Bittersweet Expectations (Hate at First Flight #0.5)

34. Mary Bishop

The aroma of freshly baked goodies greeted me as I walked into the kitchen in the main house.

Gerard had his back to the door and was swaying slowly as he hummed a tune, his hands busy at work, kneading a dough on the countertop.

I couldn't help but smile at the image.

I headed straight for the stove top where he was frying up some bacon and eggs that I knew he was preparing for me, making sure they didn't burn to a crisp.

He had called me earlier to tell me to come grab breakfast at the main house since it was my day off. Of course I couldn't say no to delicious food.

He continued to hum as he covered the dough to let it rise.

"Ashleigh!" He gasped out when he turned around and saw me standing by the stove. "You surprised me."

I chuckled. "I didn't want to disturb you."

He laughed at my words. "I'm a man of many talents," he made a bowing gesture, before grabbing a plate and plating up my food. "For you m'lady."

"Thanks, kind sir," I answered back before taking a sit at the counter. "Where's everyone?" I cast a look around in case anyone suddenly popped by at my words.

"Mrs Clarke excused everyone for today, save for me and you. Genevieve and her took Mr Clarke for his appointment earlier. They'll be staying at the lakehouse for the weekend. Figures the fresh breeze would help."

I nodded, my thoughts dwelling over what had transpired the night before.

"Do you think he'll recover?" Even though I hadn't seen him that much, each time I did, I could sense that Mr Clarke was a good man and how much he meant to his family.

I couldn't help but remember the sight of Ethan Clarke last night. The way he was blaming himself over what had happened to his father would be imprinted in my memory for a while.

I had never seen him so ... broken.

Gerard shrugged. "We can only hope that he does."

I nodded solemnly before I started on my breakfast.

Gerard studied me, his eyes watching me over the cup of coffee that he drank from.

"What?" I asked, trying not to choke on my food as I did.

"What's going on between you and the younger Mr Clarke?"

Any attempts of not choking on food failed at his question, eliciting a hybrid of a cough and exasperated breathing from me. "What?"

Gerard arched a brow at me, his face painted with suspicion. "What do you mean What? Don't avoid the question."

"I'm not avoiding the question," I managed to gasp out. "I'm just caught off guard by it."

"Uhhuh," he muttered, a look of pure skepticism etched on his every being.

"I'm serious. What makes you think that something is happening between me and Mr Clarke?"

"He asked me to check in on you this morning before heading off to work. Also said I should make you breakfast." He rested both arms on the counter before he leaned in conspiratorially.

He did?

I brushed aside my shock as I narrowed my eyes at Gerard. "So let me get this right. You only called me to breakfast because of that? You weren't going to otherwise?" I tried to sound hurt, to mask the confusion I had towards Ethan Clarke's actions.

Gerard rolled his eyes at me. "He beat me to it. I was planning to do that anyway. But thts besides the point. The point is-"

"No," I replied simply.