Page 108 of The Little Teashop of Lost and Found
‘Actually, I think that’s an old wives’ tale,’ Bel told her brother.
‘That was a lovely tea, darling,’ Sheila said to me, laying her napkin on an empty plate. ‘It feels delightfully decadent having such a lush tea, so I think your tearoom isboundto be a winner!’
‘Yes, it might not be quite the mad idea I thought it was,’ Nile admitted.
‘There can’t be much left to organize now, can there?’ asked Sheila. ‘Is everything finished?’
‘There are bound to be several forgotten last-minute things, but no, I’m almost there. I have a list of my chosen suppliers and when I’ve rewritten my novel and sent it off next Friday, I’ll put in the first orders and go to the cash and carry to stock up on basic ingredients.’
‘And I know you’re having the menus, leaflets and business cards printed,’ Bel said.
‘Newspaper adverts?’ suggested Geeta.
‘I’ve drafted one out, because I’m going to contact the local paper on Monday, to see if they want to run an article about how I was abandoned on the moors and my search for my mother. If the advert goes into the same issue, then even if she doesn’t come forward I’ll still get some good publicity out of it.’
‘I think that’s very sensible,’ Sheila said. ‘Suggest they do the interview at Oldstone Farm, if you like, so you have someone with you.’
‘Thank you, that’s a great idea, because I do feel nervous about it,’ I replied gratefully.
‘And since you finished the first draft of your novel last night, you can come back home with us now and have a little rest over the weekend, can’t you?’ she suggested. ‘We’ll have a celebratory family dinner tonight, too!’
‘Anything except the sheep’s head,’ Teddy said, which seemed to be a running family joke.
It wasn’t sheep’s head, but a delicious creamy pasta dish, preceded by mackerel pâté with thin, crisp toast, and followed by a sherry trifle and thick cream. I could feel the waistband of my jeans tightening with every bite … or maybe that was the Edinburgh rock still expanding.
‘How is Zelda?’ asked Sheila, scraping the last of the trifle into Teddy’s bowl, which he’d been holding out mutely for a second helping, like a well-nourished version of Oliver Twist.
‘Yes, has she decided yet if she’s going to buy you out of the antiques stall?’ asked Bel. ‘You haven’t said.’
‘That’s because I don’t know. She doesn’t seem to be speaking to me at the moment,’ he said tersely.
‘Have you been arguing again?’ asked Sheila. ‘You sounded cross when she rang you last week and I thought how odd it was, because you’ve never disagreed all the years you’ve known each other and now suddenly you keep falling out.’
‘She’s never propositioned me with one loopy idea after another, before,’ said Nile. ‘That’s why.’
‘But I thought you said the marriage thing was a joke?’ asked Teddy.
‘It was to me, until she suddenly thought we should give it a go. And when I turned that one down, she came up with another bright idea …’
Bel said cheerily, ‘Well, are you going to tell us, or shall we try to guess?’
‘I don’t know that it’s any of our business,’ Geeta said.
‘Well, she was the one who announced they were getting married when they weren’t,’ Bel pointed out. ‘He might as well tell us, before our imaginations run riot.’
I think mine already had …
‘She wanted me to be her sperm donor and then play a part in the baby’s life,’ he said. ‘I mean, if there was one.’
I stared at him: no wonder he’d seemed a bit distracted lately!
‘I think that might be taking friendship a littletoofar,’ Geeta said.
‘But you can see why she’d rather have someone she knows really well, like Nile, than an anonymous donor,’ Bel said. ‘But it’s a big commitment, because Nile isn’t the kind of man to walk away andnotget involved.’
‘No, and I feel she’s put me on the spot by asking me,’ he said, looking right at me, though I don’t know why.
Sheila frowned. ‘I really don’t think it’s a good idea, darling. People do ask friends to be their sperm donors, or even egg donors, but there can be all kinds of drawbacks when you think it through.’
