Page 84 of Coming Home to Wishington Bay
‘You may have misheard.’
‘Funny.’
‘Dinner should be ready in about half an hour.’
‘Holly, you don’t need to cook for me every night, you know.’
‘I don’t. I’m cooking for me and I just happened to do extra.’
‘Again.’
‘I’m not very good as assessing portion size.’
‘Right.’ He grinned. Now that the bruising was receding, I could see the sparkle in his eyes again when he smiled or teased me.
‘And anyway, I haven’t cooked every night. We got fish and chips on our walk a couple of nights ago, and we’ve been to Ned’s.’
‘You know what I mean.’
‘I enjoy it, Gabe. Really. I’m just taking the opportunity to enjoy doing all of these things while I can.’
A shadow flitted across his face before he nodded briefly and began turning away. ‘I’ll just go and shower and feed the mutt.’
‘OK. See you in a bit.’
* * *
‘Delicious. As always,’ Gabe said, replacing the cake plate on the coffee table alongside his stretched-out legs. Mine were out too but didn’t reach nearly so far.
‘Thank you.’
‘So, you finished the pieces you bought last weekend already?’
‘Well, two of them. The little bookshelf just needs its final coat. I’m really happy with how it turned out, after I lined the back with wallpaper.’
‘Did you get that in the village too?’
‘No, it’s something I found tucked in the back of the big armoire in the guest room. Vintage Laura Ashley.’
‘That’ll up the value of it, won’t it?’
‘I don’t really know. I guess it might add a little extra appeal for some.’
‘Can I see them?’
I shook my head.
‘What?’ He pushed himself up a little so that he could face me. ‘Why not?’
‘Because I want you to see them when they’re all finished properly.’
‘Hmm. OK. I guess I can wait. When will that be?’
‘Soon!’ I laughed, replacing my empty tea mug on the table. ‘How are the eyes now?’
‘Fine.’
‘Clearly they’re not fine.’
