Page 77 of Eden's Comfort Kitchen
‘Don’t you? I could tell by his face he couldn’t understand. Like a bloody puppy being told off and not knowing what for. I just wanted…I didn’t want anything to do with any of you. I had a job to do and I’d lost sight of that, and I thought I just needed to get back on track. One more sitting, right? And then I was done and I could forget about this stupid place. Then this morning Livia comes to me and…’
He looked up at her as she came to the table.
‘I’m sure Bilbo wasn’t offended by you. He only thought…’
‘What?’
‘He only wondered why you’d been distant.’
‘I didn’t mean to…It wasn’t anything he did.’
‘He knew that.’
‘I still feel terrible about it. The last he saw of me was me being an absolute dick to him.’
‘You can’t change any of it now, so there’s no point in dwelling on it.’
‘You do think I was out of order then?’
‘That’s not what I meant. If it was anyone’s fault, it was mine, wasn’t it? I pissed you off, right?’
‘Of course you didn’t. You had every right to refuse me and…well, I was pissed off at the time, but I realised you were never going to do anything else. How could you? We were on opposite sides, and I’d have done the same in your situation. I didn’t reset my boundaries yesterday because I was pissed at you; I did it because I realised I’d got too close to the situation, in every way possible. I’d made friends and I’d fallen—It doesn’t matter now. All I’m trying to say is you were doing what I should have done. We never should have…well, you know.’
A strange kind of disappointment washed over Eden. While she agreed with everything he was saying, to hear him saythey shouldn’t have spent that night together made her feel sad and empty. She’d told herself a dozen times since it had been a mistake, and she’d resolved to keep an emotional distance, just as he had clearly decided to do, but it hadn’t stopped her thinking: what if? What if they did give it a try? Could there be anything in it? She’d tried hard to make it otherwise, but he’d been on her mind in one way or another a lot over the past couple of days, and not all of it had been to do with the sale of the land. She’d thought about his smile, his voice, his eyes, the feel of his skin next to hers, the smell of him, the sounds of his quiet breaths as he slept, the way the sun caught his hair to reveal auburn highlights as if revealing a secret treasure, the odd, unexpected look of softness when someone at the kitchen had thanked him for some little assistance or other. He wasn’t the ogre he pretended to be, and she wished he’d show more of that hidden side because she felt it was a side she could grow to like, even love.
Silly, of course. That was never going to happen. Circumstances had thrown them into opposition, and there was no bridging this gap. They were working towards very different goals and very different lives. How could there be any common ground, no matter how attracted she might be?
‘I suppose so. And, you know, it wasn’t completely your fault. I wanted to…Like you say, it doesn’t matter now. It happened and we move on.’
‘Anyway, I wanted to see if you were OK. I know you were fond of Bilbo.’
‘As all right as anyone in the bay is today,’ Eden replied. ‘But thanks; I appreciate that.’
‘I also wanted to tell you I’m not going to be coming back to the kitchen. I’m sorry if that leaves you short of help, but?—’
‘No, I totally get it. I half expected you to say so – I was quite surprised to see you there yesterday, if I’m honest. Thank youfor your help. And for giving us half a chance to show you what we do. I know in the end you were right – there’s no stopping progress – but not many people would have bothered to get to know us at all.’
‘I had fun.’
Eden sipped at her coffee, giving him a look of faint disbelief from over the rim of her cup.
‘Honestly,’ he said. ‘I’ll admit at first I was sceptical, but I couldn’t help it. You were right about that – you did all wear me down. I’d love nothing more than to walk away and say hey, keep your hut, but…’
‘I know, business.’
‘But you have to understand that the land is still for sale. In that respect, it doesn’t matter what I do or say because even if I walk away from it, someone else will buy it eventually, and I don’t see many buyers wanting to keep that rotting old hut.’ He shrugged at Eden’s look of offence. ‘Sorry, but you have to admit it’s seen better days. It’s a prefab and it looks old – it’s probably already twenty or more years past its use-by date.’
‘I suppose you’re right. It just suits us so well.’
‘What if I…?’ He paused, as if working something out before he said it. ‘What if I could find a way to get both of us what we want?’
‘OK,’ Eden said slowly. ‘I’m listening.’
‘What if the sale goes ahead – to me? And the hut will still have to go – there can’t be any movement on that. But what if somewhere in the development we allowed space for some kind of community hub, something comparable in size, something with everything you need. We’d be able to make money renting it out for events and such, but perhaps we’d be able to come to some sort of subsidisation arrangement for you guys. Kind of like a gesture of good faith, to show that we’re not coming to destroy the community and as recompense for allowing it allto go through with your cooperation instead of your opposition. What do you think?’
Eden’s eyes widened. ‘You’d really do that?’
‘I’d try. I couldn’t absolutely promise, but I feel confident I could swing it with the partners.’
