Page 21 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

‘Well, let’s not start now,’ she said, still feeling how warm her cheeks were. This was not how the conversation needed to happen and she tried to claw back control. ‘Well, this favour I require from you is in no way to be accepted by you as a sign that I like you,’ she carried on. ‘I want you to bear that in mind. In fact, I insist on it.’

‘You can insist all you like,’ he finally said, his eyes glittering with humour. ‘But until I know what it is that you need from me, I won’t commit to anything.’

‘Nothing new there then,’ she retorted.

It had been meant as a joke, but at once, the memory of their getting married in a wedding chapel rushed to the front of her mind. And as she looked into Ethan’s blue eyes, she knew that he was thinking about exactly the same thing. That one night eight years ago, they had committed themselves to each other.

Her cheeks beginning to grow even warmer, she pressed on, trying to maintain control. ‘It’s Katy’s fault,’ she began.‘Although I love her dearly. She was trying to help me out and has managed to get me a huge order for my chocolate truffles. It’s good money. Great, in fact, and would really help me out now that I’m out of a job. The trouble is, it’s a ridiculously large order to be made in a very short space of time. By Bonfire Night, in fact.’

‘I see,’ said Ethan, nodding thoughtfully. ‘And you’ve come here to, what? Ask for my assistance because you remember how good I was in Home Economics?’

She rolled her eyes. ‘All I remember is you stealing my perfect chocolate soufflé, passing it off as your own and getting an A for that particular assignment.’

He grinned. ‘Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that. So what did my effort get you?’

‘A fail because it had sunk without a trace,’ she said, scowling at him. ‘So, no thank you. I most certainly do not want you as my catering assistant.’

‘So what do you want?’ he asked.

She took a deep breath. ‘Your kitchen,’ she told him.

Ethan couldn’t have looked more surprised, she realised as she watched his blue eyes widen. ‘Mykitchen?’ he said, staring around.

‘It’s the perfect size,’ she told him, feeling desperate. ‘I can clean it and get it up to health and safety standards. But it’s the space that I really need. Nowhere else has this much surface area, let alone a pantry where I can store stuff.’ She hesitated. ‘My kitchen is tiny and, erm, the situation’s a bit complicated with Dad.’

‘I see.’ Ethan dragged a hand through his hair. ‘How do you imagine this is going to work?’

‘I don’t know,’ she told him honestly. ‘It’s only for just under four weeks.’

He nodded thoughtfully to himself before saying, ‘During which time I’ll be busy with getting the steam train up and running for this ridiculous Halloween thing that Dad and Grandad want to do.’

‘In which case, I’ll be here during working hours and then I’ll disappear off so we don’t even need to see each other,’ she said, suddenly feeling somewhat hopeful that this crazy idea might just work.

‘You mean I won’t have the pleasure of hearing your soft and dulcet tones each and every day?’ he asked, smiling.

‘No,’ she replied.

For a second, she wondered whether he would just make a joke and refuse her. After all, she was asking to use his home and it was a huge invasion of his privacy. But she was desperate for the money. Plus, a small part of her wanted to see if her business venture had any potential to earn her a living. She wondered whether she should confess as much to him.

But when she looked up, she found him studying her with a serious look in his eyes. ‘Well, seeing as I’m going to get nothing but a clean kitchen out of the deal,’ he finally said, breaking into the silence. ‘How can I possibly say no?’

Libby blew out a sigh as her shoulders finally relaxed. ‘Thank you,’ she said, her shaky voice betraying her and showing just how much it meant to her.

‘Let me dig you out a spare front door key and you can come and go as you like,’ he said.

‘Okay,’ she told him, nodding. She was both surprised but pleased by the offer. Although having her own key would certainly make things easier than hanging around waiting for Ethan to show up to let her in each time. This way, she might not even have to bump into him.

She realised that he was still studying her and, as it had always been with him, it felt as if Ethan could see into her very soul.

Libby drew herself up to as high as her short height would allow before hesitating. ‘This isn’t going to be weird, is it?’ she asked. ‘Us being around each other?’

He shook his head and grinned at her. ‘Of course not,’ he told her.

However, deep down Libby knew the truth. It wouldn’t be weird at all. It was going to be terribly, incredibly, horribly awkward.

But what choice did she have?

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