‘These are divine, Cal.’ Bea took a scallop into her mouth and it melted away, the food helping in some ways with the forgetting. ‘How did you get them so tender?’
Cal beamed. ‘Butler magic, Madam. You may already have seen some of it in action.’
‘I believe I have.’ Bea couldn’t help but glow like theaurora borealis as she met his gaze, and he returned the warmth. This was too lovely to back away from.
For the main course, Cal had prepared wild smoked halibut with chunky chips, a parsley sauce and horseradish cream potatoes. Was there anything this man didn’t do well? A successful businessman, a surfer, man about the house, amazing in bed and now a cook extraordinaire. It made Bea sad that he would become someone else’s. She had to enjoy this for what it was, but it was hard. She wanted to get up, walk to Cal’s side of the table, wrap her arms around him, kiss him and thank him for the effort he had put in to making her experience so wonderful.
‘You deserve it all.’ He kept his eyes on her as he lifted a glass of water to his lips. ‘You’ve enhanced my business and so much more. I don’t know what I’m going to do when you’re gone.’
So much more. What does that mean?Bea’s heart leapt. But Cal didn’t extrapolate, and she didn’t dare ask in case she made a fool of herself by interpreting the wrong meaning of the statement.
‘Ready for dessert?’ Cal got up and lifted away Bea’s empty plate.
‘You made dessert too?’
‘Well, I will admit that I cheated and bought some ready-made sticky toffee puddings. Although I am about to make a whisky sauce to go with them, if you’ve room for more.’
‘I suppose it would be rude not to. And I have to find room for whisky sauce made by a Scotsman.’
‘You do.’ Cal winked. ‘I’ll grab a bottle of whisky from the cabinet.’ He disappeared down the hall and into another room before returning with a bottle of Scotch. Or ‘whisky’, as they called it in Scotland.
‘So, where did you learn to cook so well?’ Bea asked.
‘Thanks for the compliment. And I don’t know if my cooking is that good. I’ve picked things up along the way: learned from recipe books, the internet, eating out at some fantastic places.’
‘You should branch out into Butler’s brasserie or something. Expand the family business even further.’
‘Ha, yeah, maybe. Although, I think I’m busy enough with the bars.’
‘Your family must be so proud of you.’
The warmth in Cal’s expression dropped by a degree, and Bea wanted to usher on dessert to warm things over. What had she said? Was his family a touchy subject? Did he not speak to them? Was there a big feud she’d alighted on? But she’d met his sister already, and she’d mentioned the party for their father. If there’d been a problem, surely Cara wouldn’t have said anything. Then again, Cal was non-committal about whether or not he was going.
‘My family is… Well, it’s hard to make a family proud that already run the most successful whisky company in the country,’ Cal said. ‘But they value what I’ve done with my business, I think.’
Did Bea detect a hint of uncertainty in Cal’s tone? There was something unconvincing about what he was saying, but she couldn’t say what and she didn’t want to press him further in case his shutters came down and she was left with coffee-shop Cal Butler: aloof and unamused. She needed to try to pull him out of whatever was dragging him down.
‘Cara’s lovely,’ she said.
‘Aye. She’s a sweetheart.’ Cal perked up a little at this. His sister wasn’t a sore point, at least. ‘I’m lucky to have her and Eilidh so close.’
‘Do you hang out much?’
‘Aye, we go for a drink or have dinner parties at each other’s places. Cara’s good company. Nosey as hell, but maybe actresses need to be. Luckily, Eilidh is a bit more sensible and balances things out. She’s a teacher in Edinburgh.’
‘And tell me about your other siblings.’
‘Jamie, like I said before, works for the distillery as chief operating officer, Niall runs a surf school in Australia, Sean is a cooper who makes barrels for the company, and Nate is a vet at his own animal sanctuary. He’s Cara and Eilidh’s triplet brother.’
‘Oh, triplets! That’s amazing.’
‘I know. And what’s amazing is it’s so rare for mixed sex triplets which makes them even more special. My parents adopted them when I was a kid. I’m so glad they did because I can’t imagine the family without them.’
‘Gosh!’ said Bea. ‘Anyone who adopts is to be admired, but to adopt three children at once is something else.’
‘Aye, my folks are something else.’ Cal nodded and took a large drink of wine. Something about this topic was emotional for him, and Bea sensed that he didn’t want to divulge anymore. Maybe he didn’t want to get close by bringing her into his family fold, and although she would love to know more about them, she supposed it was probably for the best that she didn’t.
Chapter 40
