Page 85 of Eden's Comfort Kitchen
‘Don’t worry,’ Ralph said cheerily. ‘I’ll look after them for a minute if you need to go and say hello. As you say, probably a good idea to keep him onside if you want that new centre.’
As Eden left them and started across the beach, Cam looked up and saw her. Nancy was skipping along at his side looking pleased with herself. It was funny, Eden had never noticed his effect on the children, who’d been pottering about somewhere or other for many of his shifts at the kitchen, but clearly he’d had one.
‘Cam’s here!’ Nancy called to Eden, tugging at his sleeve. ‘Look!’
‘I can see,’ Eden said, smiling, pretending that he wasn’t having an effect on her, but her heart was beating so fast it was making her dizzy. ‘Well done for finding him.’
He’d dressed down for the day in jeans and a checked shirt, so this wasn’t business. She tried not to think about how good he looked, but his dark eyes and curls that were slightly more unruly than the last time she’d seen him wouldn’t let her do anything else. Had he been working out, or was that just her imagination? Either way, it looked good on him, and she wasforced to try even harder not to think about what he looked like beneath that shirt.
‘I didn’t think you’d come,’ she said as they met on the sand.
‘I didn’t know it was on until this morning. And before you say anything, I know you emailed me last week, but I must have missed it. My PA was clearing my inbox and told me I’d got some unread stuff, and yours was in it. Sorry.’
‘You don’t have to be sorry. I only invited you on the off-chance; I expected you to be too busy to come, quite honestly.’
‘I would always come,’ he said with such earnestness that her legs almost gave way. How he looked at her…what was that? Her mind was playing tricks, surely? ‘I mean…’ He cleared his throat and seemed to realise what he was doing. ‘Bilbo was a great bloke – why wouldn’t I come?’
Eden allowed herself to breathe again; of course it was all about Bilbo – why else would he have come? ‘Let’s go and say hello to some of the volunteers,’ she added, nodding for him to follow. ‘They’ll be so pleased to see you.’
‘Will they?’ He seemed genuinely confused by her statement.
‘Are you kidding? They haven’t seen you since you left the bay.’
‘Even so, I thought…well, the scout hut…’
‘You said it before – it was a foregone conclusion the minute the land went up for sale. Nobody blames you for that. If you hadn’t bought it, someone else would have.’
‘Even you? You don’t blame me?’
‘Especially not me. I’ve learned since I’ve been here that life might not go the way you want it to – in fact, it rarely does – but what matters is how you deal with that.’
He stuffed his hands in his pockets, fixing her with a look that was…intense? ‘I like to think you have a certain amount of agency. If you really want something, you can have it.’
‘That may be true to an extent, but I think we’ve established that we’re never going to agree on that point. I say it all depends on your starting point, but…never mind. What’s the use of trying to explain it again, eh? While we’re on the subject, do you have any news on our new community centre?’
He chuckled at that. ‘It’s good to see there’s still a bit of the old Eden left in you. Never let an opportunity go to waste.’
‘Well, you can take the girl out of the city, but…’
Nancy tugged at her sleeve. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Oh, this and that.’ Eden smiled down at her. ‘Why don’t you go and find Livia? Tell her all about Cam being here? I’ll bet she hasn’t even noticed, she’s so busy gossiping somewhere.’
Nancy gave a solemn nod, as if she’d been entrusted with the guardianship of some religious relic, and then raced off.
‘She’s cute,’ Cam said as she tore over the sand towards the serving tables.
‘She’s amazing,’ Eden said. ‘They all are.’
‘All?’
‘Livia and her family.’
‘Ah. I thought you meant everyone here.’
‘Them too,’ Eden said, her smile growing.
‘You seem happy,’ he agreed. ‘Settled. Even more than when I was here last. You haven’t changed your mind about staying here permanently?’
