Page 73 of A Recipe for Love
‘Well maybe, but they won’t be paying for that. They’ll be paying to learn how not to split a hollandaise.’
‘Put the fat in slowly and don’t let it get too cold,’ Flinty muttered.
‘My mother used to put a spot of mustard in at the start. That works,’ Nina offered.
‘Should I be writing this down?’ Anna asked.
‘No. We don’t have to sort out how to make a hollandaise now,’ Bella explained. ‘That was just an example.’
‘Sorry love.’
‘It’s fine. So Veronica and Darcy, have they always been like this?’
All eyes turned to Flinty.
‘Pretty much. I mean Alexander tried to keep the peace between them but even he didn’t manage it that often.’
‘So what started it?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Like, was there something that happened to kick it all off, or have they always hated each other?’
‘I don’t think Darcy hates Veronica,’ Anna chipped in. ‘At least I don’t think she did to start with, but Veronica can be…’ She shot an unmistakeable glance in Flinty’s direction. ‘Well, a little unbending.’
‘She wasn’t always like that,’ Nina pointed out.
‘Really?’ Jill, the other ‘newcomer’ to the village, sounded intrigued. ‘What was she like?’
Flinty shook her head. ‘It was a long time ago.’
‘She was like us,’ Anna announced. ‘Wasn’t she, Maggie?’
‘Well…’
‘She was. The three of us were thick as thieves.’
‘Especially Maggie and her,’ Nina noted.
‘Yes. Well.’ Anna tapped her pen against the pad. ‘We were good friends.’
Bella processed that image for a second before the penny dropped. ‘Veronica’s from the village?’
‘Born and bred,’ Flinty confirmed.
‘Wow.’ Jill grinned. ‘I think I assumed she was from some other big posh place, you know. Daughter of another laird or something.’
Bella realised she had absolutely assumed the same. Veronica had strong lady of the manor energy. Obviously Bella herself was a blow-in, and clearly Darcy was too, but Veronica exuded the confidence of a woman to the manor born.
‘Veronica’s dad was a real chancer actually,’ Anna continued.
‘That’s not fair.’ Flinty shook her head. ‘She’s exaggerating.’
‘I am not. He’d have tried to sell ice to Eskimos.’
‘My mother said he once tried to sell her fish from our dad’s catch. They were our fish!’ Nina laughed at the memory.
‘Sold the old Laird on the idea of marrying his daughter though, didn’t he?’ Anna pointed out. ‘Not that he took much persuading. I never thought I’d see love at first sight, but that night when Alexander and his cousin came to the village dance, he was blown away, wasn’t he, Maggie?’
