‘Sorry to hear that.’ Deb swallowed her bread and reached for more.God, it was good bread. ‘It’s hard when you think you’ve found the right person, but things can get in the way. Life stuff.’
‘Yep.’ He nodded, but she could see she wasn’t going to get any more from him.Not keen to talk about your love life, then, she thought.Me either.
‘What about you? You’re single, right?’ Kyle looked at her hand. ‘No wedding ring.’
‘Not married, no. I was in a relationship until recently.’ Deb let out a long breath. ‘I knew it hadn’t been working for a while if I’m really honest with myself, and then it all came to a head when I had an operation. It’s okay, I’m fine now.’ She anticipated what he was going to say from his expression.
‘What operation? If you don’t mind me asking.’ He took a sip of wine.
‘Hysterectomy. I had endometriosis. It’s a gynaecological condition.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve heard of that.’ He sounded sympathetic. ‘But you’re okay now?’
‘Yes. It takes a full year to totally heal, internally. Or so I’ve heard,’ she said. ‘But I’m good enough to be back to normal, more or less. I still get a bit tired sometimes if I’ve been very active, but the doctor says normal activity and exercise is good for me. I’ve re-started yoga again but I think Boat Pose is going to take a while to achieve again.’
‘I don’t know yoga, though I always think it would be good for me. All I do at the gym is strength training. I could do with some flexibility.’
‘Ah. Boat pose is where you sit down and lean backwards and raise your feet and legs off the ground at the same time. You sort of bring your body into a V shape.’ Deb held her hands together in a V at the wrists to demonstrate. ‘Hard on your core. Does give you a great tummy if you do it enough, but my core has taken a bit of a battering recently. I’ll get there again one day.’
‘Ah, well, there’s no rush for these things.’ Kyle smiled. ‘You look great, anyway.’
‘Thank you. Back atcha.’ Deb felt a little colour rise in her cheeks.
‘Sorry – if you don’t want to talk about it, I do understand. But I’m confused, why did the operation break you up?’ Kyle frowned, and then looked up as Kathy arrived holding two plates, each holding a delicious looking steak fillet. ‘Ah, wow. Thanks, this looks amazing.’
‘I had the op, and he was basically an idiot afterwards,’ Deb said after Kathy had gone. ‘It was a time when I needed his support, and he was great for about a week. Then, he started making remarks about me being lazy, getting back to work. We were living together and he didn’t like it that I wasn’t there to cook and clean for him.’
‘It’s like a six-week recovery for a hysterectomy, right?’ He spooned some buttery dauphinoise potatoes onto his plate from a dish that Kathy had brought to the table for them to share. There was also a dish of fresh seasonal greens. ‘My Executive Assistant was out for about eight weeks with hers, a couple of years back.’
‘Yes. Exactly. And that’s just to get back to reasonably human. It’s much longer, really. Months until you feel normal again,’ Deb helped herself to some greens. ‘And you can’t even sit up that well after a week. Never mind do the hoovering.’
‘I know, I remember Stella. I popped round every week to help out and see if she was OK. She was in a right state, bless her. Fortunately, her husband took good care of her. Doesn’t sound like you were as lucky.’
‘No. I wasn’t,’ Deb said, shortly. The whole thing with Dan was still hurtful.
‘Sorry, for men. They can be real shits sometimes.’ Kyle rolled his eyes. ‘I know I’m not directly responsible for them, or anything. But I still feel the need to say it.’
‘Thanks. And it’s not your responsibility by any means, but I appreciate the thought.’ Deb smiled. Kyle was proving to be something of a surprise.
‘Ah, well. What is it we say nowadays? Now you’ve binned the wrong guy, the universe can give the right one to you, right? You’ve set boundaries. Made space and all that.’ He shrugged, a half-smile playing on his lips. ‘Personally, I’m not happy that this guy was such a shit to you, but I’m very happy that you broke up with him.’
‘Haha. Thank you.’ Deb blushed. ‘I don’t really know what to say now. Apart from, can I just say that I have a little bugbear about when we say the universe isgiving usthings? Like the universe gives a stuff about what you or I want.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘I catch myself saying it and sometimes I think,what?’
‘Ha. No apology necessary. I’m a fan of facts over vague beliefs that the universe will or won’t do things for me.’
‘Yeah. I guess I was raised to believe that we’re responsible for ourselves. My mum was tough. Is tough,’ Deb corrected herself, thinking about Janice. She hoped her mum was OK – she’d texted before she’d left the cottage to walk to the restaurant, and got a brief reply. ‘She would say that the universe doesn’t give two hoots about you. That life is hard, and then you die.’
‘Well, I can’t necessarily disagree with that, though it’s kind of bleak,’ Kyle chuckled. ‘Sometimes, life is nice.’ He shot her a sudden smile that made his icy blue eyes light up. Deb felt her stomach melt.
Yowza.
‘Here’s to life being nice sometimes.’ Deb poured wine into both of their glasses. ‘And, a sometimes kind universe.’
‘The universe.’ Kyle clinked his glass with hers. There was a comfortable silence. ‘So, how’s the cottage? And, this steak isawesome, incidentally. Wow.’ He pointed at his mouth with his fork.
‘I know. Mine is too.’ Deb grinned. ‘Ah, it’s lovely, actually. The Laird organised it for me and it’s such a cosy little place. And the views over the loch are amazing. There’s something about the wide open spaces here… the panoramic view. Wide skies. It’s so calming,’ she sighed. ‘And I feel like the slower pace of life is… I don’t know. It sounds silly.’ She halted, feeling his intent gaze upon her.
‘What?’ he prompted her.
