Page 73 of The Cornish Christmas Book Clu
‘I don’t know. She hasn’t mentioned it. If we aren’t there, have a happy Christmas and we’ll see you on Boxing Day.’
Hopefully Tamara wouldn’t mind that he’d accepted an invitation for them to join the family for a buffet lunch before his father returned to Scotland. After his long, soul-baring conversation with Wally, he was able to accept that loving and trusting his father so completely, the way he’d done as a young boy, was never going to happen. They’d inched towards a sort of benign, caring friendship where Gage wouldn’t ask more of Wally than he was capable of giving.
‘Go and make your girlfriend happy,’ Wally said and clapped a beefy hand on his shoulder. ‘If I’d done more of that and less of being selfish—’
‘We can’t change the past, only the way we deal with it going forward.’ Gage noticed his family’s startled looks. ‘That’s the sort of counsellor speak I learned after my knee injury did my head in.’
‘You’re a good boy.’ His father swiped at his eyes. ‘Now clear off before I start blubbing like a wee bairn.’
After a round of hugs, kisses and farewells, Gage trudged off down the road, slipping down the alleyway beside the pub. He tapped on the kitchen door and Rocky came out.
‘You can’t take her away, mate. The pub is packed and I’ll never be ready for tomorrow without help.’
‘Relax. I came to offer another pair of these.’ Gage waggled his hands.
Rocky tugged him inside and he came face to face with a stunned Tamara.
‘Surprise.’
‘It certainly is.’ A thread of uncertainty ran through her voice. Had he made the wrong choice by coming? But her eyes softened with relief. ‘Come with me. I’ll put you on carrots and parsnips. There’s a stool you can perch on.’ She steered him away from the chef, who headed straight back to the fryer to pull out a sizzling batch of chips.
Gage took the black apron she offered and slipped it over his head before knotting the ties around his waist.
‘I’m almost done with the potatoes and then I’ll tackle the sprouts. Here’s your task.’
A massive orange mesh bag of carrots sat on the floor by another just like it, packed with parsnips.
She found him a chopping board, peeler and sharp knife. ‘Cut them about finger size if you can. They’ll be glazed with honey and roasted together tomorrow.’
For a while they worked in companionable silence and as the piles of cut-up vegetables grew, Gage sensed time slipping away.
‘Dad and I cleared the air.’ He noticed her surprise when he called Wally that. Keeping his voice low, he gave her a shortened version of what had happened after she’d left that morning. ‘I didn’t plan to close early, but he really wanted me to head over to Becky’s and I thought—’
‘You don’t need to apologise for wanting to spend time with your family.’
That was the rub. His family. He’d been so caught up in the surprising turn of events that she’d ended up feeling left out.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t call and that I let you worry about how it went.’ Gage set the knife down and touched her arm. ‘Sharing is new to me. Any chance you’ll cut me a little slack?’
‘Of course. If you’ll do the same for me?’ She sounded timid and unsure. ‘I’ve relied on myself so long it’s hard to give up that independence.’
‘I would never ask you to do that, or want you to,’ he said fiercely. ‘Your independence and strength caught my eye that first day. It’s a huge part of what makes you “you”.’
‘It was childish of me not to come to Becky’s. I almost did. I — bloody hell, you saw me, didn’t you?’ Her face flared a bright pillar-box red owing little to the steamy kitchen. ‘Dodging outside the house and sneaking away?’
‘Guilty as charged. I couldn’t help it.’
‘So, this is your way of telling me not to become a spy.’
‘Stick to cakes and crumbles.’ Kissing her was inevitable and Gage made the most of it.
A ‘Fuck me!’ from Rocky pulled them out of things, reminding Gage exactly where he was. Rocky had grabbed a plastic bucket from under the counter and positioned it on top of a puddle of water beside the walk-in fridge. ‘This roof leaks like a bloody sieve.’
‘It’s been a problem for a while,’ Tamara said. ‘Pixie’s complained to the brewery a million times, but they keep putting off doing the repairs.’
‘I’m surprised Health and Safety haven’t picked them up for it,’ Gage said.
Rocky scoffed. ‘That’s because it’s always been dry when we’ve had inspections,’
