Page 60 of A Recipe for Love
‘Oh yeah!’
‘You don’t need a licence in Scotland,’ Nina explained. ‘The registrar just has to agree that it’s an appropriate place.’
‘And I can do Christian weddings in the chapel,’ Jill added. ‘I usually say only people who live in the parish, but I’m happy to discuss it with couples who want a church service.’
Bella addedNumber 3: Wedding Venueto her list.
‘Alexander used to lead the bird watching club too,’ Darcy said.
‘Right. Does that make us any money?’ Bella asked.
‘Not really.’
Across the room, Netty scribbled furiously on the pad in front of her and passed the paper around the circle to Bella.Wildlife tours or walks? Tourists love that.
‘OK. Wildlife walks.’ Bella added it as number 4 on her list. ‘We’d need someone to lead that.’
‘Well Veronica’s the expert really,’ Flinty said. ‘She knows every bird you’ll ever see out here.’
Everyone paused for a second.
‘Maybe we’ll have a think about that,’ said Bella. ‘That’s lots to get started.’
‘What we really need is better guest accommodation,’ Nina chipped in. ‘There’s two rooms at the pub that people sometimes take for fishing trips and the like, but they’re pretty basic. People want something a bit fancy these days, don’t they? En suite bathrooms and tiny bottles of shampoo.’
Bella had wondered about offering guest accommodation at the castle, but if they were going to open to the public and accommodate herself, Adam, Darcy and Veronica, could they really afford to make any more rooms out of bounds to day visitors?
‘Xander once mentioned the idea of opening up the coach house,’ Flinty said. ‘Never did anything about it though. It was years ago.’ She nodded at Darcy. ‘Before your time. I think it was…’ She tailed off.
Darcy laughed. ‘It’s fine. You can mention her.’
‘I think it was Adam’s ma’s idea. She was one for grand notions that never really came to anything.’
‘Like being a mother,’ snipped Anna.
‘I’m sure that’s not fair,’ Darcy murmured.
The older women maintained a distinctly unconvinced silence. Bella addedCoach house B&Bto her list.
The pent-up ball of energy that was Jill finally snapped. ‘Maybe I’ll have a tiny piece of brownie.’
She squeezed forward and grabbed the biggest piece from the tub.
‘Oh well, if you are…’
‘Shouldn’t let it go to waste…’
‘Maybe just a wee bit…’
Opposite Bella, Netty held up her pad:Brownie please!
Bella smiled to herself. Nobody could resist chocolate for long. She smiled again as the group mellowed into a chocolatey silence as the women took their first bites and felt the rich fudgey decadence on their tongues. Darcy had even closed her eyes and leaned back slightly, letting a small gasp of pleasure escape her lips. ‘Oh I wish I could bake like this…’ she murmured.
Nina laughed. ‘I wish my Pavel could bake like this. I’ve spoiled him. He’s so good with his hands but he couldn’t find his way round a kitchen to save his life.’
‘That’s what you should do!’ Jill all but punched the air.
‘What?’
