His eyes widen and the most beautiful smile appears. “Thank you.”
“I also brought dinner,” I add quickly, because I’m not ready for any more truths tonight.
Jerry rubs the back of his neck. “That’s a lovely thought, but we’re just about done here and everyone’s ready to go home.”
“Yeah, I figured. But I also thought that maybe some of you will be too tired to cook. So those who want to can take some home.” I reach back into the car and get the cool bag I put them in. “Here. Just take them in and offer. If no one wants them we’ll just take them back with us.”
“We?”
I shrug. “I also came to pick you up, because I bet you’re knackered, right?”
As if on cue, he yawns so wide his jaw cracks.
“See.”
He laughs and reaches for the bag. “Okay. I’ll take these inside and offer them around. What is it?”
“Lasagne.”
He groans. “That’s my favourite.”
I feel ridiculously pleased at this news. “Go.” I turn him around and steer him inside. “Then I’ll take you home.”
I waitanother fifteen minutes for Jerry to come back out. He’s joined by other members of his team, one of them carrying a large cat cage. Most of them also carrying my lasagne. They all thank me as they pass, and that pleased feeling returns with a vengeance. I’m glad I could help in some small way.
When Jerry finally gets in my car, I have to ask. “So it all turned out okay? With the cats?”
He sighs but nods, so I relax. “Thankfully it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. We removed the pellet from the mum and stitched her up. The kittens thankfully only had grazes, and wetreated them for shock. Mark’s going to drop them off at the emergency vets so they can be looked after overnight.”
“That’s good,” I murmur. Relieved. I start the car and head for home, while Jerry rests his head against the seat.
No sooner have I pulled out onto the road than he says, “You’ve kept some of that lasagne for me, right?”
I laugh at the horror in his voice, the worry that he might have just given it all away. “The biggest piece.”
“Thank you,” he whispers, for about the fourth time tonight, his smile soft and content, and I can’t help but think that he wouldn’t be feeling that way if the night had gone like I planned.
I leaveit a day or so, but it’s Christmas Eve in two days’ time and I need to give the prospective buyers my answer today. It’s Sunday, so Jerry has the day off. I went out with some of my workmates last night on our Christmas party, so Jerry’s already up by the time I surface around eleven o’clock.
He laughs when he sees me. “Good night?”
“Yeah.” I’m not hungover, since I had to drive back, but I am tired. This house business has been messing with my sleep. “Thank you,” I say when he sets a mug of coffee in front of me. Then I pluck up my courage and add, “Can you sit down for a minute. I have something to tell you.”
He freezes for a second, his smile fading, then he pulls out the chair opposite me and sits. “I’m listening.”
I take a breath. “I’ve had an offer on my house. And I’m going to accept it.”
JERRY
Fuck.
That’s the first word that pops into my head. But I can’t say that because Reed’s looking at me like he’s worried about how I’m going to react, and I don’t want him to ever feel like that. Not around me.
So I take a breath and push all my own feelings to the side, because this is about Reed. “That’s amazing news.” I meet his eyes and hope he can read the sincerity in mine, because I mean it, thisisgreat news.
For Reed.
I’m not so sure what it’ll mean for us, but that’s beside the point.
