Tic-Tac-Mistletoe - N.R. Walker Page 0,13
Ren said, taking a plate from an overhead cupboard. He set about dishing up some kind of roasted meat and veggies. “Roast beef okay?”
“Perfect.”
“I think you might have turned off the main road about fifteen miles too soon. If you’d have kept going, there are signs to Idaho not far along. That road takes you down to Mossley. The turn you took came back south. But it’s not that far at all.”
“So close but yet so far.”
He put the plate in the microwave, tidied up, then proceeded to set the table. God, the man had more manners and etiquette than all the men I’d dated combined, which wouldn’t exactly be difficult, but still, it was such a nice change.
“With a bit of luck McGee’s can get your car out and fix whatever’s wrong with it,” he said as he busied himself with cutlery and a placemat. “And you can get to see your sister tomorrow. I don’t know much about new model cars. I know enough about my truck to keep her running, but she’s old and I’ve had her forever. Newer cars are a different language.”
“I know how to put petrol in one,” I offered. “Or gas, I should say. Guess I’m gonna have to get used to saying American things now.”
He chuckled. “Or not. Keep the Australian. I like it.” He turned to the cupboard and took out a glass, then grabbed a jug of water from the fridge so I couldn’t see his face. But was he blushing?
“I really like your home,” I said after a beat, not wanting things to get awkward. “And I say home and not house because it feels like a home.”
“Thanks,” he said, taking the plate out of the microwave and putting it on the placemat. He pulled out the chair and smiled at me, waiting.
Jesus. He pulled my seat out.
I sat, and only then did he sit opposite me. “Are you not eating?”
“I ate just a few hours ago, when I got home. Had a short day today. The main street was a ghost town today because of the storm.”
I took a forkful of the beef and some roast potato. “Oh wow. Did you cook this?”
He shook his head, smiling. “No. Carl’s diner is across the road from my store. I asked for one lunch and he gave me enough for three. He even gave me a container just for Chutney.”
“Do you know everyone in Hartbridge by their first name?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” He frowned. “Is that . . . lame?”
I had to swallow my mouthful of food to answer quickly. “No, the opposite, actually. I think it’s great. Where I’m from, I didn’t even know my neighbours’ names. Well, there was a Simon in the apartment next to mine and I only know that because his girlfriend used to call it out when the headboard was banging against the wall.”
Ren laughed. “No way.”
“Yes way. Most nights. It was terrible.”
“I bet it was . . . Well, not for Simon.”
I chuckled as I took a sip of water. “My apartment wasn’t too bad, and it wasn’t so much Sydney or my old job. It was just everything. It felt like it was all closing in around me. And being in the city, surrounded by people and everything moving fast around me and being alone and stagnant is the worst feeling.” I shook my head, not really sure why I dumped all that on Ren. I definitely needed sleep. “But I left that all behind, and here I am.”
“It’s incredibly brave.”
“Or incredibly reckless. As quite a few people told me before I left.”
He shook his head slowly. “Brave.”
“Well, not too brave. I had a meltdown on day one, so there’s that. Oh, and I thought you were a bear. Not sure what kind of bear would tap nicely on a window . . .”
“A polite one.”
I laughed. “True.”
“So what did you do for work back home?”
“Corporate finance insurance.”
He grimaced.
I nodded. “Yep. Every colleague my age was either married with kids or a coke addict. Burnt out by their forties. It was time for me to get out.”
“How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Thirty-one.”
“I’m thirty-two,” he volunteered. “It’s . . .” He shook his head, not finishing his sentence. He gently scratched the table, staring at it. “I’ll spend my life here, and I’m okay with that. I’m no high-flyer or anything like that. Just want a simple life.” He frowned again. “Hartbridge is a great town where everyone knows everyone.