Commitment

Part 88

"Because of me? My plans."

She shook her head. "No." She smiled ruefully, "You have resurrected the farm. Brought it back from the brink." Just a shame that your smile makes my heart pound, and obviously this infatuation would not pass, she thought. "What you have done for my farm, would take me eons. I am gratefully for that. And I am sure, that I didn't thank you." That reminded her, "But as you are here, I do owe you for the groceries you bought me, so if you could tell me..."

"Regan, if you think I am going to charge you for those foodstuffs...."

"I'm not a charity case Mr Cardozo." She narrowed her eyes.

He blinked. Then frowned. "Is that why you are in foul mood today?" He tipped his head, his eyes wide, his brows raised as he said with concern, "Because you think we think you are a charity case?"

She gulped but did not say anything. Several long seconds passed. They just stared at each other.

"Honestly Regan! We do not see you as a charity case." Frustration snapped to life within him and he began to scowl at her with barely contained exasperation

She said dryly, slightly nervous, "Then why did you stock my larder and fridge and sit with me?"

"Because you are a friend." He announced as he stood his ground. He stated candidly, "And I like you!"

She replied her eyes narrowed in bemusement as she weighed up his statement. She chewed her lower lip as she replayed his statement in her head before saying, "Really?"

"Yes!" He held onto his temper. Muttering to himself, before he said, "I thought we were enjoying our company."

She nodded. That was true. It had been a wonderful way to spend time given the situation. She almost forgotten about her exhaustion when she spoke to him, with him sitting on her bed, joined at the hip, and just laughing and talking.

He rolled his eyes, gritted his teeth, "So what happened?" He paused, waited for her to speak, and when she said nothing, added "Regan?"

She knew she was stalling, and opted for a semi truth. "I misunderstood the signals."

He took a deep breath and added with barely concealed exasperation, "Signals? What signals? Regan, just explain!"

She just shrugged, and murmured beneath her breath, "I thought it was charity." She crossed her arms and rubbed her hands along her arms. "You came, you paid your dues and left."

"What?"

She sighed, " And you didn't come back yesterday."

"I thought Granddad explained ..."

"He did. He did."

"And you were still expecting me..."

Luckily for her, the alarm on her phone rang. She held both hands up. "Ah, as they say, saved by the bell." She tried to appease him, resorting to a conciliatory tone of voice.

He nodded, waited for her to say something. She took a deep breath and then, to his surprise, she said, "er, can we save this conversation for another time?"

He bit down on his immediate response but couldn't help the exasperation that laced the word, "Yeah. Count on it." He quirked a brow and threw her a challenging look.

She squared her shoulder and firmed her lips, and considered a pithy retort.

When she didn't respond, he pushed, "Regan, this discussion is on hold." Curbed his tongue and opted for a simple message, "This is not over."

She didn't do sulkiness as a rule. And yet, here she was, definitely having a silent tantrum. He swore to himself, as he banked his temper, ran a hand round the back of his neck and said, "Regan, did you hear you me?"

"Yes. I did." She told him with utter hauteur in her voice and walked away, mumbling, "Good night!" She didn't wait for his response.

He blew out a breath in exasperation and watched her progress to her car.

She was off again. Obviously, she wasn't even going to offer an explanation for her behaviour this evening. And while he watched her reversed out, he thought he would talk to his granddad. He knew he could not come back tomorrow, or for the next few days as he was away on a business trip for his employers. Looking over various breeds of sheep in the south island. And in any case he need time to work out his plan. He waited a heart beat, mumbled to himself, "What plan?" That was the trouble. One minute he thought he had a plan, was doing the best for her, and then he'd wonder whether he'd misjudged completely. Take for example, this evening, he closed his eyes and exhaled. When he opened his eyes, he watched her car tail lights disappear, and jammed his hands in his jeans and muttered into the silence, "Time for plan b."