AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s so quick!”
“Yeah, much faster than using a paint brush. Hey, you’re pretty good at that. You sure you haven’t done this before?” he teased.
Finishing the second door, I leaned back on my heels and pulled the mask off, flashing him a smile. “I haven’t, but I guess being a chef has some crossover skills.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
“Well, you have to be pretty strong, to lift heavy pots and bags of ingredients. You also need to have good fine motor skills, for the fiddly stuff. And really good concentration is a must.”
“Makes sense.”
I put the mask back on and sprayed the next door, feeling his eyes on me the whole time. When I’d finished the first row of doors, Matt got to his feet. “Here, my turn.” As he took the spray gun, mask and goggles from me, he slipped his arm around my waist, pulled me against him and kissed me hard.
“Mmm, maybe we should take a break and…” I said, when he finally raised his head.
“And?”
“Have coffee,” I grinned. He chuckled.
“Coffee sounds great.”
I smiled to myself as I went off to the guest house to make our coffee. This new arrangement was good. I liked it. I liked it alot. It felt very easy and natural. And hot. There was a constant simmering tension between us that made me feel like we could both go off at any moment. Could just tear each other’s clothes off and have that searing hot sex I couldn’t stop thinking about. “Jesus, Munro, get a grip,” I said to myself as I felt the ache between my legs at the very idea of it. Was I becoming a nympho? I smiled to myself again. Whoever would have thought that of Zara Munro?
Bringing our coffee back to the patio, I handed Matt his mug and then sat down on the low wall. It was a glistening early fall day, and the leaves on the maple trees were just starting to turn. The air was crisp and cool as I breathed deeply. Matt drank his coffee fairly quickly, then returned to work spraying.
“Tell me about your husband,” he said gently, keeping his eyes on his task.
I was surprised that I didn’t instantly recoil at the request. I was such an intensely private person and for me, there was a lot of shame and embarrassment associated with my marriage and its end. But, somehow, I didn’t mind Matt asking. So I told him. Told him everything. From when I’d first met Greg, to the wedding, to moving to New York. The restaurant. How hard I’d worked. How I’d thought we were a team, working toward the same goal. How wrong I’d been. The only part I didn’t mention was the debt. There was still too much shame attached to it for me to talk about it, even to him.
He didn’t say anything. Just kept going with his work. When I was finally done, he straightened up, removing his mask and goggles. I kept my eyes down as he walked toward me. Reaching down, he took my hand in his and pulled me up into a hug, wrapping his arms around me and just holding me. Sighing, I slipped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest. It was so much more comfort than any words he could have said.
“Thanks,” I said when I finally pulled away. His answer was to press a kiss to my forehead.
“I’m just gonna grab my lunch from the truck.”
“Okay. I’ll make something quick for myself too and we can eat together. Maybe another coffee to go with?”
“Sounds good.”
I fixed myself a sandwich, watching thoughtfully as Matt walked back from his truck with his lunch bag. He was just so easy to be with, so kind and funny. I knew I wasn’t one who made friends easily, that I was a loner. And I certainly wasn’t one who shared her darkest secrets with just anyone. But it had been so easy to talk to him about that. In some ways, I felt like I’d known him for twenty years.
I refilled our coffee mugs and made my way across the front of the house carrying the mugs in one hand and my sandwich plate in the other, smiling at Matt when he came to take the mugs from me. Following him onto the patio, I sat down at the table, pulling out a zip lock bag with ham scraps and emptying it onto the ground for Bess, who promptly trotted over and devoured them.
Matt rolled his eyes, laughing at me. “You’re spoiling her.”
I grinned impishly at him. “Not my problem.” Taking a bite of my sandwich, I said, “So, tell me about your family. You’ve got three sisters, right? You all live in Esperance?”
“We do now that Luce has moved back. We all go to my parents most Sundays for that family dinner. It looks like we’ll have to extend the dining room soon, too, because my sister Claire and her partner just announced that they’re expecting a baby. It’s all a bit chaotic, but Mom and Dad somehow make it work.”
“That sounds lovely.” I couldn’t disguise the hint of wistfulness in my voice.
“Yeah, it is. What about you?”
“Only child. Single mother. Never met my father. Wouldn’t know him if I tripped over him in the street. The end.”
He paused, his sandwich halfway to his mouth. “Wow. That must have been hard.”
I shrugged. “When I was a kid, I used to wonder about him, wish I could meet him, sure, but I didn’t know anything else. That was always the way things were, just me and Mom.”
