Page 28 of Sanctuary at MacLeod's Cove
‘Can you wait a few moments?’ asked Lucy. ‘I’ve got to finish something off here. Fancy a coffee? I’ll throw in something sweet, too.’
‘Sure. I’m in no hurry to get back.’
Sam and Lucy both glanced at Jen at the same time.
‘Perfect, thanks,’ said Lucy. ‘Jen, would you mind getting something for Sam?’
‘Sorry,’ said Jen, ‘I’ve got my hands full with this lot.’ She pointed to the box of paints and brushes she was carrying. Before she could react, Lucy had reached over and taken them from her.
‘I’ll take care of that. You get Sam whatever he wants.’
Jen’s gaze followed Lucy into the kitchen. Why on earth would Lucy think Jen would want to get together with her ex when she’d only just left her husband? After what she’d been through, she didn’t want anyone ever again. And not only that, she needed to keep her wits about her, and her defences raised to protect herself and Liam.
Frowning as she thought of what she’d say to Lucy afterwards, she ground the coffee and twisted it into the machine. And then stopped. This was like no coffee machine she’d ever encountered.
‘I’d push that button if I were you,’ said Sam from directly behind her. She pushed the button he was pointing at and hastily placed a cup under the spout. She heaved a sigh and turned to him.
‘Thanks. I haven’t progressed up the ladder to coffee maker yet. I’m on washing-up duty mainly.’
‘It’s good to start at the bottom and work up.’ He leaned against the counter once more. Wouldn’t he ever take a seat?
‘Absolutely. I know my place.’
He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again at the bitter tone that edged her words.
She felt a stab of regret when he turned away from her with no further comment. Her cold defensiveness had become second nature. Yet another thing she needed to shed if she was ever going to return to a world where human beings were nice to one another.
She busied herself with his coffee, and added a raspberry muffin to the saucer as something of an apology for her abruptness.
‘Here you are.’
‘Thank you,’ he said, spooning in sugar and stirring it into his coffee without looking up at her.
She hesitated, her hand bunching in the cloth of her apron as she tried to figure out how to apologise for her abruptness.
He looked up and smiled at her discomfort. ‘What’s up?’ he asked.
‘I… wondered if you wanted anything more than the muffin to eat?’
‘What do you recommend?’ His eyes glimmered with a hint of mischief, as if sensing her discomfort.
‘Um, the banana bread is fresh,’ she stammered, feeling her cheeks warm. ‘It’s?—’
‘Sold.’ He gave a curt nod, then added with a playful tilt of his head, ‘Unless you baked it?’
‘Hardly,’ Jen laughed despite herself. ‘I’m more the “cause kitchen fires” type.’
‘Good to know I’ll be safe with the banana bread then.’
She hesitated, and he looked up at her in query.
‘And I wanted to say I’m sorry. For earlier. For being well, snappy. It’s just that things have been a bit… weird for me recently, and I’m…kind of wary, I guess.’ She sucked in a deep breath, unwilling to continue in case it turned into a ramble that would see her spilling her heart and soul out to Sam.
‘Apology accepted.’
‘Right,’ she said, and hurried off to fetch the banana bread. Between searching for more napkins and slicing the bread, she cast surreptitious glances across at Sam. He exchanged small talk with an older man reading a newspaper before he began reading something on his phone. He slid the phone back onto the table without answering before glancing up and catching her gaze. ‘Too many texts. There’s always somebody wanting something.’
‘Tell me about it,’ she said. ‘Can’t do anything or go anywhere without someone knowing. Bit different in our day.’
