Ed’s gaze swung back to Betty, disbelieving.
Betty caught it too and laughed. She reached out and patted Ed’s arm. “Don’t worry, I taught him well. It’ll be delicious.”
“Oh, I wasn’t—”
“Yeah, you were.” Oliver arched an eyebrow as Ed went to protest again, gratified when he snapped his mouth shut. “Come on. I want to see you eat your words.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Ed muttered, but he followed Oliver and Betty inside.
Oliver smiled to himself and led the way into the kitchen.
After making sure Betty was comfortable in her chair, he got three cups out. “Tea or coffee?”
Ed stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring down at the four cats milling around his legs. “Um... tea, please.”
“Milk, sugar?”
“Milk and one sugar,” he answered, sounding a little distracted. “I thought you only had two cats?”
Oliver popped three teabags in the waiting cups and turned around to face him, leaning against the worktop. “We’ve actually got six at the minute, but Monty’s being fostered, so he won’t be here long, so technically five.”
“Monty?” By this point Ed had bent down to stroke Arthur, the ginger cat who had his big fat paws on Ed’s knee, stretching up to be fussed.
“He’s in the spare room.” Oliver gestured behind them. “Got to keep him separate from these lot.”
“Wow.” Since Ed had made the cardinal mistake of stroking one cat, he now had four of them vying for his attention. “That’s a lot of cats.”
Betty snorted. “If it wasn’t for Oliver and the rest of my family reining me in, I’d have about ten!” She produced a packet of cat treats from her pocket. The mere rustle of plastic had all feline attention focused on her, giving Ed a reprieve.
He straightened and accepted the tea Oliver passed to him. “Thanks.”
“Want to sit outside?” The day had been another mild one, and although the sun was setting, the evening wasn’t all that cold yet. Oliver didn’t think so anyway, and after being cooped up in an office all day, he fancied some fresh air. “We have lights out there.”
Ed glanced at Betty, and Oliver’s heart warmed as he read the concern in his eyes.
Betty noticed it too, and she waved him away with her hand. “You two boys go ahead; I’ve got my crossword to do.” With that she pulled the folded newspaper closer, picked up a pen, and proceeded to ignore them. Subtle she was not.
“Go on,” Oliver encouraged, I’ll be out in a sec with cake.
After cutting three generous pieces, Oliver set one next to Betty, then took the other two out to the patio. The solar lights strung around the pack of the patio were starting to come on—not offering much light—but they looked nice. He set the plates on the table and reached above them to turn on the patio heater. At Ed’s questioning look, he said, “It’s colder than I expected.”
He took a seat next to Ed and picked up his tea.
In the silence as they both drank, it occurred to Oliver how cosy this was. Almost date-like. Fairy lights, patio heater, the two of them alone under the stars. Apart from the fact they were sat at the bottom of Betty’s garden, with her probably having a clear view of them. Oliver chuckled into his tea.
“What’s funny?” Ed’s voice startled him, and Oliver looked up quickly.
Telling Ed this felt like being on a date would no doubt bring on a whole other level of awkwardness, which Oliver had no wish to sit through. Instead he asked, “How come you were chatting to Betty anyway?” He took a bite of cake, waiting for Ed to answer.
“You said she wanted to get to know me better.”
“That’s true,” Oliver conceded. “But I didn’t think you’d actually take her up on it.” He smiled to soften his next words. “No offence, mate, but you don’t seem the type to just pop round for tea and a chat.”
To his relief, Ed barked out a laugh. “It occurred to me today that it might look a bit odd to see people coming and going as they pick up or drop off their stuff for me to fix. Didn’t want Betty—or the other neighbours—to think I was running a drug den or anything.”
It was Oliver’s turn to laugh, almost choking on cake. “Yeah, because you really look the part.”
Ed looked down at his jeans, boots, and dark-brown winter coat, his eyebrows scrunched together as though wondering if there was something wrong with what he had on.
