I still wanted to help him though. I just hadn’t thought of a way to suggest it outside of work.
Maybe it would have to be in the kitchen instead… I could work with that. The strawberry-basil cheesecake ice cream test had been so much fun, and I couldn’t wait to get back into the kitchen today to finish churning it. I already knew it was going to taste awesome, but I wanted to watch Darcy realise that for himself.
He’d been so much more relaxed yesterday when he’d been working on perfecting the flavour and rolling out the balls of biscuit base we were going to throw in, and I’d loved watching him doing his thing and vibing.
He’d even started singing along to Dolly.
We’d said we were going to test some flavours this summer, and I was more convinced than ever we needed to start sooner rather than later. Before my brain went back to other forms of stress relief I could offer him.
The ones I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about.
“I still think he should try swimming with me,” I said, only half watching as I spooned yoghurt into my bowl. I wasn’t fussy about the amount. “Being in the water is so good for helping you switch off.”
“Not at six in the bloody morning.”
“Why does everyone say that? It’s not that bad.”
“Are yer telling me it’s not cold?”
“Yeah, it is, but it’s not freezing. It’s refreshing! You told me you used to swim in the bay all the time when you were younger.”
“After work,” Dad said with a wry smile. “When I was sweaty and dirty. Then it was nice.”
“Yes, but you were always up and working with the sun anyway,” I said, returning his smile as I stuck the spoon in my bowl and put the tub of yoghurt back in the fridge.
“Best time of the day.” There was a soft look in Dad’s eyes as he gazed out of the kitchen window to his beloved garden. It was small, but his pride and joy, and I’d done my best to help look after it while he supervised from a garden chair. It hadn’t changed much over the years, although the lawn was neater now without my brother and me churning it up.
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I miss my gardens, Owen. I’ve never been away from ’em this long,” he said quietly. “I know they’ll be doing a good job of looking after ’em—after all, I trained most of ’em—but I want to see it for myself. Just sit with me roses for a while, watch the bees on the lavender, see the delphiniums and check they’re being cut back properly so they can bloom again.”
I nodded, knowing I couldn’t deprive him of this. And maybe if he went, he’d remember the recovery would all be worth it in the end. “Then go. Just take it steady, okay? You put all the benches in for a reason. Get a cup of tea and a scone from the café and relax. Do you want me to drop you off before I go? Then you can see if Matthew can come and get you later.”
“I can find someone to give me a lift home,” he said. “Don’t worry, even I know I can’t walk all that way right now.”
“Awesome, sounds like a plan!”
Dad beamed and my heart lit up like a neon sign in the dark. Making people happy had always been something that brought me joy. It was why, wherever I was in the world, I loved working with food. It brought people together in a way nothing else did, and over the years I’d collected people’s recipes and the stories that went with them, so I could take a little bit of that love with me and carry it forward.
Now I just had to figure out how to make Darcy happy.
Without sex.
Although… I was pretty sure I’d seen him looking at me when he thought I was busy. And not just in a casual, friendly, watching what I was doing sort of way.
Obviously, there was a chance I could be wrong but, like, I didn’t think he’d be staring at my arsethatmuch if he wasn’t a little bit interested. He didn’t seem to just be looking at my shorts.
I’d been looking at him too. It was impossible not to.
Darcy was fucking stunning, kind of classically European handsome. Like he should be sitting in a restaurant on the French Rivera in linen trousers and a striped shirt, sipping champagne. In truth, he wasn’t the sort of guy I was usually attracted to, but there was something more about Darcy that stopped me in my tracks.
I think it was his smile. His real smile. The one he wore when he was focused on work and enjoying every second of the process, when the stress slipped away for a second and I got to see who he was underneath it.
It was a smile I wanted to see every day.
Maybe I needed to try flirting a bit, see what his reaction was, and take it from there. If he turned me down then that was that, no hard feelings. And if he was interested, maybe we could have some fun for the rest of the summer. It wasn’t like we had to get married or anything.
I’d made that mistake before.
And I wasn’t going to make it again.
