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‘Sure. I love mac and cheese.’ Carrie couldn’t believe she was hungry again, but clearly being on her feet for four hours without stopping meant she’d burned through her two portions of curry from earlier.
Kathy came into the kitchen and gave Rory a high five, then did the same to Carrie, whose hands were wet and soapy. ‘Good job, you guys,’ she grinned. ‘That was a busy one, aye. Made a big difference havin’ ye here, Carrie. Last week I was doin’ your job as well, an’ it wasnae pretty.’
‘Well. I hope I did okay,’ Carrie said, shyly. She had enjoyed the fast pace of the evening; it had been a nice change to feel useful. Her collarbone had ached a bit, but it wasn’t as bad as she’d expected.
‘You did great.’ Rory pulled out a container of the cheesy carbohydrate goodness from the fridge and took some bowls from the cupboard, spooning some mixture into each.
‘Kathy, Rory’s making us mac and cheese. Do you want some?’ Carrie asked.
‘Ach, no. Goin’ tae head off, an’ I can’t stomach carbs this time of night,’ Kathy laughed. ‘See you guys tomorrow.’
‘Right you are. Thanks for tonight.’ Rory gave her a little wave as he put both bowls into the microwave.
After Kathy left, Carrie felt a slight awkwardness at being left alone with Rory. There wasn’t any reason for it, of course, but somehow Kathy had been a safe buffer. Now there was no distraction from the unsettled way he sometimes made her feel.
College talk for horny.Claire’s voice popped into her mind, unbidden.
No! Definitely not, Carrie thought, as if Claire really was in her head.I’m so far from horny that is just a ridiculous notion.
Are you? Death makes people do it like rabbits, Claire’s voice replied.You wouldn’t be the first recently bereaved person to want to climb someone like him like a tree. I definitely would.
Shut up!Carrie thought, trying to regain control of her thoughts.That is incredibly inappropriate.
The microwave dinged and Rory took out both dishes to put them under the grill.
‘Just to crisp the tops,’ he said, breaking the silence.
‘Great.’ Carrie nodded, and busied herself with finishing drying the wine glasses. She didn’t want to let Claire go. She understood that was why she had her sister’s voice in her head. In real life, Claire would have said all those things and more; she was never backwards at coming forwards. So, Carrie didn’t hate thinking about what Claire would say because it made her feel a connection to her sister at a time when she really didn’t want to believe that Claire was gone forever. Still, even though all that was true, she could have done without Claire’s smutty quips in her head right now.
‘Here we are.’ Rory set two steaming bowls of the macaroni – complete with bubbling, dark brown tops of melted cheese mixed with crunchy breadcrumbs – on the main kitchen worktop, which, like everything in the kitchen, was stainless steel. It was efficient and easy to clean, but it lacked warmth.
Carrie took two spoons from a drawer and handed one to Rory. ‘Oh. Thanks so much,’ she said.
‘Thank you.’ He took the spoon and plunged it into the hot, gloopy mix of cheese, sauce and pasta. ‘I’m going to let it cool down a bit. Might have heated it an extra wee while too long.’
‘Hmm. Good point.’ Carrie stuck her spoon into the bowl Rory had given her and watched as a billow of steam escaped. She blew on it a few times for good measure. As she looked up, she caught Rory watching her with a smile. ‘What?’ she asked.
‘Nothing.’ He continued smiling.
‘Come on. Did I do something?’ She ran her fingers through her hair self-consciously. ‘Do I have something on my face? In my teeth?’
‘No, you’re fine.’ He picked up his spoon again and poked at the molten cheese in his bowl. ‘You know what we need? Garlic bread. There’s some left over from the last orders, I think.’ He got up and went to an oven tin that Carrie hadn’t cleaned yet. ‘Ha! Here we are.’
He returned with two pieces of buttery, crispy ciabatta that had been rubbed thoroughly with garlic and then buttered with garlic butter before being toasted under the grill. Carrie knew, because she’d prepped them earlier.
‘There you go. Perfect accompaniment.’ He sat down again, broke off a piece of garlic bread and dipped it in his mac and cheese.
Carrie did the same, spooning some of the cheesy mixture into her mouth afterwards. It was still very hot, but she huffed a few times to cool it down. ‘Mmm. That’s incredible,’ she said, her mouth full. It really was: Rory had used three different cheeses to make the sauce, and the pasta was at the perfect consistency. The garlic bread was so tangy and mouth-watering that she wanted to cram it all into her mouth at once, but she made herself eat it like a normal person.
‘So. What did you do for work before you came to Loch Cameron?’ Rory asked as he ate. ‘I know you showed me your resumé, but I can’t remember anything about it now.’
Carrie chuckled. ‘Didn’t you read it?’
‘I skimmed it. Honestly, as I told you, you were the only reasonable candidate I had, so it was a bit of a no-brainer. Plus, you were definitely the prettiest.’ Rory continued eating, but maintained eye contact, as if waiting to see how she would take his comment.
‘Oh!’ Carrie looked down at her food, blushing suddenly and then mortified that she was blushing.
Oh, my!Claire’s voice in her head chuckled.Looks like you’re not the only horny one around.
