Page 58 of A Chef's Kiss for Christmas

Curiously, she followed him up the drive to the front door, which opened when he got close.

“I thought I heard your car,” the elderly lady said. Her eyes flicked behind Warren and landed on Anna. “Oh, hello.”

“This is Anna,” he said. “Lewis’s sister.”

“Hello, dear.” She offered her hand, then clasped Anna’s hand in both of hers. “I’m Edith, but call me Edie.”

“Hi,” Anna said. “Lovely to meet you.”

“I’m going to have dinner with Anna,” Warren told her. “So I’ll just drop yours off when I’ve warmed it up. I’d have called and let you know, but it was a last-minute plan.”

“Don’t worry about me. I can rustle something up for myself.”

“It’s no problem,” he said. “I’ll bring it over in a bit.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Of course. I can’t have you fading away. If you pop your clogs, I’ll end up homeless.”

Her eyes brightened as she beamed. “He likes to tease me,” she said to Anna. “But I can’t complain because he looks after me.”

“I’ll bring dinner over in ten minutes,” he said with a grin. “You can do one of your brain training exercises while you wait. Got to keep that mind sharp!”

Edie swatted a hand at him, but he dodged out of the way. “See what I mean about the teasing,” she said to Anna, but looked entirely amused.

Warren beckoned to Anna with a flick of his chin, and she followed him around the side of the house.

“Edie is my landlady and my neighbour,” he said, moving the shopping bag to his other hand and pulling a set of keys from his pocket.

When he stopped at the door on the side of the garage, Anna failed to hide her confusion. “Where are we going?”

“My place.” Turning, he gave her a sheepish grin. “I told you it’s nothing impressive.”

Taken aback, she remained quiet as she stepped into the converted garage. Her eyes darted around the compact space. In front of her, bright white kitchen units formed an L-shape around a wooden table and chairs. To the left was a simple living space, and to the right, the bedroom door stood slightly ajar. Presumably, the closed door beside that was the bathroom.

“It’s small,” Warren said, tossing his keys on the table.

Anna stepped further into the cosy space. “It’s cute.”

“It works for me.”

“Doesn’t the tiny kitchen drive you crazy?” she asked as he set his shopping bag on the sideboard.

“I never cook here. If I’m cooking on my day off, I do it at Edie’s place. She’s always happy to have me pottering around her kitchen.”

“She seems very sweet.” Anna smiled to herself, thinking of her earlier trepidation over the idea of Warren being so close to his neighbour.

“She’s great.” He retrieved a Tupperware container from the bag and pulled out a pan from a cupboard.

“Have you lived here the entire time you’ve worked at the hotel?”

“Yeah. To start with, it was appealing because the rent was so cheap, but then it worked out well.”

“How did you find it?” she asked, taking a seat at the table.

If it weren’t for his slight grimace, she’d have suspected he hadn’t heard her, given how long it took him to reply.

“It’s a long and slightly odd story,” he finally said.