Page 14 of Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat
He didn’t say another word and picked up his sandwich to take a large bite. Tom almost choked on the strange combination of flavours but forced himself to swallow.
‘I wasn’t sure what to put in yours so I went with everything.’ A tiny smile pulled at her mouth. ‘Did I overdoit?’
He cautiously peeled back one corner. ‘Can’t say I’ve ever had butter, mayonnaise and mustard on a sandwich at the same time but it’s interesting.’ Bravely he kept eating and waded his way through the whole thing, all the time sensing her watching him. Tom drank the last of the lemonade. ‘Thanks for lunch. I’d better get back to work because the logs won’t cut themselves.’ He noticedshe’d barely touched her own sandwich. ‘Weren’t you hungry?’
Fee shrugged. ‘Not really. I’ll put it in the fridge and eat it later.’
‘You gonna be okay?’ He stood and rested his hand on her shoulder, the tension radiating through his fingers.
‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘No clue.’ Tom prepared to make a swift retreat. ‘You know where I am if you need anything.’ He left,striding off back to his own cabin without a backward glance.
Fee clasped her hands over her face and sank back into the rocking chair.
If she didn’t do something constructive she’d be tempted to raid the emergency supply of sleeping pills she’d tucked into her bag before getting on the plane. Fee gathered their plates and glasses before hurrying back indoors. Before she couldchange her mind she put the dishes by the sink and went back outside. A brisk walk around the lake might take her mind off Tom plus get her some much needed exercise. Hopefully it’d also give her an appetite to face eating lunch on her return.
Half way around she pushed her worries aside and started to enjoy herself. Fee slowed her pace and a tiny grey squirrel scurried in front of hertoes. The dappled sun trickled in through the trees to brighten the fiery autumn leaves and she made a snap decision. To hell with Doctor Michael. Tomorrow she’d go into Pine Ridge and buy a camera. It didn’t matter if it was the cheapest on the market – anything would do rather than missing capturing the photos she framed in her head everywhere she went.
When she made it back to Tom’scabin she hurried on by. Fee searched in her pocket for her keys but remembered she’d been too agitated when she left to think about locking up.Idiot.
‘Good afternoon, my dear. Isn’t it a beautiful day?’
She jerked around, coming face to face with a white-haired older man. He gave her a kindly smile and gestured towards her cabin.
‘Lovely places, aren’t they?’ He heldout his hand. ‘Abel Burton. My wife, Emily, and I are in Sevier cabin next door.’
Fee managed to introduce herself and make polite conversation for a couple of minutes.
‘I’d better be going or my better half will wonder where I’ve got to. If she sees me chatting up a pretty young woman she might get jealous.’ His cheerful grin made it clear there was only one woman for him anda pang of envy shot through Fee.
She didn’t have any clue how people did the loving-for-life thing. All she’d seen growing up was a constant rotation of men through her mother’s life, most not staying long enough for Fee to remember their names. Maddy Winter’s philosophy was that being tied to one man was unnatural.
‘It was very nice to meet you.’ She smiled and hurried away beforeher neighbour could decide to invite her for dinner or something equally sociable. From now on she’d keep to herself as she’d intended to in the first place.
