‘They look as though they get on well.’ He watched Daniel hand Peter an apron and help him tie it on. The arrangement and how it obviously seemed to work gave Linc a new appreciation for the way families could form unconventionally and it gave him all the more reassurance that what he’d been up to was a good thing rather than anything to be ashamed of, as his last girlfriend had insinuated. He’d stopped telling people about it after her reaction, which was far from approving and had dented his self-belief, made him question his motives.
Peter ran off to wash his hands in the kitchen and was soon helping out Troy, the other member of staff, wipe down the biggest of all the tables and clear the detritus now the party had headed off.
‘How old is he?’ Linc asked Daniel when Lucy went on her way having delivered Peter safely.
‘He’s eight, almost nine.’
‘He seems a great kid. Having more than one dad doesn’t appear to cause him any angst.’
‘Yeah, I guess he could be really messed up with the way things have gone, but he isn’t. A lot of that is down to Giselle. She’s a very good friend of mine, hasn’t had the easiest time.’
When another group of customers came into the shack Linc decided it was time to leave Daniel to it. ‘I’ll be off. This place is one of the busiest eateries I think I’ve been in,’ he grinned.
‘It keeps me sane,’ said Daniel, before adding, ‘Take some waffles on the house.’ He indicated for Linc to follow him through to the kitchen before he left.
‘When they smell this good, how can I say no?’
They went into the kitchen, where Peter was washing up at the sink and Troy had started to make the batter for savoury waffles. The kitchen smelt glorious with the salty sizzle of freshly fried bacon hanging in the air as Troy added it along with grated cheddar cheese and spring onions to a batter mixture before pouring it into the heated waffle iron.
Linc enjoyed his savoury waffles with sharp cheddar cheese and bacon sitting on the bench on the veranda of the shack while Daniel got back to work, and it was just the snack he needed before he headed over to the bakery to take charge of what was going on there. Being the one at the helm felt good when so much of the past year had been out of his control. And seeing Daniel around Peter today had reminded him how much he valued family. One day he might even want one of his own, but in a weird way Orla had put a stop to any such desires he might have had when in fact she’d been trying to do the exact opposite.
*
‘You look more shattered than I do,’ said Etna that evening when Linc emerged from the bathroom after an extra-long shower. He’d stood in there soothing his aching muscles after a full afternoon that lasted well into the evening at the bakery. He’d put in more cabinetry, installed shelves, positioned the new downlights and dragged out a load of debris to the back garden ready for Harvey to sort through and get rid of. And, disappointingly, the only time he’d seen Jade was as she carried a cake box out to her car and drove off somewhere else.
‘Thanks, love you too,’ he called back over his shoulder as he went to his room, a boxroom that he could only shut the door of if he went right inside and up to the very edge of his bed, and this time at least he managed not to trip over the guitar case jutting out from beneath the single bed he was almost too long for.
He pulled on jeans. The weather had gone from a sunny summer’s afternoon to a gloomy evening that had him putting the lights on already. He’d chopped the dinner ingredients as soon as he got in, though, in case Etna came back when he was still in the bathroom, since she had a tendency to do things herself before anyone else could. Tonight, he was making them Moroccan chicken with roasted vegetables and couscous, and after bashing his elbow on the wardrobe door in the tight space as he pulled a T-shirt over his head, he was about to head out to carry on prepping when he heard a yelp that had him sprinting into the kitchen.
He couldn’t see Etna at first. ‘Where are you?’
‘Down here,’ she whimpered.
He saw her around the other side of the bench, slumped on the floor. ‘What happened? Did you slip?’ He went to help her up.
‘I stumbled,’ she groaned, the obvious source of her pain being her ankle given the way she tentatively tried to touch it and wouldn’t let him move her. ‘I think it’s twisted. Ouch, it hurts.’
‘Come on, let me help you up.’
‘I can’t, it’s too painful.’
‘So, you’re going to sleep down there tonight then?’ When she pulled a face at him he said, ‘Didn’t think so.’ He hooked an arm around her and had her put both her arms around his neck, placing her weight on the foot that didn’t have an issue, and with a bit of huffing and puffing from Etna he finally helped her over to the sofa.
In the absence of any ice cubes in the freezer he pulled out a packet of frozen peas and once he’d elevated her leg with the use of a cushion beneath, he positioned the packet he’d wrapped in a tea towel gently around her ankle. ‘How does that feel?’
‘Better.’
‘I’ll give the doctor a call.’
She dismissed the notion with a grunt. ‘They won’t be able to do anything more than you’re doing. A bit of rest and I’ll be fine.’
‘It might be a good idea to get it checked, make sure it’s only a sprain.’
‘You’re fussing.’
‘I tell you what. We’ll have dinner first and then, after we’ve eaten, see how it feels.’ He sensed it wouldn’t feel any better at all by the way it seemed to have swollen up already, but letting her think she was the one in control was the only way to placate her.
He took charge in the kitchen and Etna was only allowed to move slightly once dinner was ready, just enough so she could eat from a plate on a tray on her lap. And after they’d eaten, when it was clear she was in just as much pain as before, not taking no for an answer, Linc helped her down the stairs and to his car so he could take her to the urgent care centre and at least make sure nothing was broken.
