Page 9 of Snow Going Back

‘It’s a trickeverywoman should know and a good way of impressing a man,’ she said briskly. ‘I’ll show you now, so you have it up your sleeve for when you find a good prospect. With the Christmas season coming up, there will be plentiful opportunities to find young men. Parties and gatherings.’

‘Really, it’s fine,’ a voice replied. ‘You’ve given me those instructions. I’ll just give it a go at home later on.’

Kate and Amy exchanged a wide-eyed look, and Amy quickly shoved the bottle in the bin.

‘What are you doing?’ Kate whispered, amused. ‘We’re thirty-five.’

Amy clapped a hand over her mouth and let out a muffled giggle. ‘Well, we’ll probably still be in trouble forsomething.’

‘Nonsense,’ Eleanor continued firmly. ‘There’s a knack to it, Beth. You need to see the subtleties in the art of soufflé making first-hand or you’ll never master it. Andnoman wants a woman with a flat soufflé,let me tell you!’

Kate had to bite both her lips together to stop herself laughing as her mother walked into the kitchen with Beth, another of Kate’s close friends.

Eleanor stopped short and frowned. ‘What are you doing inhere,Katherine? You need to get back to your guests.’

‘Lance has it handled,’ Kate replied, covering the snort of amusement at Amy’sI told you soexpression with a cough.

Eleanor frowned. ‘Katherine, are youdrunk?’

‘No!’ she exclaimed. ‘Of course not.’ She glanced at the bin. ‘I don’t think.’

‘Right, well you’ll need to move over, girls. I’m showing Beth how to make a good chocolate soufflé.’ Eleanor rolled up her sleeves and marched around to their side of the island. ‘Come on now – spit-spot.’

Beth shot them both an accusatory glare as they stood up and moved aside, followed by a silent plea for help. Kate bit her lip with a silent look of apology, feeling bad. They should have brought her in here with them. Eleanor had probably pounced on her ages ago.

‘Do you know how to make a soufflé, Amy?’ Eleanor asked.

‘Of course,’ Amy lied. ‘Kate taught me your wonderful method years ago.’

Kate closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Eleanor’s head popped up, and her sharp gaze honed in on Amy. ‘IfKatetaught you how to make soufflés, then you’re in even more need of this lesson than Beth,’ she told her bluntly. ‘Despite a lifetime of my attempts to teach her, Kate could never quite grasp it. Her soufflés are terrible.’

‘Thank you, Mother,’ Kate said wryly.

‘Sorry, darling, but they are. You know they are,’ Eleanor said, her tone completely unapologetic. ‘I’ll need tounteachyou whatever Kate showed you and reteach you the correct way. Beth, open that drawer and grab three pinnies out, please.’

Beth gave Amy a withering look of disappointment. None of them were getting out of it now it seemed.

‘Now, it’sallin the egg whites. I’ll show you when we get there, but just mentally note that, girls, and keep repeating it in your head so you don’t forget. It’sall in the egg whites,’ Eleanor instructed.

‘Definitely, will dojust that, Eleanor,’ Amy said, nodding seriously. ‘And I’mreallyexcited to do this at some point, but we should really get back to the party, shouldn’t we?’

‘If you can be in here for this longdrinking, Amy Ellis, you can spare a little longer to learn somethinguseful,’ Eleanor reprimanded, raising one eyebrow at her.

‘Yes, Mrs H,’ she replied with a resigned sigh.

She reached for a pinny, and Beth’s arms flew up in the air as her gaze moved back and forth questioningly between the two. Amy shrugged back and mouthed,What can I do?Kate held her hands up to show them she had nothing, either, as they both turned to her.

Eleanor popped back up and pulled up her sleeves. ‘Right, ladies. So?—’

‘Actually, Mrs H, I’m so sorry, but we really will have to do this another time.’ Amy said with a sad grimace. ‘It’s just that, um, it’s, er…’ She looked around helplessly for a moment, then her gaze landed on Kate’s hand and a lightbulb pinged up behind her big blue eyes. ‘It’s just that with Beth and I both being here at the same time, I thought Kate should take the opportunity to talk us through her wedding ideas.’

‘What?’ Kate asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

‘Oh, of course!’ Eleanor chimed at the same time. She clapped her hands together with a wide smile. ‘You do have both your bridesmaids here together, Kate. That’s an excellent idea, Amy. OK, the soufflé can wait.’

She began putting everything back again, and Kate shot Amy an accusatory glare.What the hell?she mouthed. Until her mother had walked in, she’d been starting to calm down, but now all her panic and guilt and worry and confusion rushed back at full force. Thelastthing she wanted to do right now was talk about a wedding. Amy’s reassurances had given her hope that she might wake up tomorrow and feel differently. But right now, this still felt like some strange, awkward nightmare.

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