The less-than-enthusiastic offer made him laugh. ‘Don’t worry. You know I’m not one for sweets.’
‘Christmas is one long round of temptations for me.’ She couldn’t help sighing. ‘Sweet things are the hardest to give up when I’m on yet another diet. And don’t try to convince me it’s foolish to keep fighting the scales. Not today.’
He placed a hand dramatically over his mouth, then swiftly removed it again. ‘I can’t believe I forgot to tell you this but I suppose we’ve been . . . busy.’ Gage smirked. ‘Since yesterday we’ve got more help in the shop.’
‘What do you mean?’ She was surprised when he told her about Emily. ‘That’s awesome.’
‘We even put all the Christmas decorations up inside the shop. She told me what to do and I followed orders.’ Gage said with a chuckle. ‘It worked well. Looks good too.’
‘I can’t wait to see it. Now do I get to hear about your ex-wife?’
‘And spoil a perfect morning?’
Tamara wrangled with her conscience. ‘As a compromise, go with the bare details.’ A selfish part of her didn’t want to hear too much about her last rival.
Gage’s countenance lost some of its cheer. ‘It sounds juvenile, but I’d gone through some rough times and coming back to no one waiting for me was the final straw.’
‘There’s nothing juvenile about that.’ She covered his hand with hers. ‘We all need to matter.’
‘Yeah, I suppose.’ Haltingly he ran through the story of meeting Victoria at a party and being amazed when she appeared to fall wildly in love with him too. A whirlwind romance led to a swift, glamorous wedding. ‘Real life didn’t work so well for us. We had little in common and soon drifted apart.’
‘You were defensive when I asked about kids the other day. Can you tell me why?’
He stared down at the table. ‘At the time I thought I wanted them. Turns out she didn’t. Simple as that.’
Something told her it wasn’t simple at all. Or the whole truth. ‘I see. Fair enough.’ Relief poured off him as though he’d expected more of an inquisition. ‘What can I do about Toby? Chloe seems to think it’ll work itself out.’
‘I don’t know her anywhere near as well as you do, but she doesn’t strike me as the sort of person who lets things drift.’
‘You’re right.’ Now it bothered her too.
‘I don’t suppose he’s off work today?’
‘I’ve no idea.’
‘We could both do with some fresh air, so how about a brisk walk?’ A mischievous smile played around his mouth. ‘You’ve told me about Melissa’s old house before and how lovely it is, but I’ve never seen it.’
‘Really? We need to put that right.’ Tamara played along. ‘The people who live there might not be home though.’
‘The exercise will still be good for my knee.’
She sniggered. ‘You mean it hasn’t had enough?’
Gage put on a stern expression. ‘You are a debauched woman, Tamara Pascoe.’
‘And who did the debauching? Does anyone even use that word these days?’
‘It suited my purpose. Come on.’ He levered up off the chair. ‘We’ve got a walk to take.’
‘I’ll get some shoes on.’
‘Not a bad idea. It’s chilly, so you might want...’ He smacked his head. ‘Stupid me. I’m talking to the woman who thinks coats are for wimps.’
‘I’ve got serious waterproof rain-gear.’ Tamara pretended to be affronted. ‘And I’ve got regular coats too.’ Using the word inthe plural wasn’t strictly accurate. One coat. A long black wool number she’d picked up for a fiver at a car-boot sale and kept for funerals. ‘It might be cool enough for a thin jumper over my T-shirt.’
‘Woah, don’t go mad. We don’t want you having hot flushes on the way.’
‘I’m notthatold.’
