Page 31 of Cooking Up a Christmas Storm
‘And food? You’ll be doing food?’
‘Aye. Neeps and tatties.’
The voices were starting to swirl around her.
‘And haggis.’
‘No. That’s Burns Night.’
‘Well, obviously, but Hogmanay as well. My dad always did haggis at midnight.’
‘You can’t just give them haggis. They’ll need something before that.’
‘Especially if they’re going to be dancing.’
‘And drinks. Do you need a licence to do drinks?’
‘Only if you’re selling them, I think. Not if it’s in the ticket price.’
The voices kept talking. Talking, talking, talking. So many ideas and suggestions and questions. And it was all noise. Too much noise sometimes made Jodie feel like she was being pressed on from every side.
‘There’s your tea, pet.’ Flinty put the mug down at Jodie’s side, brushing her arm.
The brief touch jolted her into life. ‘Sorry. I have to go and…’
And she ran. Out of the kitchen and across the courtyard to escape towards the Dower House. As she got nearer though she changed her mind. She didn’t want to be back inside those walls with the images of Lowbridge’s history looking down at her. She needed to be away somewhere she could breathe. She carried on past the door to Adam’s walled garden and along the wall, and then up a small winding path that climbed up the hillside. She didn’t stop until her lungs were burning and the breath was rushing from her body.
She squatted down. Her heart was drumming too fast still and her breath remained jagged. She breathed as deep as she could, like her mum used to tell her to, and counted in her head. Breathe in for four, three, two, one and hold. And now breathe out for six, five, four, three, two, one. And in… Forcing herself to slow and control her exhale was supposed to bring the feeling of pressure down. She could see the grass, and her hand, and the knees of her trousers and… she looked up.
Oh.
She was on the top of the headland above the castle. The water in front of her was deep blue-grey, and vast clouds rolled across the sky above her. Across the water was a lush green island rising from the sea. It was astonishing. So much beauty it was almost overwhelming, but the sense of overwhelm was spectacular rather than horrifying. She inhaled the new feeling of comfort. Jodie was tiny. That felt good. Whatever was freaking her out didn’t matter. Next to the vast sky and the deep water everything in her head was too small to matter. Jodie breathed in, long and slow and deep, without having to count.
Pavel started towards the door to check if Gemma was all right, just as his mother reappeared in the kitchen. ‘All sorted for parents and tots.’ She looked around. ‘Did you scare the new girl off?’
‘No!’
‘No.’ Anna and Flinty were in agreement.
‘Maybe,’ Netty conceded.
‘If we did she scares very easily. We were simply trying to help,’ Anna insisted. She reached across the kitchen island and pulled Gemma’s pad towards her. ‘Let’s see what she’s got down then.’ She frowned as she read the first line. ‘“No cheese”. Well, you’ve got to have cheese if you’re doing a dinner.’
Netty nodded. ‘Gotta have a cheeseboard.’
‘Even on a buffet,’ Nina added. ‘Everyone loves a bit of cheese. Except vegans.’
‘That’s true.’ Flinty sipped her tea thoughtfully.
‘Well, they won’t all be vegans.’
‘Some might,’ Pavel suggested. What was he doing? How did they manage to suck him in like this?
Anna turned to Netty. ‘Didn’t your lad go out with a vegan for a while?’
‘Tanya,’ Netty confirmed. ‘It was fine though. You can get special cheese.’
Anna neatly crossed outNoon Jodie’s pad and wroteVeganin its place. ‘See. They don’t know what they’re about without us keeping an eye.’
