“You’ve got that right,” I muttered, as Matthew helped me up to my feet.
“Look, we don’t have to go out if you don’t want to,” Matthew said. “You look like death warmed up.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said. “But I think dinner’s the least you owe me after winding me up like that. Just let me go and freshen up.”
I gazed at myself in the mirror; there was a haunted look in my eyes. There was no way I’d hallucinated, no matter how many stories Matthew told me.
I’d seen a ghost.
I had a quick drink of water to calm my nerves, gave my makeup a final onceover, took a deep breath and went out to meet Matthew.
“You okay?” he asked. “I meant what I said – it’s no trouble to rearrange.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “And I meant what I said. You owe me dinner. You’re not going to get out of it that easily.”
“In that case, milady, your chariot awaits.” Matthew offered me his arm and led me out to his car, where he opened the door for me and made sure I was sitting comfortably before going round to the driver’s side. It had to be said that Rose had brought her son up to have manners.
We drove in awkward silence, both of us lost in thought. It had been a long time since I’d been on a date, so my dating skills were a little rusty. And I was still shaken by what I’d seen in the kitchen. It couldn’t have been my dad... could it?
Maybe it was a hallucination brought on by the stress of the move and Matthew’s silly stories. Yes, that had to be it. There’s no way I’d really seen a ghost.
Before I knew it, we were pulling into the car park at Caravaggio’s. Once again, Matthew came round and opened the door for me.
“I hope you’ve got an appetite,” he said. “The food here is divine.”
“Glad to hear it,” I replied, “because I’m starving.”
Matthew led the way into the restaurant where a smiling maître d’ welcomed us.
“Is everything ready?” Matthew asked.
“Yes, boss. I’ve got your favourite table all set up and ready.”
“Boss?”
Matthew smiled at me. “Didn’t I tell you? I own this place.”
“My, my. Aren’t you full of surprises?”
“I like to keep people on their toes,” he grinned.
So there was a lot more to the goat whisperer than met the eye.
“What other secrets are you keeping from me?” I asked.
“If I told you that, they wouldn’t be secrets, would they?” Matthew replied, tapping the side of his nose. “Anyway, tonight’s not about me. It’s all about you. I want to know everything about Lashire Bluff’s latest Fortune.”
“There’s not an awful lot to tell,” I shrugged. “Inheriting my uncle’s house is the first exciting thing to happen to me for years.”
“I don’t believe that,” said Matthew. “Eyes like yours are hiding plenty of stories, and I want to know all of them.”
“I think it’ll take a few bottles of wine before that happens,” I laughed.
“That can be arranged.” Matthew waved at a waiter and made a drinking gesture. A moment later, he was by our table, a bottle of red in one hand and white in the other.
“These are the best wines we serve here,” Matthew told me. “I hope you don’t mind my choosing on your behalf. I can always get the wine menu for you if you like?”
“No, no,” I said. “I’m happy to trust your judgement. It’s your restaurant, after all.”
“Great.” When Matthew smiled, I could finally see his mum in his features. They had the same bright smile which lit up their face. “Do you want me to order for us both as well? I have a feeling I’ll be able to pick the perfect meal for you.”
“Sure,” I nodded. Quite frankly, right now I didn’t feel up to poring over a menu and agonizing over my choices. I’d much rather let someone else do the thinking for me while I recovered from what had happened earlier. And maybe gaze into Matthew’s gorgeous eyes and listen to him talk...
Matthew gave the waiter our order, who poured out a glass of white for each of us before retreating.
Matthew picked up his glass and held it up in a toast. “To new beginnings and a new home,” he said.
“New beginnings and a new home,” I echoed before taking a sip. “Wow.” My eyebrows shot up. “That is good. Whoever orders your wine has good taste.”
“That’d be me,” Matthew grinned. “I oversee every little detail here. When you live in a place as small as Lashire Bluff, if you want to run a successful restaurant, the only way you can do it is by establishing a reputation for excellence that brings in out-of-towners to see what all the fuss is about. Luckily, I’ve got an amazing chef.”
“Let me guess – it’s your mum?”
Matthew blushed. “You’re right. That’s the real reason why she doesn’t work evenings at your house. She comes down here to cook for me.”
“She must be exhausted at the end of the day,” I said.
Matthew shook his head. “She absolutely loves it. When we all grew up, she didn’t know what to do with herself. She was born to look after people, so when I opened the restaurant, she wanted to do all the cooking so everyone could enjoy a decent home cooked meal. And then when Gregory mentioned he wanted someone to help about the house, she volunteered. I think she’d actually do the work for free. She always felt sorry for him, being all on his own in that huge place. And when she heard you were moving in...” His voice tailed off.
“She felt sorry for me as well?” I finished.
“Well, I wouldn’t quite put it like that.”
“But she did feel sorry for me.”
“She knew how much it hurt your uncle not to have any contact with you. He talked about you a lot, so she knew you
