Page 24 of Cooking Up a Christmas Storm
‘There’s no excuse for bad cake,’ Bella hissed.
‘Pavel hasn’t told you he’s working for the enemy then?’ Adam asked.
Jodie turned around quickly enough to see Pavel wince. ‘I’m not working for the enemy. I’m helping a mate out with a quote for some work there. He probably won’t even get the job, and he might not need my help if he does.’
‘Hmm.’ Bella turned back to Jodie. ‘Anyway, once we’ve planned our grand Hogmanay extravaganza we’ll leave them in our dust.’
Jodie nodded. So she was planning a grand extravaganza of some kind. Excellent.
Pavel left Lowbridge and headed back over the footbridge to the village. Bella had been frosty about him possibly working for the McKenzies. He understood it. McKenzie would see the Lowbridge estate broken up and subsumed in a heartbeat, but the building work they were doing there had the potential to keep a full crew of labourers in work for months, and it would be better if those workers were local. At least that way the money McKenzie was paying out would find its way back to the shop and pub, rather than disappearing from the Highlands altogether.
Which didn’t mean he wasn’t still planning to make it up to Bella. He glanced behind him before heading into the coach house. The electrics were the trickiest part, but he knew a couple of sparks who owed him favours. The rest he could do himself. The coach house was a slightly beaten-up little Cinderella but, to help his friends, Pavel could fix up the downstairs and a couple of first floor rooms at least. Gemma’s rustic glamping idea was all very well but there was no way they’d be able to charge as much as if the space was properly renovated, and Adam and Bella needed some proper income.
Happy that he understood the scale of the work he needed to do, Pavel wandered back over the bridge and along the shoreline towards home, where he jumped straight in the shower. He was going on a date. With Jill. Jill was probably his best mate these days. They got on well. They always had a laugh. She was pretty, kind, funny – there was no reason not to be excited about this date.
He closed his eyes under the flow of the hot water and told himself that again. Going out with Jill was a good thing. He was very happy about it.
‘Knock, knock!’ His mother’s voice rang through from the living room.
Pavel flicked the shower off, and grabbed a towel. ‘I’ll be through in a minute.’ By the time he was half dry and had the towel properly secured around his waist his mother was in his bedroom pulling clothes out of the neatly organised wardrobe and throwing them on the bed.
‘Where’s your purple shirt?’
‘What?’
‘Your purple shirt. For tonight?’
‘I don’t own a purple shirt.’
His mother pursed her lips. ‘Don’t get smart with me, young man.’
Pavel rolled his eyes. ‘I’m not being smart. I can’t magic clothes that don’t exist into being.’
His mum pulled a hanger from the rail. ‘This one.’
‘That’s red.’
She barely paused. ‘That’s what I said.’
Another set of footsteps came up the stairs and knocked at the front door.
‘We’re in here, Netty.’
‘I’m not dressed, Mum.’
Another sigh. ‘It’s only Netty.’
His mum’s friend popped her head around the bedroom door, glanced at the shirt and nodded. ‘Good choice. Purple suits you, love.’
‘It’s red,’ Pavel muttered.
‘What trousers is he wearing?’
‘I’ll wear jeans.’ The question wasn’t directed at him but Pavel answered anyway.
His mother shook her head. ‘Jeans? For a first date?’
‘We’re only going for a drink and a pizza in Portree. I’ve been for pizza with Jill a million times.’
