His Horizon - Con Riley Page 0,25

what you missed here.”

Jude watched him leave this room that, now he paid attention, was perfect for private dining, snug in a whole new way. He ate and listened, thinking hard the whole while about what else he might have missed if he’d put off coming home any longer.

“That went well,” Rob said as he cleared dessert plates, almost an hour later.

Jude stifled a huge yawn while chasing the last of his lemon soufflé with the tip of his finger. “Would have been even better if you made the puddings bigger. I could eat at least another dozen.”

“You’d make yourself sick. But I’m glad you liked them.” The tips of Rob’s ears were pink as if Jude’s praise had somehow warmed them. “I forgot you had a sweet tooth.”

“But I do get it now.” Jude collected the stack of platters Rob had used to serve each course to Susan. He followed him back to the kitchen. “I can see why you made each serving so tiny.” It had been eye-opening to witness firsthand just how quickly Susan had run out of steam, only the prettiness of the food encouraging her to eat a few bites more as her appetite fizzled. He yawned again before saying, “It looked about all that she could manage.”

“Reminded me of one of the only times Dad and I got along in the kitchen,” Rob admitted. “Tempting Mum to eat was a big deal to him. When she was very sick, he’d offer her tiny portions. He shut down the hotel, and would get me to help carry these perfect little platefuls to wherever she was resting.” He paused, very still for a moment. “Anything with lemon was her favourite. Said it cut through the bad taste left by her treatments.”

He looked anywhere but at Jude, settling on unbuttoning and taking off his chef whites. Rob stretched after hanging up his jacket, the front of his T-shirt lifting, oblivious, Jude hoped, to the way his gaze fell as if weighted, soaking up a brief glimpse of bare skin that he’d once hoped to see much more of.

“Seemed like it might work for Susan as well,” Rob said.

“It did.” Jude agreed. “Definitely. Didn’t you see how pleased Carl was? I’ve known the man my whole life, but I swear to God I’ve never seen him so happy.” And he had been, positively animated instead of his usual dour and tight-lipped. Seeing Carl that way made Jude try harder as well. “He seemed pleased about how much Susan managed to eat. Did it sweeten your deal with him?”

Rob nodded before blurting, “It wouldn’t have mattered to me if it hadn’t, though. I mean, I know the business needs to make every penny it can, but I’d rather extract that from paying clients than from people who live here. They’ve been very welcoming, the ones who are left, I mean. Quick to help out the minute Louise asks.”

Jude could picture that. “Yeah, it’s one of the reasons I felt she’d be okay before I left. I knew the business would be fine in her hands. Barring storms, as it turned out,” he said tiredly, twisting water from a cloth to clear down.

Rob stopped him. “I can do that.”

“So can I.” Only a day before, he’d been chief cook and bottle washer for a whole yacht. By comparison, wiping the countertops and doing a few dishes here was nothing.

“Of course you can,” Rob agreed as a third huge yawn escaped Jude. He opened the kitchen door and tugged Jude along with him. “Only Louise yawned just like that when I told her about the new deal with Carl, so I’m wondering if you’re both overdue a nap, given that you arrived at dark o’clock this morning. Or,”—he picked up a cardboard box from the bottom of the stairs and passed it to Jude—“if you’re really determined to stay awake, how about we make a start getting these squared away in the boatshed?”

It was easier to follow him than to argue, simpler to set the box down where instructed in the place he’d last seen shadowed in almost darkness, so early that morning.

God, was it still only the same day?

“See, I told you it was nap time.” Rob’s hand low on his back exerted gentle pressure, more guidance than an actual shove that sent Jude to sit on the same bunk where he’d found Rob.

“Lie down. Rest your eyes.”

“No.”

“Catching forty winks won’t kill you.”

“Pushy,” Jude grumbled as he gave in and