Matilda Next Door - Kelly Hunter Page 0,32

lucky I like gin,’ she told him. ‘And yes, let’s do that. I don’t want to be at odds with you. Heaven knows it wouldn’t kill me to acknowledge that your world has just been upended. For all sorts of reasons, none of them planned. Just … don’t make me wear the failings of others. I have plenty of my own.’

He shook his head, as if she didn’t. Held her gaze with a quiet intensity that reminded her of the way he would focus on her during their long walks from the farm gate to her place, after which he would cut across country another kilometre or so to get to his place. Those times when he listened, focused all his attention on her, and she’d blossomed.

‘I can’t see them,’ he offered gruffly. ‘Your flaws. Could be I’m trying to push some onto you.’

‘But why?’

‘So I don’t fall.’

He wasn’t an easy man to understand. But she’d always thought him worth the effort.

The gin bar was a cacophony of dark corners, dim lighting and mismatched antique velvet seating, but the selection of spirits behind the bar was truly enormous, and the barman knew his stuff. They sat at the bar, because this wasn’t a date and those comfy, intimate-looking sofa seats weren’t for the likes of them. She looked at the drink in front of her and then at the man whose socks she’d been wearing for the past ten days. Socks so precisely folded and colour coordinated that she’d never quite been able to put them back the way she’d found them, no matter how hard she tried.

‘I’m sorry you didn’t know your father,’ she began, with the dim lights for protection. ‘I’m sorry you had to learn about your daughter in this way. I do think it’s kind of lovely that you have one.’ She couldn’t look at him when she said this, in case she read him all wrong and he didn’t want her thoughts or advice or anything else she had to offer. ‘My father’s the wisest man I know. Never used to call me Matilda when I’d done something wrong. Or silly for that matter. He’d say, Tilly, if you can’t fix what’s wrong, move on. Because there’s a whole new day just waiting for you, and in it you’ll do or see something wonderful. And maybe that’s too simplistic for you, I don’t know. But the way I see it, every time you see something wonderful from now on you’ll have a child standing next to you who might be seeing it for the very first time, and I think that’s going to be pretty amazing. So here’s to being a father and making the most of it. Congratulations?’

She’d tried so hard to make that last word sound like a definite rather than a question, but she didn’t quite manage to pull it off.

And then he shook his head, right before leaning across and brushing warm lips against her cheek. ‘Thank you, Matilda.’ He picked up his glass of Scotland’s finest and drank the lot. ‘Still not seeing those flaws.’

They went to dinner together and settled into conversation that didn’t tax either of them. No exploration of Henry’s uncertain future. No analysis of why she hadn’t wholeheartedly embraced her London adventure. The food was good. The table linens sublime. Which reminded her … ‘Those bed sheets on your spare bed, where did you get them?’ She hadn’t been able to find a brand name but she very definitely wanted them on her bed at home.

‘You expect me to know that?’

‘Well, yeah, Mr Puritanical Sock Drawer.’

‘Don’t mock my sock drawer. And I think the sheets came from Harrods.’

Expensive.

Dammit.

‘I’ll send you some,’ he said, as if reading her mind. ‘What else did you like over there?’

‘Your wine was pretty good. Not that I’m a connoisseur.’ She chased the last few morsels around her plate, then pushed it away. ‘Did I tell you Maggie found a hidden wine cellar at Wirra Station homestead when she was renovating? All these dusty bottles of wine in an underground cavern. She does tasting evenings for them these days, and what’s not vinegar is good. I’m a member of the Smart Ladies’ Supper Club—don’t laugh—I like to think I earned my place legitimately.’

‘Not laughing. Enjoying.’

‘Enjoying what?’

‘You. Tell me more about your supper club.’

‘Well, it mainly consists of Wirralong businesswomen who share their knowledge and experience, successes and failures. They encouraged me to expand my catering business. My first standing order for cakes