Page 25 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane
‘No self-respecting intelligent person would answer an advert like that if they were stone-cold sober,’ he told her, still smiling.
She hung her head in shame. ‘I know.’
‘It was my brother’s way of helping, which, to be honest, normally ends in disaster for me anyway.’ He looked at her. ‘None of this is your fault. It was just an accident. Anyway, I should have been here, not in Rome. I came back to Cranfield to take care of Dad and look what’s happened.’
‘Ryan—’ she began, but he shook her head to silence her words.
‘Listen, if you want to leave, then I really don’t blame you,’ he carried on. ‘I mean, the place is a tip, an absolute dump, and from what you’ve said, it’s not exactly anything that you’re interested in, let alone career-enhancing.’ He hesitated before going on. ‘But if you haven’t got any other work lined up, then perhaps you might stay a bit longer.’
She gave a start, shocked at what he was suggesting. ‘You want me to stay longer than a week?’ she asked.
He nodded, watching her closely. ‘I think it might take longer than a week to get things straight, don’t you? Besides, I reckon Dad’s going to fret about you, especially when he hears that you want to leave.’
‘Nobody frets about me any more,’ she told him before blushing at revealing so much about herself.
He raised an eyebrow in question. ‘You don’t have any family?’
‘Mum’s over in Ireland,’ she told him. ‘We see each other a couple of times a year. But she’s happy and settled now. My dad’s in the Far East somewhere.’ She shuffled in her seat awkwardly at the admission. ‘We’re not close.’
‘I see. Brothers and sisters?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘Just me.’
‘Lucky you,’ he told her with a soft smile. ‘I’m still picking up the pieces of the wreckage that my younger brother leaves behind each and every time he comes home. Which isn’t very often. Lucky him not to have any responsibilities so that life can be one big joke.’
She thought he sounded bitter for a moment and realised that the responsibility of taking care of his heartbroken dad was obviously more painful than he had let on. And he had his own life in a different country.
‘How was Rome?’ she asked.
‘Have you ever been?’
She shook her head. She didn’t really travel anywhere being so wrapped up in work.
‘It’s as beautiful as ever, but the flat is ruined,’ he told her.
‘What about your job?’ she asked.
‘Unfortunately, there’s no job for me either,’ he said after a pause, fiddling with the wrapper on the table. ‘The restaurant can’t wait for me indefinitely.’
‘I’m sorry.’
He looked up at her. ‘So perhaps we both could stay in Cranfield for a while and keep each other company until our new jobs present themselves,’ he told her softly.
‘I’m not much good at keeping anyone company,’ she admitted. ‘I’m not good at people, in fact.’ She didn’t know why she was confessing to Ryan of all people. Perhaps it was the guilt of his dad lying on an operating table somewhere in the hospital because of her.
‘Well, I only know about food,’ he replied.
‘I don’t even know about that,’ she told him with a grimace.
‘But you know about tidying up, from what I’ve seen,’ he replied. ‘Maybe the two of us can get the place sorted together.’
She thought about it for a moment. She could say no. She could leave and head to some lovely hotel or even a beach and live in blissful isolation until her flat was ready to be lived in once more. Somewhere where the lines were straight and there were streetlamps and tube stations and all other modern things within touching distance.
But something was pulling her back to Cranfield. Perhaps she could stay a little longer, just to get things clear, if only to make it up to Bob. After all, she had never left a job half-finished before.
So she made a decision. She would clear the station downstairs and hopefully the apartment a little of its clutter as well. She would make amends for causing Bob so much hurt.
She found herself nodding, despite her doubts. ‘Okay,’ she replied, giving him a tentative smile. ‘I’ll stay and help out.’
