“And you’ve got friends who can help. You’re really lucky. I know the guys can give you a hand with expert advice, especially Phil when it comes to the kitchen stuff, and he no doubt knows heaps about construction and decorating.”
Tom felt the usual niggle at the thought of not doing everything by himself, but Bailey was right, he had people who were willing and able to give him a hand and he’d be biting off his nose to spite his face if he turned down the offers of assistance any longer. “Yeah. They’ve been hassling me to accept their advice and whatever else they can help with.”
“So why haven’t you? It seems like a no-brainer.”
Tom shrugged. The more he thought about it, the harder it was to put into words. Had he been stupid holding out so long? Once it had seemed so important to make a go of it by himself, to struggle for what he wanted, to build a business based on his own sweat and tears, but now he wasn’t so sure. “I guess in a way I’ve been trying to atone for mistakes of the past. It’s as though I felt I needed to struggle a bit to make it on my own. Does that make sense?”
Bailey frowned. “Not really. I think I’m missing something here. What mistakes?”
Tom manoeuvred the shopping trolley to the side so they weren’t blocking the aisle. He’d being seeing Bailey long enough now to want to tell him the truth about his earlier career and how things had gone so wrong. In fact, the way he felt about Bailey, he knew it was essential to do so if they were to have a future together, because a future should be based on truth and honesty, not secrets. “This wasn’t the sort of conversation I expected to have in Bunnings.” Tom swallowed a nervous chuckle. “I want to tell you about it but this isn’t really the place. Can we take a rain check?” He placed a hand on Bailey’s arm. “Please?”
Bailey looked him over for a moment, mouth opening before closing again. Finally he nodded. “Sure. But I can’t imagine it could have been that bad.”
Tom squeeze Bailey’s arm in thanks. “We’ll talk later. Promise.”
They completed the shopping, ticking the items off Tom’s list as they went, and it wasn’t long before the van was loaded and they were on their way back to the cafe.
