I nod, not liking the direction this is going in.
‘So she got her dad to give me a job at his petrochemicals plant. He didn’t really want to. I don’t think he trusted me, to be honest, and who could blame him? But she kept going on at him to give me a chance and finally, he relented.’ He sighs. ‘It was a big increase in responsibility and salary, and I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and managed to get back on track financially.’ He glances at me sheepishly. ‘I owed it all to Lucy, didn’t I?’
I can’t quite believe what I’m hearing. ‘So you ended our relationship to be with Lucy because she got you out of debt?’ I ask, horrified.
He grimaces. ‘It sounds terrible when you say it like that. But I guess that was part of it.’
There’s a long silence as I absorb all of this.
‘But do you love her?’ I ask at last.
He nods. ‘Yes, I do. Not like I loved you. I’ll never love anyone like that.’ We lock eyes and my stomach lurches.
Jason sighs and looks away. ‘I know Lucy’s a pain in the arse at times but she’s really sweet with me. Well, not always, obviously. She has her moments.’ His mouth twists. ‘But it’s because she has so many hang-ups about not being good enough. She hates herself most of the time. She used to be so jealous of you.’
Laughter bursts from me. ‘Jealous? Of me? You’ve got to be joking.’
He shakes his head. ‘I’m not. Her parents were great at buying her things, but they never had much time for her. They were far too wrapped up in each other. It’s sad, really. You were such a contrast, with your close family unit.’
‘Hang on, so I’m supposed to feel sorry for Lucy? Well, forgive me if I pass on that one. It wasn’t her whose childhood was ruined by the relentless bloody bullying.’ I shake my head incredulously, my throat tightening.
Jason is staring down at the floor, a strange look on his face. ‘Don’t be too hard on Lucy. There are other things. Things you don’t know …’ He trails off and looks up.
‘What things?’
He looks confused for a second. Then he seems to realise he’s said too much because he pastes on a smile. ‘Nothing. At least, nothing for you to worry about.’
He leans over and grasps my hand. The warmth of his fingers curled around mine makes my insides jolt with longing and a single tear leaks down my face. Gently, he strokes a lock of hair behind my ear and my whole body quivers, feelings of long ago rushing right back at his touch. Lying entwined on my bed, listening to music, talking about anything and everything, and those endless, languorous kisses … ‘Can I smell burning?’ Jason breaks into my memories.
‘What?’ I stare, bemused, deep into those brown eyes I could never quite forget.
‘The cakes?’
‘Oh.’ Snapped right back to the present, I scrape back my chair and dash to the oven. Both cakes are charred on top, beyond rescuing. I pull one out in a panic then reach for the other but manage to catch the top of my thumb on the shelf above. Yelping, I drop the second spoiled chocolate fudge cake in its tin on the hob and cross to the sink where I stick my thumb under cold running water.
Jason is there in a heartbeat, asking if I’m okay. I nod and try to smile, hoping he thinks the reason there are tears in my eyes now is because of the burn on my thumb – and not because of what he’s just admitted to me. That part of the reason our relationship ended was because of stupid money!
He says he’d better leave me to sort out the cakes, and we part with a wistful smile.
My head is still reeling from what he told me. We could have sorted out his problems between us. If he’d told me how much he missed me, I might even have switched to a uni or college nearer so we could have seen each other more often. But he hadn’t given me that chance because he hadn’t told me. Instead, he’d allowed bloody Lucy Slater to insinuate her way into his life and save him, effectively tying him to her side by luring him into the family firm. That’s what it sounded like to me, anyway.
What a horrible mess.
And now I’ve burned my chocolate fudge cakes.
I force myself to concentrate on the baking … to think about measurements of butter and sugar rather than how things could have turned out so differently for Jason and me. It’s hard, though.
Then, just as I’m checking on my Victoria sandwich cakes in the oven, Paloma pops her head round the back door and calls through. ‘Lucy’s just arrived with the curtains. She wants the keys to the café.’
I’m thrown into an instant panic. ‘But she’s early. She said seven and it’s only four, and I can’t leave because I’ve got cakes in the oven!’
‘She doesn’t need you there, Twi. She can put the curtains up herself. She just needs the keys.’
I stand there, dithering. I don’t want to give Lucy Slater the keys to my café. It’s probably completely irrational, I know, but that’s how it is. On the other hand, can I risk leaving the kitchen while I’ve got things in the oven, even for ten minutes? There’s nothing worse than a dry, over-baked cake.
Paloma is looking at me expectantly.
‘Can you go over there and open up for her?’ I ask at last.
She glances at her watch and frowns. ‘I’ve got a deadline of half an hour ago for a really important client. But okay.’ She holds out her hand. ‘Keys?’
Sighing, I snatch them off the bench and hand them over.
Paloma smiles. ‘It’ll be fine. I doubt Lucy plans to trash the café while you’re not there.’
Feeling silly, I nod and she
