Page 30 of A Recipe for Love
‘Cleaning and toiletries. This way.’ Flinty pushed open a small door.
‘This is just someone’s garden.’
‘Well, this is someone’s garden. It’s notjustsomeone’s garden.’
The path from the garage down the side of the house had been covered with a rig-up of sun parasols and tarpaulins, to provide some protection from the rain, but it was still very much outside and very much a part of a, Bella presumed, private garden. ‘Are you sure this is OK?’
‘It’s fine. Didn’t all fit in the main shop.’
Garage, Bella thought.
‘So they had to expand.’
Flinty tapped on a patio door as she went past. Inside a group of women were sitting drinking tea. They looked up as one as Bella went past. She raised a hand in greeting. Flinty continued and pushed open the unlocked door of what looked like a standard garden shed.
A garden shed filled with cleaning products, toiletries, tissues, loo roll and kitchen paper. Obviously. Oh, and stationery and office supplies tucked against the back wall. Of course. Flinty added the cleaning things she needed to her basket, and then thrust a nine pack of toilet roll into Bella’s arms. ‘Carry this.’
Bella nodded.
‘Do you need anything? Shampoo?’ Flinty waved her hand towards the sanitary protection. ‘That sort of thing.’
Bella grabbed what she needed from the surprisingly varied range of toiletries, and balanced it on top of the toilet paper.
‘All right.’ Flinty led the way back to what Bella’s brain was now dutifully accepting as ‘the main store’ rather than ‘some random garage’ and placed her basket down on the counter.
One of the women from the house was now behind the tillpoint. Two of the others were loitering by the salad vegetables. Bella was finding it hard to avoid the feeling that they were rather more interested in her than in the lettuce selection. ‘Afternoon Maggie. How’s…’ The woman at the till paused. ‘Everything?’
‘Oh you know.’ Bella got the definite feeling that the two women had exchanged a look. The sort of look that said, ‘Well I can’t tell you in front of this one.’
‘I’m Bella.’ Bella stuck out her hand. She was here, and she wasn’t going to stand around quietly while she was discussed in a range of silent nods and raised eyebrows.
‘Bella’s a friend of the new laird. Adam.’
‘Oooh.’ The woman’s interest shot up a notch. ‘Hugh said he’d seen some lass on the castle side. I thought he was having one of his turns.’
‘Does Hugh have turns?’ asked Bella.
‘Not really. Thought he might have started. He’s the type that would.’
‘Well that was me. I met Hugh.’ Bella smiled brightly. ‘And his little dog.’
‘Queen Latifah.’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘The dog’s called Queen Latifah.’ The woman shook her head. ‘Previous dog was Edward WoofWoof. Big fan ofThe Equalizermy Hugh. Original and reboot.’
The woman looked back at Bella. There was definitely interest there, but there was something else as well. ‘So a new laird?’ She shrugged. ‘Not that it’ll make any difference to us.’
Why would it make any difference? Obviously it was sad, but why would the death of some guy in a big house at the other end of a village make any difference to anyone apart from his immediate family?
‘Same old, same old over there isn’t it?’ the woman confirmed.
‘Anna…’ There was an edge to Flinty’s voice that Bella wasn’t used to.
The woman raised her hands in an apparent gesture of acquiescence. ‘Fine.’ She turned back to Bella. ‘I’m Anna. Me and Hugh run this place.’ She nodded at her associates, still lingering in the fresh produce. ‘That’s Nina. She basically runs everything else. And Netty.’
Nina stepped forward and shook Bella enthusiastically by the hand. Netty followed and stopped half a step behind. ‘I don’t run everything,’ Nina insisted.
