Page 29 of Blue Gold

At last.

Only Elliot didn’t seem to care as he moved to walk away, but I caught his wrist.

“Hold on,” I said before he could run away.

He glanced at my hand that held on to him before he looked out of the restaurant to where Claudia went. She couldn’t see us right now, so I didn’t care.

“I’m sorry if I upset you somehow⁠—”

He grunted.

“I mean it, Elliot. Claudia insisted that I take her here and⁠—”

“I’m not upset because of you.”

I scowled. “You’re not?”

Rolling his eyes, he huffed. “How typical, a man thinks it’s all about him.”

His words would have hurt if they weren’t true.

“What’s wrong, then?”

Pressing his lips together, he looked away, and I noticed the unshed tears in his eyes. He was quick to wipe them away. Feeling hopeless and in the dark, I tightened my hold on his wrist and pulled him a bit closer.

“Tell me what’s wrong so I can help.”

At last, he looked at me, and the trust in his eyes was all the reassurance I needed.

“Marrie is closing the restaurant.” His lips quivered before he took a deep breath. “The business isn’t doing well, and she can’t keep the place open.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Elliot shrugged, tears returning to his eyes. “What am I going to do? No kitchen would hire someone who doesn’t understand English⁠—”

Slipping my fingers down, I took his hand in mine and squeezed him firmly.

“First of all, you do understand it. You just struggle, and that’s absolutely fine, Elliot. Learning a language is not an easy thing.”

He sniffed while looking doubtful.

“Secondly, it will all be okay.”

He grimaced at my words. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’ll make sure of it.”

With his eyes locked with mine, he bit on his bottom lip, an expression so captivating I didn’t know what to do with myself. Luckily, the doorbell rang, letting me know it was time to let go of his hand. I did and watched how Elliot collected himself back together right before Claudia joined us.

“I’m telling you, Daniel, finding trustworthy staff nowadays is nearly impossible,” she hissed while sitting down.

She seemed distressed.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as she reached for her glass of water and nearly emptied it in one go.

“What happened is that our private chef just canceled on us. This means we either learn how to cook or order takeout the whole summer.”

Assuming she was being dramatic, I sighed. “Can’t you hire someone new?”