Page 51 of You Had Me At Pumpkin Patch
She was met with silence again, albeit a contemplative one.
‘You did say you’d still help me, even if...’ She let her words trail off. Even if he couldn’t bring himself to fall for her.
‘Have you spoken to Agnes?’
‘Actually, yes.’
Rosie had marched to the house to speak to her earlier, after her video chat with Vix. Agnes had admitted that some days she felt tempted to give up the pressures of farm life, and the big house with the nippy breezes and knackered rooftop. But she’d shown Rosie her quote for a new roof, plus her costs to keep the place running. The figures had made Rosie’s eyes water – yet nothing was impossible. If she could just convince Zain to get on board with her launch ideas, surely, they could fight for this?
She pushed her notebook of figures under his nose.
‘This is why we need a flying start.’ She pointed to the amount for the roof alone. ‘We need to make this sum before rainy winter, unless Agnes and the animals turn into amphibious frogs. Either you’re with me, or you can say hello to your new job with The Three Tuxedos, filling in the lake with rock.’
Well, there was no point in beating around the bush.
‘I can’t think when I’m hungry.’ Zain stood up sharply. ‘Have you eaten?’
Rosie shook her head. She’d been on the go since they’d seen the men from Cyber Purrz that morning, and her stomach had been a knot of nerves.
He eyed her for a moment, then exhaled. ‘Then you’d better come in.’
Rosie nodded. She remembered Vix’s advice to keep the lines of communication open with Zain if she wanted to get to the bottom of things. Although right then, it was enough of a mission to get him onside to save their home.
Rosie followed him into his cabin, trying to ignore the heady scent of cedar and general manly Zain-ness that hung in the air. Steve was curled up on the foot of his bed, and she resisted the urge to tickle him and whispertraitorinto his large, bat-like ear. He lifted his head and seemed to raise his eyebrows at her, if a hairless cat even had them.
And was that a row of Steve-sized denim waistcoats drying on a makeshift line near the sunny window? Zain would never cease to surprise her.
‘You’ve got it good,’ Rosie giggle-whispered, giving Steve’s bald head a gentle rub.
Zain was busy pulling out bread and hunks of meat and cheese from cupboards and his small fridge. He looked at his ingredients as though he was considering making something and instead threw it onto a tray with some knives. He pushed a collection of gnarled pumpkins aside and dropped the tray onto a table.
‘I’ll get beers,’ he said, pacing back to the fridge.
Rosie half-expected him to crack them open with his teeth, but he came back with a Swiss army knife and used the gadget. He put it down and took a swig. The wordDenniswas inscribed on it and Rosie remembered Zain mentioning a foster parent with that name.
Inscriptions. Her mind bounced tothe boxand the thing James had left behind with the inscription that had surprised her. She was thinking of her late not-quite fiancé more lately – generally not in a positive way – and for some reason he’d crept into her manuscript and had been sized up againstCain. Though she had the feeling she’d delete James when she got to the root of what was bugging her. And she was in no rush to ever mention him, or her embarrassing naivety, to Zain.
‘I didn’t steal it,’ said Zain, making her jump from her thoughts by plonking down his beer and sinking into a chair. ‘He died. His wife Pru gave it to me.’
‘Do you miss him?’ Rosie asked gently, as she sat opposite Zain at the table.
He busied himself cutting bread, more roughly than he needed to. ‘Didn’t see him much in his later years. Staying in touch isn’t really a thing when you bounce from home to home. Anyway. I think I disappointed him.’
‘Don’t say that.’ Rosie reached her hand across to touch his arm, then pulled it back. Maybe it was safer if they maintained their boundaries. ‘I’m sure you didn’t.’
‘No need to be sad.’ He dropped a chunk of bread in front of her. ‘I disappoint people at times – which is why you’re better off out of it. You’re too good for that.’ The look he gave her seemed loaded with apology. ‘It’s just one of life’s facts. Like the grass is green, or like Steve has the same number of legs as a tripod.’
Zain was clearly trying to make light of it, so she allowed him a smile. ‘I wish you wouldn’t think like that.’
‘What? He’s the fastest cat in the land. I wouldn’t have him any other way.’
‘Not about the cat.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘About yourself. And you should let people make their own judgements.’
His abrupt headshake told her the case was closed.
They prepared their meat and cheese in silence. Rosie still had her notebook for the launch party planning, but it didn’t feel like the moment for that either.
‘Do you want to talk about your parents?’ Rosie asked, before she’d had chance to overthink it. If she ever wanted to understand him, it was a good place to start. She’d wondered about his background since he’d briefly mentioned it.
