Stefan stared at the smoke billowing out of the sandwich maker, breathed in the acrid smell of burning bread and snapped out of his daze. ‘I’ll sort it…’
‘Let me do it.’ Cassie rushed past him and unplugged the toaster. She got hold of the knife, flipped the cover open and proceeded to scrape the charred bread and cheese off.
‘What were you two doing? Did you not notice it was burning?’ Joseph asked looking from Stefan to Cassie.
‘Obviously not,’ Cassie replied without turning round.
Joseph shrugged, poured a generous measure of brandy into a glass, drank a mouthful and let out a contented sigh. ‘Are you not having a drink?’
‘We had one already,’ Cassie said, still without turning round. She threw the charred bread in the bin, and started chopping some cheese – hacking at it, would be a more accurate description.
Joseph frowned. ‘What’s the matter with you, Trifle? You’re making a right mess with that cheese.’
Cassie stared at the mound of cheese crumbs in front of her. ‘Nothing’s the matter with me, and when I need advice on how to slice cheese I will make sure to ask you.’
The old man whistled between his teeth. ‘When you’re like that, you remind me of your grandma the time I forgot our wedding anniversary.’
Turning to Stefan, he added. ‘We’d better retreat to the living room with this excellent brandy. I have no intention of getting in the way of an angry woman with a knife.’
‘Good idea,’ Cassie snapped and she stabbed at the cheese again.
Joseph arched his eyebrows and gestured for Stefan to follow him. ‘Are you having another drink, son?’ he asked once they were in the living room.
‘I’ll pass, thank you. I’m driving.’
‘You’re right, of course.’ Joseph cocked his head to one side. ‘You wouldn’t have any idea why Cassie is in such a foul mood, by any chance? You two haven’t argued or anything?’
Stefan’s face heated. ‘Hmm… No.’
The rattling of the front door opening saved him from Joseph’s scrutiny.
‘I’m home!’ Tim called from the hallway, before popping his head into the living room. ‘Hi, Stefan. Hi, Joseph. I’m glad to be back. Where are Rachel and the boys?’
Joseph replied that the two younger children were asleep and that Rachel was putting Louis to bed, and Tim said he’d check on him.
As Joseph finished his brandy, he seemed to have forgotten all about his question about Cassie, which was lucky because Stefan would have been hard-pressed to give him an answer.
He knew what he was feeling right now – a mix of regret, frustration, and the bitter satisfaction of having done the right thing by pulling away from her before he succumbed to the burning desire to kiss her. However, he had no idea what Cassie was thinking. She had been warm and soft in his arms as she snuggled against him, and the feel of her lips had almost tipped him over the edge. It had taken all his willpower to stop himself from giving in to the sweet madness he yearned for, kissing her, pulling her closer, touching her. Thank goodness he had remembered just in time that it would be a bad idea on so many different levels.
He was a mess, and he was only in Belthorn for a few weeks – the time to sort himself out. He had no right to get involved with her.
What’s more it wasn’t him she wanted. He remembered the longing on her face when she had looked at Hardman’s photo in the interior design magazine, and the way her voice had mellowed as she said how talented and inspiring he was. This was the man she wanted. The man she was attracted to. Not him.
She only kissed him because she was grateful. She said so herself. She was grateful for his helping her in the clubhouse, and giving her cousins a lift back from hospital.
Tim and Rachel came back downstairs. Rachel made some tea and coffee, Cassie brought a dish piled high with toasted sandwiches, and they all sat down at the table to eat. She didn’t look at him, her cheeks were red, and uncharacteristically for her, she wasn’t smiling.
‘The snow has caused accidents everywhere,’ Tim said as he sipped the generous measure of brandy Joseph had poured to warm him up.
Stefan frowned. ‘Then perhaps we should leave straight away.’
Cassie glanced at him, then at the grandfather clock. ‘Let’s have something to eat first. Half an hour shouldn’t make much of a difference.’
He wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but she sounded so annoyed so he didn’t insist. The conversation around the table rolled around Louis’s accident and Rachel’s sister’s forthcoming wedding, which prompted Joseph to regale them with a few risqué puns about Tarzan and Jane, and the odd policeman joke, then Rachel mentioned some gossip she’d overheard at school that morning.
‘Another of your clients got burgled yesterday,’ she told Cassie.
Cassie put her cup of tea down. ‘Oh no! Who was it this time?’
‘Tabitha Sweeney. All her jewellery and some cash were stolen when she was at her gym class. Her husband is mad at her because she didn’t switch on the alarm, and now the insurance won’t pay out.’
Cassie gasped. ‘Tabitha always puts her alarm on. She must have been very distracted to forget it yesterday.’
‘Or someone knew the code and disabled it,’ Tim remarked.
‘I don’t think it’s possible. Apart from her husband and herself, only her in-laws and I know it.’
‘People are getting nervous,’ Rachel remarked.
Cassie nodded. ‘I’m not surprised. Nadine Hartley is a good friend of Tabitha’s and she has tons of expensive jewellery. She’s bound to review her security arrangements now.’
‘At least, we don’t risk anything here,’ Rachel said. ‘I don’t have any jewellery worth stealing, and even if I had, nobody would get passed the dogs.’
‘What do you mean, you have nothing worth stealing?’ Tim protested. ‘You have your engagement ring and the bracelet with the gold charms I bought you when the boys were born.’
Rachel leant against her husband’s shoulder. ‘How can I forget?’ Turning to Stefan, she added. ‘Do you know what charms my husband gave me to thank me for the hard time I had giving birth to his three sons?’
Tim’s cheekbones flushed bright red. ‘It was a joke, Rachel… and I’m a farmer after all.’
Oblivious, Rachel carried on, ‘He bought me a sheep, a tractor and a cow! If he thinks that’s an incentive for me to produce baby number four, he is seriously mistaken.’
Joseph laughed. ‘Give the lad a break, Rachel. Tim loves you and the boys, and that matters more than any piece of jewellery. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about those burglaries. We’ve never had so much trouble in years. It’s a shame Keith retired to Tenerife. He could have helped.’
He looked at Stefan and explained. ‘Cassie’s step-dad used to be a policeman. He would probably put those burglars in the nick in no time at all. Perhaps he could give us some idea about what’s going on.’
‘Keith is enjoying his retirement far too much to worry about burglaries in Red Moss, Granddad,’ Cassie said, ‘but I suppose I could always ask for his input next time I Skype Mum.’