Page 72 of A Recipe for Love
‘You were here last week,’ Flinty pointed out.
‘True, but you didn’t let us in the house, did you?’
‘You could have come in to pee.’
‘I didn’t need to pee.’
‘I peed,’ Nina piped up. ‘I always need to pee. I’m at that age.’
Anna shook her head. ‘I’m older than you. I do my pelvic floor though. Bladder like a steel trap.’
‘Well bully for you,’ Nina muttered.
Anna turned to Bella. ‘I’m not writing any of this bit down.’
‘OK. Anyway, thank you for coming. I’m really hoping you can help me with two things. The first is how on earth to get this cookery school thing started.’
Nina beamed. ‘I’m so glad you’re going to do that, dear.’
Netty nodded and waved a big thumbs up in Bella’s direction.
‘Is she allowed to do that?’ asked Anna.
‘Do what?’
‘Stick her thumb up. I mean that’s basically sign language isn’t it? Doesn’t that count as talking?’
Nina folded her arms decisively. ‘It’s a sponsored silence, not a sponsored no communication.’
‘So if she did sign language the whole time that would be OK?’
‘Yeah.’
Flinty shook her head. ‘No. Not in the spirit of the thing is it?’
‘She can nod and shake her head,’ Nina pointed out. ‘She’s been doing that the whole time.’
Netty nodded in agreement.
‘I think Bella was explaining why she’d asked us all here,’ Jill interrupted.
‘Sorry Bella!’ said Nina.
‘Right you are.’ Anna held up her pen and pad. ‘We’re all ready.’
‘Thank you.’ Bella took a deep breath. ‘And the second thing is Darcy and Veronica. Lady Lowbridge and, well, Lady Lowbridge,’ she corrected herself. ‘I promised Adam I’d try to broker a peace between them while he was away.’
Anna sucked the air in through her teeth. ‘And when’s he get back love?’
‘Saturday.’
Nina nodded sympathetically. ‘Have you thought of just doing the cooking lessons love?’
Bella had indeed thought of that. It did seem like a much more achievable goal. ‘They’re at each other’s throats, and that will affect the cookery school won’t it? I can’t have people paying money to come here and having those two screaming the whole time.’
Netty grabbed Anna’s pad and scribbled something down.Some people would pay good money for that.
The group giggled. Netty probably wasn’t wrong.
