Chapter 9 #3
I rolled my eyes. ‘It’s just one of those things.
I don’t even know where it comes from but, if you make your boyfriend or partner, whatever, a big craft project…
thing, they break up with you. Knitters and crocheters mostly.
I uh… made him a cashmere jumper and I wanted to surprise him with it, so I went home early… ’
‘Uh-oh,’ Cooper said, deadpan. ‘I’ve seen that film before.’
‘Yeah… he was with someone else. In our flat… on my really, really time-consuming blanket.’
I saw him follow my gaze towards the bench seat, nose wrinkling.
‘I washed it,’ I said.
‘Good call,’ he said, and looked back at me. ‘Your witch friend showed me the label on the yarn you used for that jumper by the way – little handful of that stuff for, like, twenty quid? That must’ve been expensive.’
I sighed. ‘Don’t remind me. Probably cost me…
well, I know it cost me hundreds in yarn and then…
God, if I paid myself minimum wage for the time it took…
another, well, I don’t have to pay that.
It’s just my time. And the yarn wasn’t all at once, obviously, and I got some discount because of the business, so it’s not that bad. ’
Cooper leant back against the kitchen counter and blew on his tea. ‘… but your time is valuable too, so, with that included – how much?’
I winced. ‘Probably around… one thousand seven hundred pounds?’
His dark brows shot upwards. ‘Shit! That’s nearly more than I paid for the boat – and the engine packed in when I got here. You can’t just give that away – you should take it back and sell it. It’s like… boutique quality.’
I shrugged. ‘I’d be lucky to get a tenth of what it’s worth. That’s just how it is – you can buy a jumper from some website for twenty pounds. So that’s what people think they cost. You should just keep it – I guarantee it’ll keep you warm.’
‘Hey, even a hundred and seventy pounds is better than a poke in the eye,’ Cooper pointed out. ‘You could nearly buy some really impractical boots for that.’
The jibe felt more like an inside joke. A soft bat of a teasing cat paw. I smiled and he slowly returned it. I noticed one of his canines was a little crooked, like a book carelessly re-shelved at the library, left at a jaunty angle. It suited him.
‘I’d honestly pay that just to not see it again,’ I said, and meant it, tearing my eyes away from his smile. ‘Please, keep it. You did just save my life.’
Cooper ducked his head, looking uncomfortable for the first time since I’d met him.
‘Eh, you’d have probably been fine. Besides, I was ready to jump in there wearing the bloody thing so, like I said, it’ll just get ruined.
Even if you’re not going to sell it, why not, I don’t know…
burn it? Ceremonially, with your friend, in the woods? ’
I laughed. ‘In the nude, carrying a sheep skull and reciting the pattern backwards?’
‘Hey, it’s your Saturday night, not mine,’ he said, back to smiling lopsidedly again.
Was I imagining it or had his ears gone a little pink at the idea of me in the nude – ritualistically or otherwise?
It was probably just the cold. I was drenched in canal water, for God’s sake. Hardly prime fantasy fuel.
‘Nah… I’m good.’ I set my empty cup on the table, obscuring one of tablecloth Diana’s eyes.
‘I should be getting home but… the jumper’s yours now, so…
if you want to burn it? Whatever. But you’d be wasting all my hard work if you did.
Plus you’d be missing out on, like, the best jumper you’ll ever have.
Ever. Even if you do eventually get engine oil or something on it, it’ll still be warm.
And almost illegally soft… and it looked good on you. ’
I winced, having let my mouth run away with me. But it had looked nice on him. That was just the truth. He could have that for saving my life.
‘No reason not to keep it then, is there?’ Cooper huffed a laugh, looking a bit surprised and awkward. As well he might. Me and my big mouth.
I busied myself putting my wet boots back on. Ew, they squished. ‘Thanks for saving my life, by the way. Not sure how to pay you back for that.’
Cooper took my mug and set both cups in the sink. ‘If it helps, I regretted it immediately.’
I laughed. ‘Oh, really? You just talked yourself out of a thank-you card.’
I watched as he rolled his eyes. ‘I’ll live. Need help getting off the boat, in case you fall in again?’
‘I’ll manage,’ I said, already heading out of the kitchen door. ‘Happy cleaning! Hope none of your dolls are haunted.’
Oh, my God, was I flirting? I’d been single for less than twenty-four hours and I was already checking out bums and flirting with…
a very confusing man who had 1. Saved my life, 2.
Called my shoes cheap and 3. Been basically naked in front of me.
All in the space of an hour. I needed to get myself home before I did anything else embarrassing.
As I squelched off up the towpath, though, I couldn’t resist a backward glance, and there was Cooper – picking up the jumper and folding it carefully before taking it inside.