Page 97 of A Recipe for Love
‘I’d be disappointed if nobody tried it,’ Bella assured them.
She walked around the group, helping out and suggesting tips, mostly culinary – how to hold the icing bag up vertically, for example – but some more unexpected. ‘Should I try to give it pubes do you think?’
‘Maybe not. I mean you have to eat them later.’
The women nodded sagely. ‘Yeah. Nobody likes it when they get in your mouth do they?’
Bella ignored the sound of Flinty’s sniggers behind her.
By the end of the night the hens were full of sugar and cocktails, carrying boxes full of cupcakes and gingerbread. The maid of honour stopped and hugged Bella before they set off. ‘Thank you so much. I was bricking it when Mandy said she couldn’t drink alcohol cos of the baby.’ She stopped and glanced at Jill.
‘I heard nothing.’
‘Thank you. Cos we were supposed to go to that big McKenzie place and do whisky tasting. This was way better anyway. I did the whisky thing for our work Christmas do. It’s right overpriced if you ask me. This was so much more fun.’
Bella beamed. Her first official paying cookery school event appeared to have been a roaring success.
‘That was great.’ Jill wiped down the island unit as Bella piled pots and pans in the sink. ‘Why don’t you leave those a minute?’ Jill asked. ‘Get yourself a glass of something and take the weight off.’
All of Bella’s professional kitchen instincts told her that she’d regret it if she didn’t finish clearing up now. By the morning the flecks of dough would be dried onto the bowls and there was nothing worse that coming downstairs to a filthy kitchen. On the other hand, Jill had brought a bottle of red along with her as a ‘congratulations’ present for Bella’s first proper cooking lesson, and the evening was dry and still pleasantly warm.
‘OK, but you have to have a glass with me.’
Jill grinned. ‘Half a glass. I’ve got to drive back.’
‘Will you have one, Flinty?’ Bella asked.
‘I’ll just take Veronica her cup of coffee, and then I might just have a wee one.’
‘A wee what?’ Darcy appeared in the doorway.
Jill held up the bottle.
Darcy grinned. ‘Well, I came to help clear up, but a glass of wine sounds much nicer.’
They took the wine out to the courtyard and poured two generous, and one tiny, glasses of wine. Jill raised her glass. ‘To Bella! A good first night?’
It had been a good first night. She’d done her costings in a hurry, but she thought even with the addition of drinks the night had made them a little profit.
For regular weekly classes she needed seven or eight, but five or six would do while she was still getting the hang of the teaching side of things. ‘The first proper course starts next week.’
‘I know,’ Jill nodded. ‘I’m going to be there.’
The first set of six planned classes was aimed at people who already cooked a bit but were stuck in a rut. Cath and Claire from the trial day had both signed up. Reverend Jill was stretching the definition of ‘already cooks a bit’ but she was very keen and after she was so lovely about the accident at the trial day, Bella didn’t really feel she could turn her away. She would be supervising all of her chopping and slicing very closely indeed. Most importantly they had all paid upfront for all six lessons and Cath thought she had two other friends who might want to come along as well.
Bella’s phoned buzzed on the bench beside her.New email from Annette Wetherall Designs.Bella frowned. She didn’t know an Annette Wetherall, did she? The subject line read:Cookery School ideasthough, so not random spam. Bella opened the email and was met with a screed of text, verbose and chatty, littered with exclamation marks. Bella skimmed through the first paragraph.
Hi, Sorry to bother you but I was thinking about what Anna said atLadies’ Group about you needing a logo and I really want to help outbecause we clicked immediately didn’t we? You’re so easy to talk to, andanyway, this is on the house of course, but there’s a couple of ideasattached.
Bella scrolled the very long way down to the end of the message, past extensively detailed descriptions of the design process and where the artist had found her inspiration and how very keen she was to help.
Talk soon! Netty xx
‘Netty’s a graphic designer?’
Jill laughed. ‘As if she ever shuts up about it.’
‘She’s sent me some logo ideas for the cookery school.’ Bella opened the attachment. The first image showed a whisk and rolling pin, crossed like swords on a coat of arms. Scrolling down there were three more similar options with different images to connote the idea of cooking and food, each with the bannerThe Highland Cookery Schoolin elegant letters beneath. Bella held her phone up so the others could see.
