lacy elderflowers, half still in bud. “A couple of weeks should do it.”
“What do you want them for?”
“For the best sorbet you ever tasted.” He frowned when Jude only nodded. “You don’t believe me? Didn’t you hear, I’m an award-winning chef now. Some people say I’m—”
“The best new chef in Britain. Yeah, yeah.” Jude grumbled as Rob laced their fingers together and tugged. “But only because I left the country.” Before he knew it, they walked quite a long way while talking recipes, the tree cover growing sparser and the sun warming his shoulders. Rob talked easily as they made progress, the light dappling his face as sunbeams broke through the tree cover.
Jude made himself pay attention to their location instead of staring. “If we keep going this way, we’ll end up on the coastal path.”
“I know.” Rob looked his way, and Jude slowed. “There’s a notebook in the kitchen that lists all the best paths to follow and says what there is to forage.”
Jude stopped dead, visualising the book Rob mentioned so clearly. “That’s Mum’s.”
“Yes,” Rob said. “I guessed so.” His squeeze to Jude’s hand was gentle.
“She used to bring us with her when we were little, teach us which mushrooms were edible and which ones to give a wide berth. Where’d you find it?”
“It was in one of the drawers in the pantry that we ripped out to make room for the refrigerator,” Rob said quietly. “It’s how I know where to find those mushrooms you remember picking, and where I’ll find the first blackberries.” Maybe it was those dapples of light, or perhaps it was Rob’s gaze that flickered as he said, “If I’m still needed here by the time they ripen, of course.”
They left the woodland behind and unlinked hands to climb a stile leading to the coastal path. Once across it, the path stretched snakelike along the clifftop. A dog walker approached. Jude shoved both of his hands into his pockets and kept walking only to realise Rob wasn’t beside him. He turned to find him waiting by the stile with his hand out. “Oh, for fuck sake.”
The dog walker was closer but that didn’t stop Rob from waggling his fingers and saying, “Come on. You know what to do. It’s not going to hold itself, is it?” His tone softened and his hand lowered. “Unless you’re not ready to do this in front of other people?”
Jude grabbed his hand and held it.
No way was he backing out now. Not after everything that had happened. He’d feared the worst about being out only to find out his idea of worst was very different to what real loss felt like to live with daily. By comparison, a dog walker’s reaction to two men holding hands wasn’t even on the same scale. They stood to the side as she passed, murmuring good mornings while her Goldie bounded ahead, its wagging tail a bright blur.
“See?” Rob said. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Jude said nothing, his grip tightening as Rob led the way to the top of the headland where a bench stood empty. He wriggled his hand free to delve into his bag and pulled out a thermos. “I bet you didn’t eat breakfast this morning before coming to see Lou.”
“Nope.” Food had been the last thing on his mind, but when Rob unwrapped a pair of fresh and flaky croissants, he took one. “God, I love these. You made them?” he asked around a delicious mouthful, the blackberry jam Rob offered next tart and sweet and perfect.
“Well, Lou certainly didn’t make them.” Rob shuddered. “How come you’re an okay cook, but she’s such a disaster? I swear she can burn water.”
Jude ignored his okay cook tease, thoughts snagged by Rob’s burn water phrasing.
“Hey,” Rob nudged his knee after a few moments. “Where’d you go?”
Jude scanned the sea while he chewed, absently searching the horizon for sails. “What you just said about burning water,” he said after he swallowed. “Reminded me of the new hire standing in for me on the Aphrodite. He could give Lou a real run for her money.”
“He can’t cook either? I thought five-star dining was a big deal in the yacht charter business.” Rob wiped a flake of pastry from his chin. “Why did your captain hire him?”
“Oh, I know exactly what swung Tom’s decision.” Jude almost took another bite, but his appetite had faded. He pulled the pastry apart instead, crumbs scattering as the breeze caught them. “The new guy’s very