Page 67 of A Recipe for Love
‘Like a perfect slow-cooked casserole,’ she confirmed.
‘If you say so.’
They downed two more pints of McKenzie beer, which Bella had to admit improved the more you drank, and talked about nothing and everything. Their bodies leaned towards one another automatically and her fingers wrapped around his as the evening meandered by. Eventually Pavel wandered over. ‘You’re the last pair standing.’
Adam looked around the pub. At some point the people around them had drifted away. He checked his watch. Ten thirty. ‘Sorry mate. Do you want to close up?’
‘No rush.’
‘It’s fine,’ Adam reassured him. ‘We’re walking back so we should get going.’
‘You should have said. I just had a dram with Young Man Strachan, otherwise I’d have driven you.’
‘It’s not a problem. We can stagger through the sheep.’ Adam took Bella’s hand and pulled her to her feet. ‘They’ll be delighted to see you, I’m sure.’
‘Those bloody sheep.’
Pavel raised a questioning eyebrow.
‘They seem to have adopted Bel as their leader,’ Adam explained.
Pavel laughed as he walked them to the door. ‘So what are you actually up to at the moment?’
‘Mostly failing my grandmother’s crash course in estate management.’
‘Well if you fancy a day’s labouring any time let me know. If you’re still up to it.’
‘I’m still up to it.’ Adam was indignant. ‘So long as you’re not as tough a taskmaster as your granddad.’
Pavel grinned. ‘I make no promises.’
Adam wrapped his arm around his fiancée as they made their way out into the night.
‘It’s such a long walk,’ she moaned.
‘I know.’ It was really too far. ‘Why don’t we go the short way?’
‘The Low Bridge?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Didn’t you close it?’
‘Well I put a sign up and some tape across.’
Bella pulled a face. ‘I thought that was horribly dangerous.’
‘I mean, I wouldn’t take a pushchair across it.’
‘Right.’ Bella rested her head against him. ‘Would you go across it at all if you were fully sober?’
That was a very excellent question. ‘Probably not.’ Adam, however, had the perfect rebuttal. ‘But I am not fully sober.’
Bella giggled. ‘Neither am I!’
‘Come on then.’ He led the way down to the side of the burn. The path to the bridge was overgrown from disuse but it was still there and they picked their way through the brambles, giggling and clinging to one another until they reached the bridge itself. If anything, it was in a worse state than Adam remembered. ‘So the key here I think is to go slowly, and keep your weight towards the edges where the planks rest on the side supports.’
Bella nodded seriously.
