Page 89 of A Recipe for Love
‘This one’s very complimentary.’ Veronica flicked to the next form in the stack. ‘And this one.’ She rifled through the papers. ‘All of them really. They enjoyed it. Would love to do it again. Thought it was fantastic value.’
‘You did tell them you were only charging them for ingredients didn’t you?’ Flinty asked.
Bella nodded.
‘These two both say they’d be happy to pay full price, and this one says you should do courses for men who don’t know anything.’ Veronica raised an eyebrow. ‘Let’s assume they mean about cooking.’
‘Was that a joke, Veronica?’ The question was out of Bella’s mouth before she could check herself.
‘I make lots of jokes,’ Veronica deadpanned back. ‘I’m an absolute barrel of laughs.’
Bella had to turn away from Darcy’s gaping expression to compose herself against the fit of disbelieving laughter that was rising in her chest.
‘Seems like it went very well, even after…’ Flinty waved a vague hand. ‘Everything.’
‘We should toast our success,’ Darcy announced.
‘Why not?’ Veronica agreed.
Adam pulled his silver four-wheel drive, newly liberated from the parking level at his flat in Edinburgh, to a stop outside the coach house. All he really wanted was to head straight into the coach house and collapse into bed, but the sound of voices from the castle courtyard pulled him through the gateway towards the noise. Flinty, his grandmother and his stepmother were squashed together onto the bench by the kitchen corridor door, and Bella was sitting cross-legged on the cobbles in front of them. All four of them were clutching champagne glasses and talking animatedly, and apparently companionably.
‘What are you doing out here?’
Veronica raised her glass in his direction and nodded towards Bella. ‘We’re toasting this young lady’s success.’
‘And the Highland Cookery School!’ added Darcy.
The first cooking lesson – Adam had completely forgotten. He probably ought to have texted or called his fiancée to wish her luck. He strolled over and planted a kiss on the top of Bella’s head. ‘That was today, wasn’t it?’
‘Yeah. Just the trial day. I think it went well though.’
‘Give or take a trip to hospital,’ Flinty muttered.
‘What?’
‘It was only a cut,’ Bella reassured him. ‘Jill cut her hand, but she’s fine now.’
‘Everything else was a triumph though,’ Veronica said, which was perhaps the highest praise he’d ever heard his grandmother heap onto anything.
‘Only because of you!’ Bella replied. ‘Seriously, your nan saved the day. When Jill cut herself and then Pavel fainted—’
‘And the place caught fire,’ Darcy interjected.
‘Yep. And the place caught fire, your nan was so calm. She got everyone doing what needed to be done. No fuss. No messing.’
‘But then it was Darcy who remembered the feedback forms at the end,’ Veronica demurred.
‘Which was really the main point of the day,’ said Flinty.
‘But Flinty was helping all day and it was her that got Jill to the doctor,’ Darcy pointed out.
Bella grinned. She looked so happy, so right and so in her element. ‘All in all we made a fantastic team.’
That was great. Bella was excited about making something of Lowbridge, and so far she was actually doing it. Of course she was. Bella should be inspiring him. Veronica and Darcy seemed, however implausible it appeared, to have buried the hatchet. Everyone was happy. Everyone was where they wanted to be.
Everyone else, at least.
Chapter Fourteen
