Page 59 of Eden's Comfort Kitchen
‘I wouldn’t dream of it. I don’t need to anyway because we both know how it’s going to end. I don’t think that means there has to be animosity between us while this thing plays out, though.’
Eden rested her hands on her hips and turned to him with a frank gaze. ‘You really think it’s going to be easy, don’t you? You think you’re just going through the motions?’ She retrieved her knife and started to slice her pepper again. ‘Think that if you want to, if it makes you feel as if you’re winning, but don’t imagine for a minute that it’s going to be as simple as that.’
‘I never thought it would be simple – you’re involved.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I’m serious. I always thought you were capable…more than capable. I was sorry to hear you’d left the company – you had a great future there ahead of you. Why did you leave?’
‘My mum died.’
‘Yes,’ he said slowly, ‘I heard that, and, for the record, I’m sorry for your loss. That doesn’t really explain it, though.’
Eden paused. ‘Do you remember,’ she said after a moment, ‘I came to youat the back end of last year, and I told you aboutsome land with a community centre on it that you could get for a knock-down price?’
He was thoughtful for a second but then shook his head. ‘Can’t say that I do. Does it have a bearing on any of this?’
‘In a way. But if you can’t remember it, then…’ She shook her head. He’d think her silly if she told him the truth and, as she’d suspected, the deal had meant nothing to him anyway. ‘Never mind. I left because it wasn’t where I wanted to be, and it wasn’t where I wanted my life to go. That’s all.’
‘It’s a shame – you’d have done all right. You’d have made more money than you’re going to do here too.’
‘Maybe I decided money wasn’t as important as I used to think it was.’
‘Whenever anyone says that to me, I always think how naive they are. It sounds laudable and idealistic, but life isn’t like that.’
‘Sometimes it is. I’m starting to see you can make a choice that makes it so.’
He gave a wry smile. ‘OK, you do you. I still think this will go my way in the end. You and I know it’s bigger than you and you won’t be able to fight it.’
‘I can fight. I might not win – I know that, but I can still fight.’
He picked up a bulb of garlic and tossed it into the air, catching it nimbly as it came back down. ‘Whatever. We have that sorted, so let’s talk about something else. Aren’t you sick of arguing about this scout hut every time we see one another?’
‘OK,’ Eden said slowly. ‘What else do you want to talk about?’
‘I don’t know. What are you into?’
‘Nothing really.’
‘Nothing?’ He chuckled. ‘You must be into something! You don’t watch films, go swimming, cook? You must do something.’
‘Nothing that would interest you, I’m sure.’
‘Try me.’
‘I like foreign films.’
‘There you go then. I like foreign films too. What kind? French? German? Or do you like a bit of South Korean cinema?’
She shrugged. ‘All sorts. What’s your favourite?’
‘I like all sorts too.’
She threw him a sideways look. ‘Are you taking the piss?’
‘No!’ He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. ‘Of course I’m not! What else? So you like films. You like wine? Hiking? Something more unusual…macramé? Extreme knitting? You’re learning to play the saxophone?’
‘Now I know you’re taking the piss.’
