Rye has followed me and peers over my shoulder. ‘If those are brownies, I’m all good.’ He wiggles his eyebrows as I slide the containers towards him. ‘If it’s not too much trouble, could we have the same again for two days’ time?’
At first, after the campfire incident, I was bringing them as gifts but since they’d started insisting on paying for them, the orders had been ramping up.
I can’t help commenting. ‘Considering the mountains of cake you two eat you’re both very slim. Would you like to share your secret?’ I’ve always loved eating, but lately if I so much as look at a Danish pastry my jeans seem to shrink two sizes.
‘Oursecret?’ Rye blows out his cheeks. ‘Damn! I knew it couldn’t last. Seeing as you’re onto us, I’ll come clean. Ihavebeen using brownies for staff meetings, but only because they put everyone in a better mood. And guestsmighthave had the occasional one too, when they were in my office.’
‘I wasjoking!’ I’m shaking my head in disbelief. ‘Why is a top hotel outsourcing chocolate cake?’
Rye gives a guilty shrug. ‘Chef is a purist who refuses to make it and yours is an exceptionally tasty example.’ He nods across at Kit. ‘And ignore Kit, his face is as long as a wet weekend, but he’ll cheer up now you two are here.’
I look from one to another and give a silent curse that Kit is even more beautiful with an expression like a storm cloud. ‘Was it a heavy Thursday night?’
Rye pulls a face. ‘I wish.’
Kit notices my querying gaze. ‘Rye is dedicating a hundred per cent of his time to getting the hotel up and running, so late nights and socialising are off the table.’
I’m shocked. ‘So you don’t go outat all?’
Rye shrugs. ‘Not unless it’s linked to the hotel or the fire station.’
‘So relationships are out of the question?’ Asking for a friend here, obviously.
He nods. ‘It’s a small price to pay.’ He must have picked up on my horrified expression. ‘It won’t be for ever. Once the occupancy rates rise the pressure will ease.’
I’m biting my lip, feeling bad for Plum. ‘And how are those going?’
Rye takes a breath. ‘Truthfully? It’s been a slower start than we’d hoped, but we’re working on that as we speak.’
Damn for Plum. But a silent thumbs-up for me, and another for Mum that her advice is already proving to be valuable. If I’d been at home instead of here at work, I’d have missed this conversation. I’m no expert on industrial espionage, but by St Aidan standards what I’ve just picked up feels like pure gold.
Kit takes an envelope out of his back pocket and slaps it on the table. ‘And my reason not to be cheerful was some unfortunate post.’
I pull out a glass biscuit jar and push it towards him. ‘Will cookies help? I hoped they might keep the clients happy.’
Kit gives a sour laugh. ‘Only if they’re big enough to sweeten a long and arduous separation.’
I pull the top off the jar. ‘You’d better take two.’
Rye waves as he sets off down the studio, brownie boxes in hand. ‘I’ll catch you both later.’
As we watch him stride out to the porch Kit bites into his biscuit and lets out a long sigh. ‘Some days it feels as if the unravelling is out of all proportion to the relationship. When I think back to what I had before Vee and I got together, then think of what I’m taking to the future, the comparison is dire.’
All I can do is put my surprise to one side and sympathise. ‘I’m sorry, I’d assumed it was amicable.’
He tugs his fingers through his curls. ‘I wanted to be fair and now I’ve been taken for every penny. I know if I’m bitter, I’m losing twice over, but some days, it’s hard not to be.’ He shakes his head. ‘I’m sorry, this must seem like whining about nothing to someone who’s had health problems.’
I rarely bring this up, but now he has I may as well say it. ‘When you’re ill the trick is to only think about the moment you’re in, and make sure you enjoy the arse off it.’
Kit nods. ‘I can’t argue with that.’
It was a tough time, but at the same time it was rarefied and pure, because so much that wasn’t important in life fell away. ‘Someone sent me this poem, about not looking too far down the road. How there’s no need to know what’s around the corner until you actually get there.’ I look up at Kit and hope he connects with the manly imagery. ‘You could always give that a try?’
‘I could.’
‘So forget about whatever crap that letter is promising to rain down on you, throw yourself into making today’s rings instead, and you might even have fun when you thought it was impossible.’
I can feel a smile spreading across my face as I remember. ‘Being ill taught me to enjoy every day, but it turned out to be small things that counted more than big ones. Fresh bread in a sandwich, a robin coming to eat the crumbs in the park, clean laundry, an ice-cold can of Coke – they might sound like clichés, but they were what got me through, and I live for those same things now. Once you know they work, it’s amazing how many you can cram into a day.’
