A Fresh Start on Crumcarey (Crumcarey Island #5)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

LUKE

L uke clambered to his feet and was surprised to find the room spinning gently around him. Blimey, the wine had hit him harder than he’d realised.

Grabbing his bowl from the table, he reached across for Maggie’s with a slightly wonky smile. He got her full-wattage beam in return, and it nearly swiped his legs right out from beneath him.

Wow!

Luke forced himself to turn away before he did something stupid, and made his way slowly over towards the sink – willing the world to stop swaying as he went. Perhaps the wine hadn’t been such a good idea after all!

‘Man, I’m ready for some sleep!’ he yawned, secretly wondering if he’d manage to get any with Maggie under the same roof.

‘Amen!’ she echoed, appearing at his side with the empty wine bottle and jam jars. ‘Let me just do the washing up, and then—’

‘Not a chance,’ said Luke. ‘There’s not that much, anyway. I’ll deal with it tomorrow.’

‘Oh good,’ chuckled Maggie, grinning up at him. The room spun even faster as his heartbeat did something peculiar. ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’

‘Playing a dangerous game there, Mags,’ he said, naturally shortening her name and then wondering if perhaps he was taking liberties. Then he gave a mental shrug – he’d had too much wine to worry about it either way. ‘I could have called your bluff and set you to work.’

‘Nah, not your style,’ said Maggie.

Luke beamed at her. He liked how that sounded – as though they’d known each other long enough for her to work out all his little foibles.

‘Let’s get some sleep,’ he said. ‘I can drive you over to the cottage in the morning if you’d like? We could take a look at the damage before you have to head into work…?’

Every fibre of his being wanted to declare that she had nothing to worry about – that no matter what state the place was in, he’d help. He’d take over and make everything right for her. But even in his slightly befuddled state, he knew that was the last thing she needed.

Maggie was clearly an independent soul. From what he could gather, today was the first time she’d asked for - or accepted - any kind of assistance since she’d moved to Crumcarey.

Baby steps.

He’d work out a way to give her a hand… but there was no way he was going to make her feel stomped all over. It sounded like she’d had quite enough of that with her ex.

‘That would be great,’ said Maggie. ‘Thanks. Now… are you sure about me having the bed?’

Luke watched her as she glanced around the barn. He had a feeling it was only just dawning on her that the place was completely open-plan – kitchen, living room and bedroom all rolled into one. The bed was tucked away in the far corner, but the only truly private place in his little home was the bathroom.

‘I’m sure!’ he said. ‘The sofa’s pretty comfy… and I’m used to it. I only built the bed base a week ago. Also, there’s a curtain you can pull around it. I put it up to help keep the draft out… but it’ll give you a bit of privacy.’

‘Oh – cool,’ she said. ‘Okay, thanks.’

Luke saw her swallow. He couldn’t quite work out if she was feeling nervous, knackered, guilty for making him sleep on the sofa… or a mixture of all three.

‘Here,’ he said, reaching for a clean jam jar and filling it from the cold tap. ‘You might need this in the night… after the wine!’

‘Ta,’ she said, taking it from him.

‘Oh… and do you want to hang your wet things on the rack around the wood burner before bed, too?’ he added, kicking himself for not suggesting it earlier. ‘They should be nice and dry by the morning.’

‘That’d be great!’ she said, popping her water down on the table. ‘I’ll just grab them?’

Luke nodded and watched her make a dash for the bathroom before turning to stoke up the fire. Then, he closed it back to keep going through the night and set up his wooden clothes racks around it.

Straightening up, Luke cast a longing look at his bed. He was quite pleased with how it had turned out. Mr Harris had given him the mattress – which had barely been used – and Luke had built the base using rafters from one of the old barns. The roof had fallen in years ago and now it was just used as a sheltered spot for growing rhubarb.

Luke didn’t mind sleeping on the sofa one little bit… but he’d love nothing more than to curl up with Maggie under the covers and doze off to the sounds of the crackling wood burner.

Shaking his head to dislodge the rogue thought, Luke started to shift the cushions around on the sofa.

‘All sorted?’ he asked, looking up as Maggie re-emerged from the bathroom.

‘It’s all yours. I snaffled a bit of your toothpaste,’ said Maggie with a smile, holding her pile of wet clothes at arm’s length. ‘Don’t worry… I used my finger, not your brush!’

‘Grand,’ said Luke. ‘Erm… I’ve put a pair of my boxers and another tee shirt on the bed… for you to sleep in.’ He paused, suddenly wondering if that particular move was a bit weird. Maybe he’d managed to go one step too far in his wine-fuelled haze. ‘They’re clean!’

‘Oh,’ said Maggie, biting her lip and looking like she was having a hard time not giggling. ‘Great. Thanks.’

‘Night then,’ said Luke. ‘I’m just going to use the bathroom and I’ll grab the lights on my way back.’

‘Okay… okay,’ said Maggie. ‘Erm… night Luke. And – thank you.’

Luke grinned at her. It didn’t feel like enough. He wanted to kiss her… on the cheek… or… somewhere else. Maybe he should at least give her a hug?

No, maybe not!

Instead, Luke gave her a strange, stiff salute then rolled his eyes and shot off towards the bathroom before he could make any more of a prat out of himself.