His eyebrows arched, and before she could say anything else, he crossed the short space between them and kissed her.
‘Get a room, you two,’ Thommo yelled, and Cruz released El. ‘Oh, wait. You already have one.’
Thommo guffawed, until Cruz shot him a death stare. Thommo switched to a smirk as he retreated into Reception.
‘Sorry about that,’ Cruz said, staring at El’s lips.
‘Sorry about the kiss or about having an audience?’
‘About that bozo witnessing it.’
‘You don’t regret the kiss?’
‘The only thing I regret in the last twenty-four hours is firing you. Not my finest moment. I’ve always been a hothead, according to Mum.’
‘Ferne is a wise woman.’ She cocked a hip. ‘After all, she hired me, and look how that’s turned out.’
‘Let’s be honest. You wouldn’t have had a viral video unless all the online pervs liked what they saw.’ He gestured at his torso and puffed his chest out. ‘You may have shot that video, but the subject got the views.’
‘That, and my mortifying commentary.’
He cupped her cheek. ‘You can still take it down. I won’t mind.’
She shrugged. ‘People will move on. Today’s viral video will be supplanted by another tomorrow.’
‘So you forgive me for being a grouch and firing you?’
‘That depends.’
‘On?’
‘Whether you have any other jobs for me.’
He lowered his hand and snapped his fingers. ‘That’s why I came to find you. To apologise and grovel, and to ask if you’d like to promote the restaurant.’
Elora beamed and flung her arms around his neck. ‘I thought you’d never ask. I can’t wait to get Smashed noticed. Do you think you could cook naked, wearing nothing but an apron? Because I’m sure that would go viral—’
He kissed her again and this time, she broke the kiss to murmur, ‘I do have a room, as Thommo kindly pointed out.’
‘What are we waiting for?’
CHAPTER
41
After Jesse left, Ferne didn’t move from the sofa for an hour, her body numb, her soul aching. She mindlessly scrolled through Facebook and Instagram, not giving a flying fig that Mae had won best vanilla sponge at the Mildura Fair, or that Lori’s third grandchild had started walking at ten months. Even the video Elora had posted of Cruz didn’t hold her attention, though she wondered how her son was coping with the high views and endless comments.
Along with the revealing video, Elora had done an amazing job revamping the farm’s profile pages. She’d posted gorgeous photos along with facts (boil the peel and pits of avocados to make a pink dye), polls—Do you like Haas or Shepard avocados better?—and a fun quiz with questions likeWhich fruit isn’t a berry: a blueberry, a strawberry, an avocado, or a banana?The engagement on the page had skyrocketed along with follower numbers, and Ferne couldn’t be happier.
Though all the viral videos in the world wouldn’t change the farm’s bottom line unless they brought in new customers. She knew Cruz would be working double time, but she’d also been toying with an idea that might be worth exploring. She’d attended an avocado growers meeting recently, where the chairman had waxed lyrical about the expanding export market into India. Australia, a relatively small player in the world avocado market, exported 22,000 tonnes worldwide last year, a hundred percent increase on the previous year, and now that the Indians had discovered the health benefits of the fruit, they wanted more. With increasing demand and Australia lowering tariffs, farms like Kinstead Avocados could make a fortune, if they had an in.
Like Taj. Ferne remembered him telling her, when he’d worked as a picker on the farm, that his uncle in Mumbai had a monopoly on the markets in the city, along with owning a chain of high-end restaurants, and if India ever got with the program of using avocados, Kinstead could monopolise. She’d laughed at the time, not caring about raising the farm’s bottom line, more obsessed with the reappearance of her first love and contemplating leaving her life behind for him. While she’d come to her senses and stayed, she wondered if Taj’s uncle would be a lead worth exploring now.
When Taj had appeared on her doorstep, the farm had been the furthest thing from her mind, but after chatting with Cruz, perhaps she’d bring it up when Taj arrived. He’d texted her, solicitous and concerned, asking if it was still okay to pop over with the lunch leftovers, and she’d said yes. She didn’t want to dwell anymore. Confronting Jesse had been cathartic but having Taj here would be a welcome distraction.
When the app on her phone buzzed ten minutes later and she let Taj into the foyer, she still hadn’t moved from the sofa, and had to haul herself up with effort. Every bone in her body ached like she’d tumbled down stairs, but she knew that her exhaustion stemmed from emotional upheaval.
She opened the door to find Taj with four glass containers filled with food in his arms.
