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“I’ll take that.” Before I could take two steps toward the guest house, Lucy took the plates from me.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, Emma and Jake, you want to give me a hand? We’ll let our head chefs rest. Maybe we’ll clean up in the main kitchen, yeah? Bit easier?”
“Okay, great.”
Once they’d gone, I leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes and lifting my face to the sun. “I could use a nap.”
“Mmm, me too.”
“I can hear them doing something with the gravel.”
“Yup.”
“I suppose we should go and help.” When Ally didn’t respond, I opened my eyes and looked at her. She was staring at Matt and Gabe. I followed her gaze. “It’s a shame you don’t like him.”
“What are you talking about? I like Matt just fine.”
“I wasn’t talking about Matt, and you know it.”
“I don’t not like Gabe, he’s just… Annoying.”
“Is he?”
“He called me Allegra.”
“Oh yeah, so annoying, calling you by your name.”
“It wasn’t just that. It was the tone.”
“Oh right. Thetone.”
Ally rose to her feet abruptly and stalked over to where Matt and Gabe were working, picked up a rake, and started spreading the gravel with gusto. I watched her go, a smile curving my lips upward.
Interesting.
CHAPTER19
Zara
The bright sunshine of the day had given way to a chilly mist as Ally, Emma, Lucy and I made our way across the parking lot and into the bar. I was grateful for the rush of warmth that greeted us when we stepped inside. “Jesus, it’s packed,” Ally observed.
“Usually is on a Friday night. Game’s already started, by the looks of it.” Emma gestured to the giant television mounted on the wall above the bar.
Jake appeared next to us, a tray of drinks in hand. “Hey.” He held the tray in front of us all and, laughing, I reached for a beer. “We’re over here,” he gestured with his head and we followed him to a high table near the window, where Matt and Gabe were already sitting. I was happy to see it was nice and close to the roaring fire. “Look who I found.”
Matt and Gabe shifted the stools around to make more room. “You look nice,” Matt said quietly as I slid into a seat next to him.
“Thanks.”
“How do you feel after today?”
“Pretty good. A shower helped. I’ll probably feel it tomorrow, though.”
A roar erupted in the crowd as someone hit a home run, cutting off any reply he might have made. We all turned our attention to the game for a while, but since I wasn’t that interested in baseball, I got bored with it pretty quickly, which gave my mind some time to wander. I was acutely aware of the warmth Matt’s body radiated with him sitting so close to me and desperately wanted to feel his arm around me, to snuggle into his side, to breathe him in while everyone watched the boring game. Sighing, I nursed my beer and pretended to watch the baseball.
On a commercial break, Ally finished her beer and grabbed a menu from the middle of the table. “I’m starving. What is there to eat here?”
