Page 29 of Fit for Love
Her nose wrinkled as she sniffed the air. “That smells incredible. Is that what I think it is?”
“Depends on what you think it is… If it smells nice, then it definitely is.”
“I think you might need to check on whatever’s in the oven.” The corner of her mouth twitched up. “Unless you want burned offerings.”
“Shit!” I flew to the oven and opened the door. Grabbing a tea towel, I pulled the tray containing the sweet potatoes and onions out, checking out their blackened edges. “Cooking was never exactly my strong point.”
Cora laughed. “I didn’t expect it to be.” She joined me next to the cooker, her crutches clicking on the tiled floor. “Can I help with anything?”
“No. I want to do this for you.” I poked at the slightly black vegetables. “Um, maybe you can get some drinks?”
“You might want to check on the tofu too…” Cora’s words prompted me to glance over at the hob, where the little white blocks weren’t quite that colour any longer.
“Oh God, this is turning out to be a disaster.” I switched my attention to the tofu, moving it around the pan in an attempt to rescue the dish.
The rest of the ingredients appeared to be ready, so I concentrated on dividing the rice, roasted sweet potatoes, tofu, cucumber, spinach and avocado into two bowls. I managed to hide most of the burned bits with the satay sauce and finally sprinkled some sesame seeds and peanuts over the top. It ended up not looking half bad.
Cora had poured us two tall glasses of orange juice and settled herself at the table, an expectant look on her face. “I’m looking forward to trying this culinary masterpiece.”
“You’re humouring me.” I placed the bowl down in front of her, and took the seat to her left. “If you hate it, I totally understand.”
“I’m sure I won’t hate it.”
I watched her face intently as she scooped up a forkful of the rice and vegetables, popped it into her mouth and chewed. She seemed to be chewing for a while.
“Well, it’s different to the way I make it,” she said. “The flavour combinations are maybe a bit stronger than I’m used to.” A small smile crossed her face. “And I don’t hate it. I’m impressed you went to the effort of making it for me.”
Putting my fork down, I turned to face her. “I needed to do something to make up for my horrible behaviour.”
She mirrored my actions. “It wasn’t horrible. Maybe a bit misjudged and misguided, but it wasn’t horrible.”
“I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that financially. I didn’t think things through.”
Cora shrugged. “It’s in the past now—no need to go over it again.”
“I’ve been doing some thinking though. How does this sound?” I took a deep breath and plunged in before I could change my mind. “Why don’t I give you back the difference between what I took from you and what I would normally charge Betsey and the others? So you’d be paying the same as my local clients. I should have done it sooner.”
“That means you’ll have to work for longer to save up for your next trip.”
“And obviously I’d have to have many more sessions with you…” I let the implication sink in as I reached for Cora’s hand. “Whatever you need to get you back on track. To get us back on track,” I added hopefully.
She didn’t pull her hand back straight away, which I considered a minor win. It looked as if she were considering the offer.
“After this injury, I think I’m going to need a lot of sessions. And I can’t think of a better person to help me.”
Her free hand slid to the side of my face and cupped my jaw. “But I’m going to need easing back into things really gently, maybe a little massage to start with?”
“I’m pretty sure I can work on that.” I leaned towards her and met her lips with mine, tasting soy sauce.
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue - Three months later
Cora
As I sipped from the chilled green coconut and drank in the view of the sea on Ipanema Beach, I couldn’t quite believe it. If you’d have asked me a few months ago whether I’d be stretched out on a beach in Brazil with my ex-boyfriend’s best friend, I would have laughed in your face. It was so un-Cora-Appleby-like it was ludicrous.
Next to me, Ethan was prepping the camera, waiting for me to be ready to shoot my first post in a long, long time.
