Page 80 of All Mine
‘That it’s bread?’ someone else asked.
‘Now you need to shape it into a French bread stick.’
Sticky fingers got to work forming baguettes. Etienne worked his way around the tables, and smiled to see Isabella kneel to assist the only girl who didn’t have a partner.
‘Now, while they cook we’re going to learn some French,’ Etienne said, closing the oven door. He saw Isabella look up. He hadn’t imagined doing this in front of her when he’d had this bright idea. He took a deep breath, then began.
‘Bonjour!’ he cried in a sing-song voice, as he marched towards the class, and they all sang it back to him. Then he turned his back and pretended to walk away. ‘Au revoir!’ he sang, waving over his shoulder. ‘Au revoir!’ they chorused back.
He did it again, and one by one, the children jumped to their feet to join in. Isabella stood too, holding hands with the girl, and Etienne saw Reggie claim her other hand. Poor kid, he obviously had it bad. By the time the bread had risen and Etienne cut the French sticks in half lengthways so that each child had a pizza base, the whole room was marching up and down, including Mr Brady.
‘Now, for the main event– Italian pizza!’ Isabella took her turn at the front of the class. ‘You can all choose your toppings.’ She showed the children the range she had available: tomato, cheese, ham, olives, pepperoni. ‘Think about making it tasty and good-looking at the same time.’
Etienne did a double take. Had she winked at him? In a classroom? Reminding him that she had in fact tasted him? He shook himself. Surely not?
Ten minutes later, the pizzas were put back in the oven.
Isabella shushed the class and they all sprang to attention. How come they all sat up like that for her?
‘Now, what do you know about Italy?’ she asked and a dozen hands shot up. She pointed to a girl on a nearby table.
‘You like ice cream!’ she said. Isabella nodded.
‘We do,’ she said. ‘We call itgelato.’
‘You have a tower that fell over,’ said a boy with his finger up his nose.
‘The Leaning Tower of Pisa,’ she said with a laugh. ‘It’s not fallen over yet!’ Half the class stood up to lean over, balancing on one leg.
‘You like pizza.’
‘Weinventedpizza,’ she corrected.
The timer went off and the pizzas came out and Etienne pitied the parents that would be eating those germ-covered creations that night. But the children were hyped, proud of their creations, pointing out their toppings to each other. As Mr Brady stood up to thank them for coming, Etienne exhaled slowly, feeling like he’d just finished a ten-mile run. Isabella on the other hand looked like she’d just opened a present at Christmas.
By the time they’d packed up their bags, the class was putting on coats to go out to break. Etienne spotted Reggie as he ran out the door.
‘Au revoir, Reggie,’ he called.
‘Ciao, Uncle Et,’ Reggie replied with a backward wave.
Isabella snorted.
‘Traitor,’ Etienne growled.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Isabella
Isabella knew she was going to the community meeting under false pretences. Yes, of course she wanted to support the fire service safety briefing, but what she wanted more was to set eyes on Etienne. And hands, if at all possible.
The community centre was standing room only when she arrived. A quick scan had her heart sinking: Etienne wasn’t there. But she spotted Wren and Rosie and wove her way through the crowd to stand with them, saying hello and waving to a surprising number of people on the way. Honeybridge was really starting to feel like home.
The fire crew were on a stage decked out with a pumpkin display, Walker standing to one side. As the church bells outside chimed seven, the hall doors were closed and Walker picked up the microphone.
‘Good evening, Honeybridge, and thank you, everyone, for coming to this community meeting.’
The crowd settled. Isabella undid her coat and noticed Etienne slide in through the door and close it quietly behind him again. His hair was windswept and his cheeks flushed from rushing. All in all, very distracting. She shook herself mentally and focused on Walker, who started to speak.
