AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I’m not good at optimism. I prefer to look at the worst possible outcome of a situation or action and, if I reckon I can deal with that, I’ll do it. I’m not sure I could cope with the worst possible outcome of this situation.’
‘I guess I’ll have to do the optimism for both of us, then. Do you know when I first fell for you?’ he asks.
‘No, tell me.’
‘The very first time I saw you. I can remember exactly what you were wearing. I opened the door, and I was blown away. You’re so beautiful, and you looked so damned sexy in your tight jeans and your boots. It was a struggle to contain myself, I can tell you.’
I laugh. ‘My FMBs.’
He looks nonplussed.
‘Katie refers to those boots as my “fuck-me boots”. Looks like she wasn’t wrong!’
Matt laughs. ‘The point is, I knew I wanted to be with you from the start. When did you first fall for me?’
‘Well, I liked you from the moment I met you. You’re a good man, and you were kind to me even when you had no reason to be. As I’ve got to know you better, I’ve liked you more and more. The sex side of it didn’t kick in until I saw you in that towel, though. Seeing you like that did things to me that no man has done before, I can tell you.’
‘Shall I go and get the towel now?’
I glance down at our naked bodies. ‘I rather think that horse has bolted, don’t you?’
He opens his arms and moves slightly away from me. I’m acutely aware of his gaze and, even after everything we’ve done together over the last week, I feel a little self-conscious.
‘I don’t think I could ever tire of looking at you,’ he says huskily.
‘You’re not so bad yourself, you know. Now, stop talking and kiss me.’
27
Any attempt Matt and I might have made to keep our relationship under wraps quickly proves futile. Katie, Bronwyn, and Penny all rumble us pretty much straight away. Katie’s delighted, and I have to put up with her saying ‘I told you so’ on several occasions. At least it simplifies the sleeping arrangements at the flat; Matt has moved into my bedroom and Katie has her room back, not that she sleeps in it that often. She arrives after school every Friday and stays the night. On Saturdays, she works on her homework until around lunchtime, at which point she wanders down to the café to help Bronwyn. They both disappear as soon as we close up, and I don’t see her again until mid-morning on the Sunday, when we trek over to Nan and Grandad’s for lunch.
It seems there’s something in the water, as Penny gleefully informed me a few days ago that Ron and Agnes were ‘stepping out’, according to Agnes. Apparently, they’ve been to the cinema a couple of times for the senior screenings, where they show a variety of old films. ‘They even give you a cup of tea and a biscuit before the show,’ Agnes told Penny in awed tones. He’s bought her flowers, and they’ve even had a bit of a kiss, although Agnes has been firm that she’s not the sort of woman who will put up with any hanky-panky outside marriage.
I don’t know what it is about Penny, but the customers just seem to open up to her. She’s even managed to make some progress in solving the infamous bum-pinching mystery. I’ve never been convinced by Agnes’s story that Harold pinched her bum and Penny has managed to confirm it, as it turns out that Harold is gay. He and his partner, George, were together for fifty years, and were one of the first gay couples in the area to get married when it became legal. Sadly, George was diagnosed with cancer and died just over two years ago. Given all of that, we think it’s extremely unlikely that he’d have been making sexual advances on Agnes. Penny has explained all of this to Agnes as tactfully as she can and, apparently, Agnes has now downgraded Harold from ‘dirty pervert’ to ‘a bit suspicious’.
I hesitate to say it in case I jinx something, but the café is really starting to thrive again and we’re making a healthy profit. I came across a quick recipe for Hollandaise sauce in Nora’s binder, so our breakfast menu now includes eggs Benedict and eggs Florentine, as well as a selection of omelettes for people who fancy something a bit lighter than our traditional fare. Penny somehow got Ron and Agnes to try the eggs Benedict one morning instead of their usual breakfasts, and I think Ron would have it every day if he were left to his own devices. Unfortunately for him, Agnes looked up the sauce and was horrified by the amount of butter in it, so he’s only allowed it once a week. We are getting younger people in too and, even though they sometimes bring pushchairs with screaming babies and toddlers, Ron seems far too wrapped up in Agnes to notice.
‘I’ve had two ideas,’ Katie announces, as she, Matt and I settle down to our dinner one Friday night. ‘Do you want to hear them?’
‘If we must,’ I tell her, with a wink.
‘The first one is about Nan and Grandad. You know you said you were trying to think of a way to say thank you to them for looking after us for all of these years?’
‘Yes.’
‘What about a cruise? Nan’s always wanted to go on a cruise.’
‘Ooh. Good idea. Where did you have in mind?’
‘I don’t know. I was hoping you’d help with that bit if you liked the idea. The Med is nice, but the weather can be a bit iffy. The Caribbean is more exotic, but I’m not sure whether they’d enjoy a long-haul flight.’
‘The Caribbean is definitely more special,’ I agree.
‘It’ll be a lot more expensive, though,’ Matt counters. ‘The Med might be more affordable.’
Although we’ve been a couple for a few weeks, I don’t feel ready to tell him about the money I inherited from Fred – not the full details, anyway – so I decide to move the conversation on.
‘Why don’t we pop up to the travel agents tomorrow after we close up?’ I say to Katie. ‘Unless you and Bronwyn already have something planned?’
