Page 126 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

“Okay.”

“Can I shower here?”

“Of course.” He stepped out of the way. “Are you okay?”

“I will be if Carla is.”

Twenty minutes later, she gave Warren a hasty kiss goodbye and stepped out into the freezing cold. In the car, she pulled theseatbelt around her with one hand, and called her sister with the other. Carla answered after a few rings.

“Are you at work?” Anna asked.

“No, I’m at home.”

“Are you going to work soon?”

“No, I’m not working today. Why?”

Anna turned the engine on and twisted the dial to put the heat on full blast. “Mum said you’d been at their place and had only gone home to go to work.”

“I was supposed to work today, but I found someone to cover for me.”

“Are you ill?”

“I’m okay,” Carla answered ambiguously. “What have you been up to for the last few days?”

Anna winced. “Can I come over?”

“Now? Why?”

“Why not?I’d like to see you. I’m going to come over now.”

“Fine,” Carla muttered. “Just promise not to make comments about how much of a mess my place is.”

“Promise,” Anna said, and ended the call.

That promise meant she had to bite her tongue when she walked into Carla’s flat in Bourton-on-the-Water, not too far from their parents’ place.

“It’s not that bad,” Carla said, swiping a bunch of clothes from the couch to make space for Anna to sit.

“No,” she said, eyes scanning over the collection of plates and mugs on the table, which must have been there a while since Carla hadn’t even been at home for the last few days. “It’s not so bad.”

With a spark of amusement in her eyes, Carla flopped into the armchair, her legs hanging over the arm. “What’s going on with you?”

Anna opened her mouth to make small talk before thinking better of it. “Have I upset you?”

“No. Why?”

“Because of Warren. I told you I liked him, and you didn’t get in touch to see how that had turned out.”

“I tried to ask how that turned out, but when I called you told me you were going on a date with Hayden.”

“It wasn’t a date.”

She nodded. “I got that update from Lewis. He also seemed to think you were getting together with Warren.”

“But you didn’t get in touch to find out…”

“No, because it all seemed pretty obvious. If things hadn’t worked out, you’d have been in touch.”