By seven thirty they had both showered and changed, Luke allowing Cat to use the bathroom first and staying downstairs out of the way until she had finished. Jake arrived promptly, carrying beer probably bought from The Smugglers on the way here. Cat wasn’t sure what to expect after seeing him sitting up at the bar in his jeans and Guernsey jumper. But the little fisherman had made a real effort with his smart grey trousers, a blue shirt and neat leather waistcoat. Since his earlier arrival with the bottle of wine she noticed someone had trimmed both his hair and beard. It made her realise there might be a Mrs Kerrow at home. She hadn’t given it a thought and the fact he might have a wife missing out on all this prompted her to ask. There was, after all, plenty of food to go around if he wanted her to join them.
‘No, Miss Cat,’ he said as he handed the beer over to Luke and she showed him into the front room. ‘My wife died a few years back. Only me now and Bruno, of course.’
‘Bruno? You have a son?’ Even worse. She watched Luke disappear into the kitchen with the bottles. Why hadn’t he bothered to mention him?
‘A son,’ Jake laughed, ‘no, he’s my border collie. Comes out on the trawler with me. A real old sea dog. I do have sons though. Two of them. They have their own trawlers,’ he said proudly. ‘They’re based with the Newlyn fleet.’
Moments later Luke reappeared with a glass of beer, which he handed to Jake before disappearing back into the kitchen. He returned with two glasses of wine, one of which he handed to Cat before settling himself next to her. She listened as they exchanged news about the port. It became clear Luke still had a love of the sea and she was surprised to learn he had occasionally crewed for one or two of the trawler owners, including Jake.
The sound of the timer in the kitchen took her away, leaving the men to their discussions. She concentrated on the final stage of her food preparation, the mashed potato, the baby carrots and beans. With a luxury trifle sitting in the fridge, that left only the rich dark gravy to organise – something else Franco had helped her with. Hearing laughter coming from the front room she smiled and reached for her wine. She had a good feel about this evening, confident she’d be able to pass Luke’s challenge with flying colours.
It was midnight by the time Jake left, giving Cat a kiss on the cheek and thanking her. A wonderful meal, something he’d remember for a long time he told them both as he disappeared into the darkness. Luke closed the door and she followed him back down the narrow hallway.
‘Thank you for all you’ve done today,’ he said as they began clearing the remaining items from the table in the small diningroom. ‘You do realise Jake will probably be talking about this for months now.’
‘It was good fun,’ Cat replied as she removed the tablecloth ready for the washing machine, ‘although I don’t think Franco need worry about losing his job any time soon.’
Luke laughed. ‘Have you time for another coffee?’ he asked as they entered the small kitchen and he began stacking items neatly on the draining board.
‘No, thanks, I must go. I’ll phone for a taxi.’
‘Ten out of ten by the way,’ he said as she loaded the tablecloth and serviettes into the washing machine.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘That’s what I’m awarding you for the amazing meal you cooked today.’
‘Praise indeed.’ She gave a mock bow. ‘I hope with such a high rating you’re not planning to ask me to do this on a regular basis.’
‘Of course not. It was a one-off.’
‘Hah! You might find that’s not strictly true. Just warning you, if words gets around there might be a queue of fishermen lining up at your door for special gourmet evenings.’
‘I doubt that.’ He gave an amused laugh.
Retrieving her bag Cat pulled out her mobile and quickly made the call. ‘They’ll be here in five minutes. I’d better go and collect my holdall from upstairs.’
‘You could cancel your taxi and stay the night, I’ve a spare room,’ he offered, watching her slip the phone back into her bag
‘Thank you but no, I’d prefer to get home.’
He closed his eyes and drew in a heavy breath. ‘Yes, of course, you’re right. I’m sorry about earlier, I got carried away, I guess. It should never have happened. I hope I didn’t send out the wrong signals.’
‘I’m as much to blame,’ she admitted with a guilty shake of her head, wishing his words were different. ‘After all it takes two to make something like that happen, doesn’t it? And I wasn’t exactly fighting you off.’
‘No, you weren’t.’ He gave her a thoughtful smile. ‘I hope we’re still friends though?’
She thought for a moment. How easy it would be to walk away now. To end this frustrating relationship where his words said one thing, but his actions said something entirely different. No one kissed a woman the way he did without meaning it. She had no idea what was holding him back. A previous romance gone badly wrong, maybe? Whatever it was she wasn’t about to give up on him yet. ‘Yes,’ she nodded, ‘still friends.’
Chapter Thirteen
Étienne’s stay had at last come to an end and tomorrow he was due to fly back to Italy. How quickly the fortnight had passed, Cat thought sadly, realising how much they would miss him. Tonight, dinner had been taken in the main restaurant where Anton showed them to a private booth tucked into one corner, giving them total privacy. Even with the absence of Gareth, Ruan and Étienne still managed to entertain everyone as they ate, recounting some more of the seemingly endless stories from their uni days. After the meal they retired to the family apartment for an after dinner brandy. Both Nathan and Cat joined the two older men. They had put their heads together before dinner and come up with a plan. Étienne’s departure seemed an ideal opportunity to try and persuade Ruan to travel back to Italy with him for the break he so badly needed. He had been working far too hard and the incident with the Gossip Girls had been the latest in a long line of frustrating occurrences involving their great-aunt and her so-called friends.
Before dinner Nathan had taken Étienne to one side and asked for his help. There was no hesitation. He, too, had noticed at times his old friend looked world-weary. A change of air, he agreed, would be just the thing. They decided to broach the subject after dinner as the brandies were being handed around.
‘Absolutely not,’ Ruan said, his brows butting together as the suggestion was made. ‘Who came up with such a crazy idea?’
‘We did,’ Cat and Nathan both spoke at once.
