Page 79 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

‘Ethan knows now,’ he added. ‘I told him when he was home for dad’s birthday.’

She was silent again for a while, twirling a lock of hair around and around her finger and he couldn’t stop himself watching in a daze. For someone who had just got out of bed, she looked pretty good. Great in fact. But he had stepped way over the line by bringing her downstairs and he wouldn’t do so again. No matter how good she looked.

‘So now you understand why I can’t open up a restaurant?’

‘No,’ she told him, shaking her head. ‘I don’t understand that bit at all.’

‘Because my reputation is in tatters,’ he replied.

She waved her arm around. ‘Do you really think that’s going to matter to anyone around here? Do they even know? And will they even care if they did?’

‘You don’t understand,’ he told her, hesitating to speak the truth.

‘You’ve lost your nerve,’ she said after a short silence.

It wasn’t an accusation. Just a guess. And a true one at that.

So he nodded his head, unable to find the words in case his voice broke on them. Cooking was everything to him and he missed it terribly.

‘But, you know, you’ve already cooked for a lot of people around here,’ she carried on. ‘Last night,’ she reminded him. ‘With the pizzas.’

‘Pizzas are easy,’ he told her with a shrug.

‘Not for me,’ she replied. ‘Not for a lot of people. You cooked for everyone without thinking about it and, I think, you enjoyed it.’

He sat and thought for a while. He hated to admit it, but she was right. Kneading the dough, rushing around trying to cook for everyone. He had temporarily forgotten his fears and just cooked.

‘And you always seemed to enjoy cooking for me as well,’ she added.

Ryan nodded. He had loved creating new dishes for Katy each night. Watching her enjoy the food that he had cooked for dinner had made him somehow feel whole again. He hadn’t worried about bad reviews or anything like that. Just felt that old passion come alive, if only for a brief time each evening.

‘But cooking for a restaurant is different,’ he said out loud.

‘I know,’ she replied.

He looked at her; to his surprise, he felt like laughing. ‘Are you admitting that you’re actually wrong for once?’ he asked.

‘No,’ she told him, standing up. ‘Absolutely not. But maybe I should have asked you first. I’ve overstepped the mark and for that, I’m sorry.’ Her eyes twinkled with humour. ‘Maybe after this morning, this makes us even.’

He smiled up at her. ‘Maybe it does.’

‘So what do you think?’ she asked softly.

He knew what she was asking and for a while he was quiet. But for once the fear wasn’t quite as strong as it had been in previous weeks. Perhaps sharing the burden had lessened some of the anxiety he felt. And after all, everyone had enjoyed their pizza last night, hadn’t they?

‘Well,’ he said, having made his decision and standing up next to her. ‘This restaurant was your idea so you’d better help me run it until you get a better offer elsewhere. That way I can tell you that I told you so when it fails.’

‘It’s not going to fail,’ she said softly. ‘I’ve tasted your food, remember? It’s excellent. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my feet are freezing.’

He looked down in horror, realising that she was in bare feet.

‘I could carry you back upstairs if you want,’ he joked.

She blushed. ‘I think I can manage,’ she told him, with a smile.

‘Of course,’ he replied quickly, thinking that carrying her downstairs had obviously been quite enough for Katy to endure.

As he sat on the platform whilst she headed back upstairs, he began to wonder whether she was right. Was opening a pizza restaurant in the village going to work?