Page 56 of Murder in the Winter Woods
Dylan laughed and shook his head. Sean O’Connor had been his family doctor forever. To call him by his first name was unthinkable, no matter how many times Sean invited him to do so.
‘I’ll go and see if I can help in the kitchen,’ he said, and disappeared from view.
‘He’s a good chap,’ said Sean, when the door closed behind Dylan. ‘What’s happening with him and Jess?’
‘Unclear,’ said Julia. ‘They obviously have some meaningful connection. She’s eager to get back to England for a visit, which makes me happy of course, but I think it’s as much to do with seeing Dylan as it is with me.’
‘It’s Jake,’ Tabitha said, deadpan. ‘He’s the favourite.’
‘Well, she’ll be here next year, around Easter it seems,’ Julia said. ‘And I have to say I think Dylan is a big drawcard.’
‘Ah, young romance,’ said Tabitha. ‘My niece is getting married next year, did I tell you?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘My sister Luanne’s eldest. I’ll be going to Ghana for the wedding. It’s been nearly five years since I was there.’
‘What a lovely thing to look forward to, Tabitha.’
‘It is. I’ll have to up my game, though. Those women know how todress!’
‘Come on now, you can hold your own next to anyone. You always look great.’
It was true: Tabitha was stylish and striking, with her grey curls and bold accessories, and her youthful energy and kind manner.
Tabitha patted her stomach in a friendly way and said, ‘There’s the five pounds to lose still.’
Julia laughed at the mention of the five pounds, which had been an ongoing joke between them for decades, ‘Oh go on, you’re perfect as you are. Besides, those five pounds are very happy with their current situation.’
‘They’ve certainly been there a long time,’ Tabitha said.
‘Sitting tenants, I’d say…’
‘They’ve got squatter’s rights…’
Laine appeared at the door, interrupting the women’s laughter. ‘Supper’s ready,’ she said. ‘I checked the chicken, Sean – it’s perfectly cooked. And we popped the crumble into the oven, Julia.’
‘It’s nice having competent grown-up kids in the house, isn’t it?’ Julia whispered to Sean, as they followed Laine into the kitchen. The cooking mess had been cleared and the table set with the food in the middle. The chicken shone golden in the centre. The spinach dish looked like something from a magazine – or a website or app, Julia supposed, seeing as that was where everyone got their recipes from these days. Nuts and herbs and slices of red onion were scattered over its top, and the steam that rose from it carried the scent of exotic markets, where spices were piled in brass bowls.
It was a merry scene, hands passing plates and bowls around, murmurs of pleasure as the food was tasted, and snippets of conversations, updates on each other’s lives and shared laughter.
Laine was working part time at a design studio. She liked it, but she wasn’t sure if it was what she wanted to do forever; the new road signs that Julia and the road safety committee had arranged would be going up next week; Jono was spending less time at reception at the vet, and more time handling the animals – he had been given a small pay rise; a virus seemed to be doing the rounds; Dora from the sweet shop had twisted her ankle and was hobbling about on one of those moonboots, poor thing; Tabitha had signed up for an online poetry workshop – she was nervous, but excited; the secret to good gravy was to make it over a low heat, and whisk constantly…
And so the conversation flowed.
Before long, the chicken was reduced to a carcass, and the spinach bowl had been scraped clean. Not even a single baby potato had survived to tell the tale.
‘Time for apple crumble,’ said Julia, pushing herself up from the table.
‘You sit,’ said Jono, waving his hand. ‘I’ll get it.’
He got to his feet. Julia sat down, thinking – not for the first time this evening – how different Jono was from the young man she had met less than a year ago. That Jono had been lost, depressed, unmotivated and lonely, and now here he was with a job he enjoyed, a lovely girlfriend, and a plan to study further. Most gratifying of all, he and his father, who had drifted apart almost to the point of estrangement, were close and loving.
When they’d finished the crumble – accompanied by a lake of thick yellow cream – Tabitha stifled a yawn. ‘Ooh, I’m so sorry. You know me, my candle flickers early.’
‘No need to apologise,’ said Sean. ‘I think we are all in the same boat. Well, not the young, I suspect. But the rest of us.’
Julia got to her feet. ‘Yes, it’s been a lovely evening, but I think Tabitha and I should be on our way.’
