When Declan came back downstairs after putting Daniel to bed, Poppy had dinner completely ready. She’d made a chicken dish with a cider and cream sauce that she’d been making for years, the one that Declan had set on fire. It was Declan’s second-favourite recipe of hers. His top favourite was a prawn curry. She’d decided on chicken because, if the evening panned out the way she hoped, it would be better if Declan hadn’t eaten curry.
‘Wow, thank you,’ said Declan, when he walked into the kitchen and saw the table laid for the two of them. ‘This looks nice. Napkins and everything.’
‘I miss cooking for you.’ What she really meant wasI miss youfull stop.
‘I’ve missed you cooking for me.’ He was smiling at her in the way that in the past would have preceded a long kiss. She smiled back. And neither of them moved. Yep, awkward.
‘Help yourself to rice and broccoli and I’ll bring the chicken over,’ she said, pouring him a glass of Chablis.
‘I love this meal,’ Declan said as he sat down.
‘I know you do.’ Did cooking some of someone’s favourite food show that you wanted to bridge the gap between you? Hopefully. She’d also made a Key lime pie, his all-time top favourite, for pudding.
She really liked the way he held his knife and fork.
‘What?’ he asked, looking at her staring.
‘I like your hands.’ Hmm. In one short sentence she’d managed to be weird and stalkeryandsound like she was flirting incompetently with her own estranged husband. She needed to up her game. She smiled at him. You couldn’t go wrong with a smile.
‘Thank you.’ He grinned.
She liked his smile a lot, too. She could feel her own lips curving more widely in response.
It was a long time since they’d just sat and smiled at each other like that. She kind of didn’t want to break the moment but she also kind of suddenly just really wanted to get on with what she had to say.
‘So I thought that it would be good to talk.’ Her heart was beating really fast, thudding in her ears. ‘About our situation.’
‘Good idea.’ Declan didn’tlooklike he thought it was a good idea. His smile had gone and he had his lips pressed together and his eyes had gone really hard. He never looked like that. Poppy opened her mouth to speak but Declan beat her to it. ‘Could I possibly say something first? If you wouldn’t mind? Quickly?’
Maybe she’d been too awful recently. Maybe he was going to say that he wanted a divorce. Please no.
‘Yes, of course,’ she said.
Please, please, please let it not be a request for a divorce.
What if he’d met someone else while they were separated? Everyone loved a doctor. And he was a particularly gorgeous doctor. And very nice. And very funny. Please, please, please no.
He was clearing his throat like he couldn’t get any words out. She closed her eyes. He was going to say something awful. Obviously he was.
‘I love you, Poppy. I love you so much. I never wanted to hurt you. From the moment I met you I just wanted to be with you. I’m so sorry for how much I hurt you. I love you.’
Poppy opened her eyes in shock. They were suddenly full of tears. She couldn’t speak at first.
‘I love you too,’ she whispered, finally. ‘And I’m so, so sorry for asking you to leave.’
‘Please don’t apologise.’
A tear dribbled down Poppy’s cheek. She was fairly sure that some mascara would have gone with it. She’d never been good with make-up. Annoying to have made a big effort to look as good as possible for Declan this evening and to end up looking like a panda.
Declan stood up, walked over to the work surface and got a piece of kitchen roll. Then he moved over to Poppy and put one hand under her chin and wiped her cheeks with the paper. It felt like the most romantic gesture anyone had ever made in the history of the world, ever.
He looked at her eyes and then at her lips and Poppy held her breath. He was going to kiss her. He definitely was.Soexciting.
And then hebloodysat back down and said, ‘Thank you very much for making this chicken. It’s delicious.’
And then he bloody,bloodypicked up his cutlery and started eatingagain.
Poppy sat and stared at him. What? Why was heeating? They were in the middle of an enormous conversation.
