Scottish Lust

53. Silence descends

I had nothing. No words formed in my brain that could provide any sort of meaningful response.

The best I could do was reach out my arms and wrap Grace in a comforting hug. Her face soon fell against my chest and she began to cry. Years of pent up emotion slowly drained away.

All the while, we could hear choice highlights of Ross and Karen's conversation. It wasn't pleasant. Before the revelation about her being pregnant, I was about to ask Grace if we could offer him refuge for the evening. Things were now far too complicated for my problem solving skills.

Needing a distraction, it dawned on me that it was very late afternoon and I was famished. I guided Grace to the couch and eased her to lay down. There was a nice mohair blanket, which I draped over her.

Gently kissing her lips, I whispered "Just have a rest here gorgeous while I fix us something to eat."

"That'd be ace, thank you." and she closed her eyes.

A quick survey of the fridge gave me a few ideas, and a trip into the backyard was particularly productive. About 15 minutes later, I took a serving tray to the lounge with laden plates. Omelette with some chopped veggies, a few slices of grilled haloumi, green salad leaves from the garden, sourdough toast and what looked and tasted like homemade tomato chutney.

There were three plates. I took a punt that Ross would be joining us. He was.

We made an odd threesome, about to eat. Naked Grace, blanket tucked under her arms. Ross in underwear and his police uniform shirt. And me in my shirt that started all this trouble.

In other circumstances, I'm sure I'd have made a joke about it. Clearly, joking wasn't on the agenda.

They both appreciated the food and we ate, mostly in silence.

I kept steeling glances at Grace. Fuck she was so sexy, which I felt guilty for thinking in the circumstances. I took one glance too many: she caught my eye, and we stared at each other, food untouched.

*