Chapter 42
CHAPTER
Cruz pulled into the farm’s driveway, his gaze immediately drawn to the fairy lights strung around a wooden sign over the restaurant’s door. It boded well that he’d stopped thinking of the spare shed as storage space and already labelled it a restaurant.
‘Wow,’ El said, squeezing his hand, which she’d held the entire drive back to the farm. He may not have convinced her to move into the homestead for the remainder of her time in town, but she’d agreed to come back with him tonight and for now, that was enough.
‘Bindi works fast,’ he said, killing the engine and turning to face her. ‘You did a good thing, convincing me to hire her.’
‘We all need a break sometimes. How long until you open?’
‘Permits are done, the tables and benches I ordered should arrive by the end of the week and I’ve sourced crockery and cutlery from a local outlet, so I just have to test the dishes I want to serve and it’ll be all systems go. Probably in a week or two?’
Her eyebrows rose. ‘That soon?’
‘Yeah. So I’ll need my social media marketer to bring her A game.’ He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. ‘Think you’re up for it?’
‘What do you think?’
‘I think you make me a little crazy and I’m hoping it doesn’t affect my work.’
‘As long as you don’t give patrons food poisoning, you’ll be fine.’ Her smile made his heart twang.
Considering the brief amount of time they’d known each other, Cruz knew it would be ludicrous to think beyond this week, let alone speak about the future.
But if learning the truth about his father had taught him anything, it was to stop living a lie.
That’s exactly what he’d done for the two years after he’d finished high school and stuck around to run this place.
He’d pretended every day, from the time he woke to the time he went to bed.
Pretended that he had interest in the production and distribution of avocados.
Pretended that he enjoyed learning from his father.
Pretended that he didn’t notice his parents’ strained relationship.
Pretending allowed him to cope when all he wanted to do was escape this place and never look back. Shelving his dreams to cook had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but he’d wasted those two years.
Never again.
‘I know you’ll probably want to get back to Melbourne sooner rather than later, and you can work on the restaurant campaign from anywhere, but what do you say to sticking around a while?’
The tenderness in her eyes almost undid him. ‘Any particular reason?’
‘For me,’ he said without hesitation, tired of living his life as a cynical, disgruntled loner. If a cheating prick like his father had enjoyed his life until the end, Cruz had no excuses not to go after what he wanted. And he wanted Elora.
‘I’d love to, but I have some things to take care of in Melbourne.’
Disappointment congealed like bad congee in his gut.
‘Though I can always come back?’ she added with a grin, and his world aligned again.
‘That’d be nice.’ King of the understatement.
‘Are you going to show me the progress on the restaurant or are you going to stare at me all night with stars in your eyes?’
‘I do not have stars in my eyes,’ he muttered, tugging on her hand so she leaned across the console. He brushed a kiss over her lips. ‘You’re way too confident for a woman who publicly drooled all over me.’
She laughed. ‘You’ll never let me forget that, will you?’
‘I may, but millions of others who’ve seen it won’t.’
‘Come on. I want to see the restaurant.’
As they strolled towards it hand in hand, Cruz wondered what his first week back here would’ve been like if El hadn’t been around.
He probably would’ve resented every minute of farm life and lamented their struggling finances.
Instead, she’d gained Kinstead notoriety, brought in lucrative clients, given him an idea for a pop-up restaurant that would sustain him in the months ahead and managed to capture a piece of his heart in the process.
‘I love the rustic sign,’ she said as they reached the entrance. ‘Captures the essence of a farm-to-table restaurant perfectly.’
‘Bindi and Kyle’s doing.’
As they stepped inside, he struggled not to gawp.
The furniture had arrived early, and Bindi must’ve set it up with Kyle’s help.
Not only that, but they’d also found glass jars and placed tea light candles inside each one, alongside sprigs of golden wattle in tall, narrow glasses.
The fairy lights that had been strung up outside also covered the walls, along with bark art he couldn’t remember seeing around the farm.
‘Wow. The place looks magical,’ El said, squeezing his hand. ‘You did good.’
‘Bindi and Kyle must’ve done this while I was at the motel with you.’ Unexpected emotion lodged in his chest.
‘I’ll take some shots first thing in the morning and set up pages for Smashed on Insta and Facebook. They can serve for the website too. And I can preschedule posts for a month in advance to gain traction, plus I can give Bindi access to everything so she can update as needed.’
‘Thanks,’ he said, a tad overwhelmed that this was happening so quickly. ‘I might pop in and see her before we go to bed.’
‘Okay. I’m glad she’s settled in so fast. It must be disorienting to be homeless.’
‘Yeah, I can’t imagine what she’s gone through. I’m happy I could help.’
A strangled sound came from over their shoulders and as Cruz turned, he saw Bindi glaring at them with devastation in her eyes.