Page 15 of A Fresh Start on Crumcarey
‘Won’t hurt to get to know him, though,’ she whispered, turning to glance in a small mirror that was propped up above the washbasin. ‘Oh no!’ she gasped, spotting dark smudges where her mascara had melted down her face. She should have known, given the fact that she’d basically bathed in rainandtears on her way over. It wasn’t like she ever wore bloomin’ mascara, either. She’d only put some on in an attempt to look a little bit lessunkemptfor her first day at work!
Maggie stuffed the plug into the sink and ran some hot water into the basin. Then she used her cupped hands to rinse her face, revelling in the delicious warmth, before grabbing her already-damp towel and using one corner to wipe away the worst of the mascara smudges.
Giving her hair another vigorous rub, she did her best to comb it out with her fingers before pulling it into a plait. Then she twisted it into a bun for good measure, securing the whole lot with a hairband. She doubted Luke would have a hairdryer lying around, so at least this would stop it from instantly making a wet patch on her lovely dry clothes.
‘Hey Maggie?’
The light knock on the door made her jump.
‘Yeah?’ she squeaked, grabbing the towel and holding it up to her front as though Luke might barge his way in. Which – of course – was stupid!
‘When you’re done, could you grab that bottle of wine?’ he said. ‘I think you’ve earned a glass!’
‘Okay!’ she said, her voice coming out ridiculously high and quivery. ‘Will do!’
Wine might not be the best plan considering her less-than-stable emotions right now… but she hadn’t had a glass in ages. Frankly, after the day she’d just had… why not?
CHAPTER 8
LUKE
Luke did his best not to look as Maggie reappeared from the bathroom. She hadn’t quite finished buttoning up her overalls, and there was a tantalising glimpse of soft skin on display. He didn’t want to bethatguy. She’d come to him for help, and there was no way he was up for doing anything that might make her feel any more uncomfortable than she already was.
Instead, he focussed on finishing chopping up some ginger and scraping it into the already-sizzling onions in the pan sitting on his little countertop hob. He might not have an oven yet, but it was amazing what you could do with four rings at your disposal.
‘Something smells good!’
Maggie’s soft voice close behind him made him look up again, and he was both relieved and a bit disappointed to discover that she’d clearly noticed and rectified the open-popper issue. Luke cleared his throat and made a show of rubbing his eyes on his sleeve – as though the cooking onions were to blame for his gaze drifting out of his control.
‘Nothing fancy, I’m afraid,’ he said. ‘Just a bit of a stir fry and some rice – hope that’s okay for you?’
‘Sounds brilliant!’ she said, and Luke breathed a sigh of relief to hear genuine enthusiasm in her voice. ‘Here’s the wine,’ she added, giving the bottle a little waggle. ‘Anything I can do to help?’
‘I’ve already dug out the corkscrew,’ he said, motioning with his head to the newly installed drainer by the kitchen sink. ‘If you wouldn’t mind doing the honours?’
‘I’m on it!’ said Maggie.
‘I’m afraid I don’t have wine glasses,’ he said quickly. ‘Best I can do is those jam jars.’
‘Hey – I’m not knocking it!’ said Maggie, and he could hear the warmth of a smile in her voice even though he couldn’t actually see her. ‘You have wine… that’s way more than I brought. I don’t care what we drink it out of!’
Luke focused on chopping the mound of veg in front of him, all the while fighting the urge to turn and just stare at the beautiful woman in his kitchen. This day had taken a very weird turn indeed. He almost felt like he’d conjured Maggie up… hehadbeen thinking about her non-stop since breakfast at The Tallyaff, after all.
‘How was your first day?’ he asked, glad to have stumbled on a topic of conversation that felt relatively safe. Luke didn’t know much about Maggie, other than the fact that she had a dumbass ex who’d basically abandoned her here on Crumcarey, and a cottage that sounded very much like it was in the process of falling down around her ears. Neither of those topics shoutedlight first-date conversation!
Not that this was a first date.
At all.
Gah!
‘It was great, thanks!’ said Maggie, her voice pulling him back into the present and stopping him from heading any further into the hole he was busily digging for himself. ‘My feet are killingme though,’ she laughed. ‘I’m not used to so much standing… or stairs! I’ve been up and down to the guest rooms that many times today, I lost count. I don’t think I’ve had to climb stairs since I moved here. The cottage is like this – just the one floor.’
‘I bet your feet will get used to it pretty quickly,’ said Luke. ‘But… why don’t you sit while I sort the food out!’
‘Not a chance,’ she said, her smiling face appearing at his side. She placed his jam jar of wine down next to the chopping board. ‘That’s not how saving this particular damsel in distress works. What can I do to help?’
Luke grinned at her. He couldn’t help it. ‘You could make the sauce for this lot?’
