, just like…’ He paused. ‘Well, I don’t know. I don’t suppose any of us knows all that much about each other’s past, do we?’
‘People do make assumptions,’ Julia cut in. ‘It’s when we make an effort to set them aside that we learn about each other. What did your parents do for a living, Cam?’
‘Dad is a painter and decorator, and Mum was a teaching assistant – she took early retirement when Dad started his own business and was bringing enough money in.’
‘So actually, they’re not so working class now,’ Eden said.
He turned to her as he bit into his digestive. ‘How do you come to that conclusion?’
‘Well, your dad owns his own business. That must make him middle class, right?’
Cam shrugged in a way that Eden found instantly irritating, like he was mocking her. ‘Can’t say I’m all that interested in class wars like you are.’
‘I’m not! I’m not interested in anything of the sort! I’m just saying?—’
‘And I’m just saying I don’t think it matters what class you’re from. It’s what you do. You make your own fortune – at least, that’s what I took from my dad’s example. You do what you have to do. The only person who can lift your status or sink it is you, nobody else.’
‘That’s rubbish!’ Eden said. ‘That’s assuming we’re all on a level playing field to start! Some people are born into such poverty that they don’t stand?—’
‘Like you?’ Cam said in such a wry tone that Eden was all at once incensed and ashamed. ‘Do you think you speak for all those people? Do you think you know what it’s like? I thought your family had always been well off.’
‘I think…’ Julia cut in then glanced around the room. Eden followed her gaze and saw some awkward looks. She realised instantly that Cam was doing his best to wind her up, and it was working like a charm. ‘That this might not be a conversation for this evening. I think it might need more attention than we have time to give it.’
