The Secret Ingredient (32 page)

‘Well, I best get going then,' he said.

‘Thank you, again,' said Andie. And then impulsively she took a step closer and reached up to kiss him. She had been aiming for his cheek but he turned his head slightly and their mouths met. It seemed to surprise them both and they hesitated, allowing their lips just to linger against each other, as his hand felt for hers. It was really a bare whisper of a kiss, but it still made Andie feel light-headed. After a few moments, she drew back again, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it. ‘Goodnight, Andie.'

‘Goodnight.' She turned to walk up the path. When she got to the door she looked back, and he was standing in the same spot, watching her. He hadn't moved. Andie raised her hand in a wave, he waved back, and she opened the door. He still hadn't moved when she closed the door behind her.

Andie was finishing a cup of coffee as she pottered around, getting ready to leave for work, when her phone rang. It would be Jess, no doubt, calling for a debrief. But when she looked at the screen, she didn't recognise the number.

‘Hello?' she asked.

‘Hi, Andie? It's Elliot.'

‘Oh hello, Elliot, how are you?'

‘Great. I wanted to call straightaway,' he said. ‘I've just talked to Stan, the kid I was telling you about, with the apartment?'

‘Yes?'

‘Well, he jumped at it. He said you should give him a call to organise a time to go see the place. I've got his number.'

‘Wow, that was quick.'

‘Yeah, well, like I told you, he's desperate.'

‘This is fantastic, Elliot,' said Andie. ‘You don't know how much I've been dreading flat-hunting. I've heard nightmare stories about people lining up for inspections, bidding wars. I can't believe I won't have to go through any of that.'

‘Hey, maybe you shouldn't count your chickens, you know, at least until you've seen the place,' he warned. ‘I've never been there, but I told Stan that you're a class act, and it better not be a dump. He assured me it's in very good condition, and it's in a great location, only a couple of blocks back from the beach.'

‘I'm so excited,' said Andie. ‘I don't know how to thank you.'

‘Aah, stop it, happy to help.' He paused. ‘Though there is one thing.'

‘Oh?'

‘Promise me you'll give Dom a chance,' he said.

Her heart skipped a beat. ‘I'm sorry?'

‘Look, I don't know where things are between you two,' said Elliot, ‘and I'm probably stepping way over the line, but I don't know if you realise what a huge deal it was that he brought you to meet me last night.'

‘It was?'

‘Dom doesn't date lightly . . . by that I mean he hardly dates at all. So it was such a relief to meet you, you seem so nice and normal,' he said.

‘Thanks . . .' Andie said warily.

‘Now I've freaked you out.'

‘No . . .' Maybe a little.

‘Shit, I shouldn't have said anything. Sal'll kill me if I've stuffed it up. She's worried about him.'

Andie didn't know what to say, or think. This was all a little perplexing.

‘And now I've got you thinking there's something wrong with him,' Elliot sighed. ‘There isn't, I promise you. It's only that he's been burned in the past, haven't we all?'

She could hardly argue with that.

‘Dom is a great guy, Andie, the best. All I was really trying to say is give him a chance. He might take some time to crack, but it'll be worth it.'

‘Well, hello there, stranger,' said Jess, when Andie walked in through the back of the shop just after opening, the following Monday.

‘I know, I deserve that. I'm sorry,' she said. ‘Things have been crazy lately.'

Andie went to see the apartment the morning after Elliot phoned. It was perfect. Although it was only a studio, it was roomier than Andie had imagined, though that might have been an optical illusion created by the large picture window that dominated the main wall, and looked out over the surrounding buildings to the ocean beyond. It was clean and well-kept, with a relatively new bathroom and kitchenette. That's all you could really call the bank of cupboards that housed a sink, small oven and hotplates, with room for only a bar fridge under the bench. But that didn't bother her; she worked in a kitchen every day, this would do for home. There was something right about the place, Andie felt immediately comfortable. Stan was as keen as she was to get the ball rolling, he was virtually living at his girlfriend's already, so things went into overdrive. He notified the real estate agent, who, after a seeming mountain of paperwork, approved Andie to sublet the place until the lease was up, and then to have first dibs after that. Stan organised a mate with a ute to help him move the following weekend; he said Andie could start moving her stuff in as soon as she liked.

‘I'm
sooo
glad you're here,' Jess said in a rush. ‘We really need to go through some stuff . . . Oh, and while I think of it, that Spanish ham you asked me to order came in, and —'

‘I've found an apartment,' Andie interrupted, she wanted to get it out before they got distracted by business.

‘Wow,' Jess exclaimed. ‘Well, that's great, I didn't realise you'd even started looking.'

‘I didn't have to, this one landed right in my lap, through a friend of a friend, of a friend, from work. It was too good to pass up. It's in Bondi, it's only a studio, but it's really roomy, and clean and modern, it even has ocean glimpses.'

Jess looked impressed. ‘That does sound too good to pass up. Well done you. So when do you move in?'

‘Next weekend.'

‘I see what you mean about things being crazy.'

‘Right? Actually, I could have moved in yesterday,' said Andie, ‘but you know, I wanted to clean it myself. The guy left it in really good shape, but —'

‘— it's not the same,' Jess agreed. ‘Okay, so when do I get to see it?'

‘Well, if you didn't have to run the shop today, you could have come and helped me clean,' Andie quipped. ‘As it is, you'll have to wait till Saturday when I move, I'll be at work all week.'

‘Oh bugger, I'm going away this weekend,' said Jess. ‘I promised to help my friends – remember Rod and Alison? They have that restaurant in the Blue Mountains, and they've got a wedding Saturday.'

‘Don't worry about it,' said Andie. ‘Toby's going to give me a hand, and I'm taking the whole weekend off work, so along with my regular day off on Monday, I'll have three straight days to move and settle in.'

‘That's great,' Jess nodded. ‘So apart from missing my face, what brings you here today?'

Andie smiled. ‘I've been a terrible slacker, I really need to get up to speed around here, catch up on some paperwork.'

‘You don't have to worry, I'm keeping up with everything,' Jess assured her.

‘I know, you're a marvel, but it's not fair to leave it all up to you,' she said. ‘Besides, I also need to use the computer. I have a flat to furnish – I figure it might be quicker to do it online and have it delivered.'

‘You're really not going to take anything from your apartment?'

‘Ross's apartment,' Andie corrected her.

Jess went to protest but Andie spoke over the top of her. ‘The property settlement has been finalised, it's going through the court – he can't touch the shop or my inheritance, and I can't touch anything of his. Okay?'

In the midst of everything, papers had arrived by registered mail detailing the property settlement. The conditions had been accepted by Ross and his lawyers, and once Andie signed the papers, a consent order would be granted by the court, which carried the full weight of the law. Fortunately there was no need for either of them to attend the court in person.

‘So when do we celebrate?' asked Jess.

‘I don't know that it's something to celebrate,' said Andie. ‘Maybe when I'm all moved in we can crack open a bottle and celebrate my independence?'

‘Absolutely.' Jess leaned back against the bench, folding her arms. ‘How long do you think you'll be at the new place today? I could pop round after I close up here.'

Andie hesitated. Dominic was meeting her there later, they were going out to get a bite to eat if she felt up to it.

Jess was watching her. ‘Why are you blushing?'

‘I'm not blushing.'

‘Are too.'

The bell above the door sounded out in the shop. ‘You have a customer,' said Andie.

‘Literally saved by the bell,' Jess said wryly. ‘We'll pick this up again in a minute,' she added over her shoulder as she walked through to the shop.

Andie sighed as she sat down in front of the computer. Jess wouldn't let it go regardless, but it would be good to talk to her. They'd had a quick debrief about her date with Dominic last week, but Andie hadn't told her much, because there wasn't all that much to tell. She mainly talked about meeting Elliot, and the amazing meal . . . though she had admitted she'd agreed to a second date.

She hadn't told Jess about the cryptic phone call with Elliot, because she didn't really know what to make of it herself. So, there was baggage, even skeletons, in Dominic's closet; Andie was hardly in a position to be touchy about that, she didn't have the room in her closet for all the skeletons and baggage from her past. But that was only part of what was bothering her.

Her lawyer had mentioned that it was customary to process the divorce and property settlement together; however, you had to wait twelve months after the date of separation to file for divorce. Andie couldn't help feeling guilty, or at least uneasy, that she wasn't yet entitled to a divorce under the law and here she was gallivanting around with another man. Not that there had been much gallivanting to speak of. Although she saw Dominic every day at work, they were naturally being discreet. He'd walked her to her car a couple of nights, when they were both leaving at the same time and no one was around. However, there had definitely been no kissing, that would hardly be discreet in the staff carpark. But as the memory of that one kiss faded, Andie's doubts and misgivings had rushed in, and she was driving herself dotty.

She was scrolling idly through the Ikea catalogue online when Jess returned to the back room.

‘Okay, out with it,' she said. ‘Does the blush have anything to do with a certain chef?'

Andie sighed, swivelling in the chair to face Jess. ‘He's meeting me at the apartment later on.'

‘So, things are moving along?'

‘I guess,' Andie hesitated. ‘But I've been thinking . . .'

Jess sighed heavily and pulled a stool over to sit. ‘You do way too much of that, you know.'

‘That may be true, but just hear me out.'

‘I'm all ears.'

Andie sat forward. ‘Look, all right, I admit I like him. It's not him, it's me.'

‘This'll be good,' said Jess, leaning her chin in her hand.

‘The thing is, I'm beginning to see a pattern,' Andie began. ‘Think about it – I started going out with Ross after I lost my brother and then my mother. I overlooked the very glaring fact that he was married —'

‘Is the chef married?' Jess blurted.

Andie blinked. ‘What? No! God, Jess, do you really think I'd be that stupid again?'

She looked relieved. ‘Well, what has Ross being married before got to do with you and the chef?'

‘I'm getting to that,' said Andie. ‘I ignored the reasons I shouldn't have been with Ross, because I needed him, he filled a gap, I suppose. And I'm worried I'm doing the same thing all over again. I lost my husband and my father within days of each other, I've even lost the chance to have a family of my own. And so now I'm overlooking the fact that Dominic is my boss, and all the issues that come with dating him . . . and, well, I can't help thinking, am I really so afraid to face my own demons, deal with my grief . . . be on my own?'

Jess was frowning. ‘Wow, psychoanalysing yourself there much, Andie?'

She sighed. ‘I just wonder if it might not have been better to have some time alone before I started a new relationship?'

‘Well, yes . . . no . . . maybe . . . God, I don't know,' said Jess. ‘If we could plot out our lives to follow a nice, smooth path maybe that would be the right way to do it . . . But —'

The bell above the door sounded again.

‘Now you've been saved by the bell,' said Andie.

‘No,' Jess insisted. ‘It just gives me thinking time. I'll be right back.'

Andie sat staring at the screen, she couldn't even be bothered scrolling. She stared so long at a sofa called ‘
GLØNK
' the word started to look weird. Wait, the word was weird. She heard the bell sound again. She sincerely hoped that was the customer leaving, not another one coming in. Which was not a great attitude for the owner of the business to have.

Jess appeared in the doorway again. ‘Okay, here's what I think.'

Andie looked at her expectantly.

‘It's not some psycho pattern to need, or want, to attach to someone after losing significant people in your life. I think it's actually pretty normal, certainly understandable, and probably healthy.'

‘I don't know,' Andie muttered.

‘Listen,' said Jess, sitting down in front of her again, ‘weren't you always worried about your dad being on his own? Wouldn't it have been better if he'd found someone to share his life with, even just a casual companion?'

That was a very good point. One she couldn't really argue with.

‘The timing wasn't the problem with Ross,' Jess went on, ‘the problem was you lost yourself, and became Mrs Ross Corcoran. You totally relinquished control of your life to him, until I could hardly recognise you any more.'

Andie was thinking about it. ‘But isn't that all the more reason I should be on my own for a while? So I can get my act together?'

‘Being on your own is overrated,' Jess said drily. ‘Besides, your act isn't so bad, Andie. Why don't you try it out on the chef? Just be yourself. Own your own life, don't give it away, and don't let him take it over.'

‘He wouldn't do that. He's not like Ross.'

‘Glad to hear it.'

‘You know, I thought he was so arrogant at first, but I think that's just awkwardness, even a bit of shyness. He's actually quite sweet . . . Not that I really know him all that well.'

‘Isn't that what dating's for?' said Jess. ‘To get to know each other?'

‘Yeah . . .'

‘In fact, isn't that what he said about you – that he wanted to get to know you better?'

Andie nodded thoughtfully.

‘So let him.'

Andie had spent the rest of the morning picking out furniture for the apartment, with Jess popping in and out between customers to throw in her two cents' worth. Andie welcomed her input; she had never done anything like this before, it felt impulsive and a little indulgent . . . no, a lot indulgent. But Jess kept reminding her that the place was hers and hers alone, she was the only one who had to like what she put in it because she was the only one who had to live with it. So, if she wanted a purple couch, she should have a purple couch. She didn't, but it was incredibly liberating to have the choice. It was also time-consuming – she had intended to catch up on paperwork, but Jess assured her again that everything was up to date, and when Andie did a quick scan through the orders, wages and accounts, she could see that it was.