Page 75 of Eden's Comfort Kitchen
‘Good,’ Eden said in as neutral a tone as she could manage.
‘Your Cam was in here not half an hour ago. Took a quick double and then headed straight off. I thought he might have been waiting for the rest of you.’
‘Oh, I think he had things to do,’ Eden said.Her Cam?Was that how everyone had seen them? She scanned the tables in the bar. ‘It’s dead in here tonight, isn’t it?’
‘It’s been busier. Still, that’s how it goes some nights.’
Eden had wondered if some of her volunteers would be here, but even Bilbo, who’d said he’d come, was absent. It was just her and Livia and three random holidaymakers at a table by the window.
Livia went behind the bar to get the drinks for her and Eden. As she put a gin and lemonade in front of Eden, she nodded towards Ralph. ‘Do you want to ask him about the hut situation?’ she said in a low voice.
Eden took the drink and shook her head slightly. ‘I don’t think so, not yet. We don’t know for sure what’s happening, do we? I know it doesn’t look good, but I’m choosing to cling on to alast bit of hope that it might still work out in the end. You’ve got to, haven’t you?’
‘It was just a thought as we had him here and it was quiet. But I get you.’
‘Cam only owes us one more session and then we’ll know, won’t we.’
‘After the way he was tonight, you think he’ll even turn up next time? Maybe he’s already made up his mind?’
‘That’s not him. At least I don’t think so. He’ll want to prove a point, so he’ll see it through. He’ll also want to be able to say to me he won fair and square because that will shut me up for good.’
‘And will it? He doesn’t even owe you that really. I mean, he knows he can take that land any time he wants regardless of the bet.’
‘I did say I’d give up if I didn’t change his mind during the bet, and he said he’d play by the rules too. He knows and I know he could have just arrived and got what he wanted.’
‘So why didn’t he?’
Eden shrugged. She didn’t know. She supposed she’d never know. ‘Whatever the reason, something tells me he’d have stuck by his agreement, so I suppose I have to stand by my agreement too.’
Livia took a sip of her drink. ‘Seems like an odd way to go about something that means so much to you.’
‘I know,’ Eden said. ‘Looking back, it was a bit stupid. But what was said in the heat of the moment was said and we shook on it, and that’s that. There’s time yet – let’s see what happens.’
‘At least you’re sounding more optimistic than you did earlier.’
Eden picked up her glass, staring into the depths. ‘What else can I do?’
Eden woke with the community kitchen on her mind. She’d fallen asleep turning over the problem and it seemed had spent the night mentally processing it as she slept, opening her eyes to find it still there, lodged in her brain. There had to be other venues, of course, but none she’d come across during her initial search had suited them quite so well. In fact, as far as she could tell, the others would involve a massive amount of compromise. The numbers could be accommodated, but the facilities weren’t there, or vice versa, or the location was too far out, or they wanted an expensive rent or something else that would cause problems. Eden supposed she would have to keep trying until she found something that worked because, despite what she’d told Livia the night before, she was almost certain that the scout hut would soon be lost.
As she made her first coffee of the day, wondering what to do to take her mind off things, her phone rang. She pulled it across the worktop to see it was Livia.
‘Hello,’ she said. ‘This is early, even for you. So what did I leave in the pub last night because it must be something like that.’
‘I’ve just heard from Liam…’
Eden’s smile disappeared at Livia’s tone. ‘What’s happened? Is he all right? It’s not…’
‘Bilbo died last night! Liam called to tell me, but I couldn’t ask much because he was trying to get to all of Bilbo’s friends to let them know.’
Eden shook her head slowly. ‘I can’t…But we saw him last night! He was working and he seemed…He even said he’d come to the pub! Did Liam tell you anything at all?’
‘Only that Bilbo got home, said he felt a bit off but told Liam he’d be OK and he’d phone in the morning. But when Liam called earlier, he couldn’t get any reply. Found him in the armchair. He must have just passed away right there.’
‘Oh…’ Eden was numb. She didn’t know how to feel because she was struggling to comprehend it. How could it be that Bilbo who had been there, working alongside her, one minute would be dead a few hours later? He’d been quieter than usual, but she’d assumed that was down to the sour atmosphere caused by Cam. Had there been more to it than that? And if she’d missed something she ought to have picked up because she hadn’t been paying attention, Eden would never forgive herself. She’d done that once before with equally tragic consequences, and the thought that she somehow could have prevented this would haunt her…but surely not? She thought back to everything that had happened, everything she’d seen the previous evening. Had there been any signs that Bilbo was ill? She couldn’t recall anything at all.
‘Want me to come over?’ Livia’s voice brought her back to the room.
‘Aren’t you supposed to be working at the parlour today?’
