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“But not until I say you’re up to it.”
He rolled his eyes at that, but to my surprise, didn’t argue.
CHAPTER7
Jake
Iknew she didn’t really need to do this, still dropping in on me, but I liked that she was doing it anyway. Pushing through my front door, a little hesitant, returning the smile I gave her when I sat up a little on the couch. She was looking so gorgeous today, in slim fitting jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with a flower pattern on it. Her golden hair loose, hanging to her shoulders.Not as long as when… But still very pretty.
“Hey.”
“Hey. I was just about to eat some of Ally’s amazing ravioli. There’s more than enough for two, if you like.”
“Okay. I can get it.”
“No, I can do it. You sit.” So we weren’t even pretending she was only here to make sure I took the pills? Okay.
“You’ve been upgraded from the bland and dull meals, then?”
I glanced at her as she sat down at the dining table, watching me move about the kitchen. “Seems like.” I felt her gaze like a caress and turned away.
“You’re definitely moving more easily.”
“Yeah, much more. The sitting around is really starting to piss me off, though.”
“It’s always pissed you off.” Her laugh skittered across my skin.
“You know it.” I pressed a hand to my abdomen and bent carefully to pull a saucepan from the cupboard next to the stove. Hearing Emma clearing her throat, I shot her a look over my shoulder. She averted her eyes quickly, but if I had to guess, I’d say she’d been checking out my ass. What the fuck, Em? We don’t do that anymore.
“You’re through the worst of it now. It’ll be over before you know it and you’ll be back to work.”
“Maybe. But what about you? Between me and your dad, I can’t imagine you’re getting much sleep if you’re also working full time at the nursing home.”
“Like I think I said the other day, Dad’s on this really good new medication, so he needs me a bit less. But last year, when he was really sick, I cut back my hours at the nursing home a lot and I never really ramped them back up again. Dad owns the house outright and doesn’t charge me rent or anything. Plus he’s got a pretty good retirement pension, and I had a bit of a nest egg saved up. I’m pretty low maintenance. If things ever get a bit tight, I just put my hand up to take any shifts that need to be covered.”
I shot her a quick look. She was rambling. And blushing. What was up with that? “Sounds good.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty lucky to have that flexibility. Now that Steven’s looking to move back, it means I can think about…” She trailed off.
Think about what? I frowned. What had she been about to say?
“I’ll set the table.” She kept her eyes averted when she moved into the kitchen, pulling out bowls and cutlery. “You want to add cheese?”
“If you like.”
She took everything to the table—bowls, cutlery, napkins, salt and pepper—all the while keeping her back to me. I had to know. “What does it mean you can ‘think about’?” I asked, bringing the pot to the table, putting it in the center and lowering myself carefully into a chair.
“Maybe taking another posting overseas.”
“Oh.” I kept my tone completely neutral, hoping she didn’t realize how much her words had just kicked me in the guts. It shouldn’t surprise me, really. She’d had nothing but sick parents keeping her in Esperance these past few years.
“Well, we’ll see. Steven isn’t coming back for a little while yet. Anything could happen in the meantime—wait, I’ll do that.” She reached for the serving spoon in the pot of ravioli at the same time I did. I saw her press her lips together as our fingers brushed over each other and she pulled away hastily, dropping the spoon into the pot, sending the sauce splashing all over the table. “Shit, sorry.”
“No problem.”
“I’ll clean it up.” She seemed agitated as she shoved the chair back and hustled into the kitchen for a cloth. Was she blushing when she came back with the cloth and quickly cleaned up the mess? Had the slightest unexpected touch sent her into a tailspin? Interesting. She threw the cloth in the sink and sat down again, picking up the fork and taking a bite of ravioli. “Man, this is so good.”
“Yeah.”
