Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
K ent couldn’t remember a time when he had got things more wrong. In his mind, suggesting he attended George’s leaving do had been a way to break the ice. He thought that perhaps, if Gemma saw him outside of the Waterfront Cafe, she would be a little more relaxed. Perhaps they could have had a drink or two and managed a full conversation. After all, that was the first time she had even spoken to him since the incident with the old man, and it would have been great to have been able to explain his side of things.
Although in his defence, Gemma obviously wasn’t that good at reading people, either. If she was, she would have noticed how the old man’s eyes darted around the room when he’d nearly fallen and how the last thing he had wanted was for anyone to make a fuss over him. She should have let him stand on his own and walk out the way he so obviously wanted to. She had handled it badly, not that she realised. And he didn’t hold that against her, the same way he was sure that the old man hadn’t either, because they both knew she was just trying to be a good person. So maybe he should have started by saying that. But there was no way he could go back to change it, so now everything he did focused on moving forward.
He sat on the bench, opened up his tablet, and stared at the list of points he had written down. These were observations he wanted to address with Gemma as soon as possible. He was sure she wouldn’t be thrilled about a couple of them, which was why he wanted to do it now. Then, they’d have the weekend to work through it. Now, though, he would have to go through it with her on Monday morning, and that wasn’t how anyone wanted to start their working week. He had taken on the position at the Waterfront Cafe with such high hopes and confidence that he would make a real difference, but he could already tell that Gemma was getting ready to block his every move. Maybe that was why he found himself thinking about her so often. Why he would find his eyes drifting across the coffee shop floor to watch her talking to Sophie and feel a pang of jealousy whenever a customer made her smile, or worse still, laugh.
He drew in a lungful of air and looked out at the boat. Maldon was beautiful in the sun, and it was no wonder there were so many older couples strolling around, hand in hand. It looked like the perfect type of place to retire and grow old together. Assuming you had someone to grow old with, that was.
The thought jerked him back into the moment. Realising he wouldn’t get anything productive done sitting there on the bench, he glanced back at the Waterfront Cafe one last time, only for his stomach to flip in surprise.
Gemma was walking straight towards him.