Page 170 of In at the Deep End

Instead, he’d managed to make him wonder whether he was wanted.

And somehow, that felt worse.

Owen had just finished emptying the dishwasher when his phone buzzed.

Jeff: You available for a chat?

He frowned. Of course. Come round. I’ll put the coffee on.

Intriguing. Jeff wasn’t a text-first kind of guy.

Something was off.

And does it have anything to do with the other night?

He busied himself setting up the machine, then glanced at the clock. Matt was in the barn, on a video call with his supervisor. The dissertation was almost ready to be handed in. Owen had a bottle of champagne in the fridge for the occasion. Matt would pretend the celebration wasn’t necessary.

Owen intended ignoring him completely.

The final result and award wouldn’t be announced until late October or November, but Matt didn’t seem worried about the outcome.

Then he’ll need to find himself a proper job.

And that could take him anywhere.

The doorbell rang, and Owen went to let Jeff in.

Jeff held a large plastic container. “Babs has been baking. Apparently she made too much.”

“Of course she did.”

Jeff pushed the container towards him. “Chocolate cake.”

He grinned. “I was hoping for flapjacks.”

Jeff didn’t smile, and Owen’s grin died.

Oh God, what’s happened?

“Jeff?”

“Can we do this inside?”

The question was quiet enough to make Owen’s pulse jump.

“Sure, let’s go into the kitchen.”

Jeff followed without another word.

Owen carried the cake through and placed it on the worktop. He crossed to the serving hatch between the kitchen and dining room and without thinking about it, slid it closed.

Matt was too far away to hear them. Still, the action felt instinctive. A private conversation belonged behind a closed door.

When Owen turned back, Jeff was already pulling out a chair.

They sat opposite each other at the kitchen table. For several seconds, neither spoke.

Jeff wasn’t a man who struggled for words. He was usually the one who said what everyone else was thinking, often before they’d worked out how they felt about it themselves.