Page 43 of Go Cook Yourself

Garett chews his pasta slowly before swiping a piece of garlic bread. It’s like he can’t hear the conversation.

“What’s the secret ingredients, though?” I’ve read about that competition and that the pasta had a special secret ingredient, but Clive wouldn’t reveal it. “I swear I can taste a bit of cinnamon, but what’s the other thing?”

“No one would put cinnamon in pasta,” Wicksy replies as he scoffs the garlic bread.

Garett locks eyes with me. He knows something. But why is he pretending he doesn’t understand what we’re discussing?

Throughout the meal, I linger on the ingredients I can’t distinguish, nibbling bits or moving the pasta around my tongue. Garett doesn’t answer any questions, eating somethingevery time someone asks him a question—that’s my technique—but everyone forgets the discussion as soon as they tuck into my cake. Everyone but me.

The discussion ranges from what events we have coming up at the cookery school to various contacts Amber can make from home to expand our client base. She’s rallied since last week, although she hasn’t stopped worrying about the twins and Kalen’s return. After dinner, she announces she’s exhausted and needs to get home. That’s her excuse, but I reckon it’s because she’s desperate to watchThe Great British Bake Offcelebrity special. It’s got a former naval officer turned actor on, and I imagine she’ll fantasise about Kalen.

“Could someone give me a lift? This damn belly makes it difficult to move the steering wheel.”

“I can,” Wicksy says.

“Out of the kindness of your heart and not because you can’t be arsed to tidy up?” Jem shouts as Wicksy and Amber walk towards the door.

“Maybe I’ll leave you to tell everyone about uni, Jem, especially as you haven’t told your parents anything about what you’re really doing,” Wicksy counters, leaving us all to stare at Jem.

Jem's face instantly reddens as he snaps, “You dick.”

“What’s this about university?” I ask as the only official Cloud still in the room.

“It’s nothing.”

He avoids eye contact with all of us as Garett tidies up. I wait for more. The ticking clock highlights that we’re not going anywhere, and he’s not getting let off. I don’t speak because I know my brother. He’s changed since the funeral, but I’m confident he won’t cope with the silence and my penetrating stare for long. It takes him less than a minute to break.

“Fine. I left university early into this term. But don’t tell Mum and Dad.”

I hold my hands up. As if I would. That would mean speaking to them.

“I don’t mean you, Ruby. I mean Kath.”

Kath shakes her head. “I’ll keep your secret. But they’ll find out eventually. It’s better if you tell them than if they find out from someone else.”

Jem shrugs, but I can tell Kath’s wisdom is ruminating in that thick head of his. Not that I can talk. We’re as bad as each other.

“Guys,” Garett says, popping his head out of the room with the dishwasher in it. “Do any of you fancy doing something dodgy and possibly illegal?”

“Illegal?” I squeak.

“Always,” Kath replies. “Count me into whatever it is. I need some excitement.”

Jem’s mouth drops open as he stares at Kath. I throw a piece of garlic bread at it.

“My pseudo-sister called me with a plan to get my dog back, and we can’t do it alone. It’s the sort of thing a Cloud Burst could help with.” This must be what Flora and Garett discussed on the phone at the hospital. I’ve deliberated who Shit Pants is and why they have Garett’s dog. I presume it’s an ex-girlfriend and friend of Flora’s.

I nearly asked while we were baking, but if he wanted me to know his relationship history, he’d tell me.

“The thing is, I need all of you for the first bit, except Ruby. Ruby, we’ll get to you at the end of the dognap. Can you think of anywhere we can keep Cookie for a couple of months where he’s looked after but can’t be found? This won’t work without that.”

I open my mouth to argue and say I want to be part of the entire dognap, but Kath nods. “That’s a good idea. Having Rubycome through at the end means we can still open the cookery school for classes if something goes wrong.”

“Hold on.” Surely, he’s not serious about the potentially illegal part, but Garett nods as he clucks his tongue.

“Of course. Thanks, Kath. I need all three of you to be sure you want to be involved. This is a risk, and I don’t even know you, Jem.”

My brother grins. He always was the first to get in trouble when we were younger. And he loved it when my grandma chased him around the garden with a wooden spoon after he’d annoyed her chickens.

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