Page 19 of A Fresh Start on Crumcarey
‘Everything looked better the minute you opened your door,’ she said.
Luke smiled at her, shifting slightly in his seat.
‘Erm… sorry!’ she laughed. ‘I’ve not had wine in averylong time.’
‘Well then,’ said Luke, lifting the bottle and tilting it towards her in an invitation. ‘We’d better make up for that!’
CHAPTER 10
LUKE
Luke clambered to his feet and was surprised to find the room spinning gently around him. Blimey, the wine had hit him harder than he’d realised.
Grabbing his bowl from the table, he reached across for Maggie’s with a slightly wonky smile. He got her full-wattage beam in return, and it nearly swiped his legs right out from beneath him.
Wow!
Luke forced himself to turn away before he did something stupid, and made his way slowly over towards the sink – willing the world to stop swaying as he went. Perhaps the wine hadn’t been such a good idea after all!
‘Man, I’m ready for some sleep!’ he yawned, secretly wondering if he’d manage to get any with Maggie under the same roof.
‘Amen!’ she echoed, appearing at his side with the empty wine bottle and jam jars. ‘Let me just do the washing up, and then—’
‘Not a chance,’ said Luke. ‘There’s not that much, anyway. I’ll deal with it tomorrow.’
‘Oh good,’ chuckled Maggie, grinning up at him. The room spun even faster as his heartbeat did something peculiar. ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’
‘Playing a dangerous game there, Mags,’ he said, naturally shortening her name and then wondering if perhaps he was taking liberties. Then he gave a mental shrug – he’d had too much wine to worry about it either way. ‘I could have called your bluff and set you to work.’
‘Nah, not your style,’ said Maggie.
Luke beamed at her. He liked how that sounded – as though they’d known each other long enough for her to work out all his little foibles.
‘Let’s get some sleep,’ he said. ‘I can drive you over to the cottage in the morning if you’d like? We could take a look at the damage before you have to head into work…?’
Every fibre of his being wanted to declare that she had nothing to worry about – that no matter what state the place was in, he’d help. He’d take over and make everything right for her. But even in his slightly befuddled state, he knew that was the last thing she needed.
Maggie was clearly an independent soul. From what he could gather, today was the first time she’d asked for - or accepted - any kind of assistance since she’d moved to Crumcarey.
Baby steps.
He’d work out a way to give her a hand… but there was no way he was going to make her feel stomped all over. It sounded like she’d had quite enough of that with her ex.
‘That would be great,’ said Maggie. ‘Thanks. Now… are you sure about me having the bed?’
Luke watched her as she glanced around the barn. He had a feeling it was only just dawning on her that the place was completely open-plan – kitchen, living room and bedroom allrolled into one. The bed was tucked away in the far corner, but the only truly private place in his little home was the bathroom.
‘I’m sure!’ he said. ‘The sofa’s pretty comfy… and I’m used to it. I only built the bed base a week ago. Also, there’s a curtain you can pull around it. I put it up to help keep the draft out… but it’ll give you a bit of privacy.’
‘Oh – cool,’ she said. ‘Okay, thanks.’
Luke saw her swallow. He couldn’t quite work out if she was feeling nervous, knackered, guilty for making him sleep on the sofa… or a mixture of all three.
‘Here,’ he said, reaching for a clean jam jar and filling it from the cold tap. ‘You might need this in the night… after the wine!’
‘Ta,’ she said, taking it from him.
‘Oh… and do you want to hang your wet things on the rack around the wood burner before bed, too?’ he added, kicking himself for not suggesting it earlier. ‘They should be nice and dry by the morning.’
