Page 8 of A Christmas Wish on Arran
‘I have come prepared,’ she said. ‘But I think I will just come across to the hotel with you now, so I can shelter under your brolly.’
‘Of course. This will be a big change from London?’ he asked curiously.
‘Yes. But I was ready for something different . . .’
He raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t ask any more questions. Beth assumed that he understood she wasn’t ready to share any more information quite yet.
She pulled up her hood. ‘Okay. Shall we? I am ready for an adventure.’
He laughed. ‘That’s what I like to hear.’
Chapter Nine
‘I’ve made some porridge for you,’ said Daisy as Callum came in the back door, rubbing his hands together.
‘Oh brilliant. Thanks Daisy, you’re a star. It’s freezing out there and I am absolutely starving.’
It was still dark and Callum had just come in from walking Ruby and feeding the hens. He kicked off his boots, shrugged off his jacket and bent down to give Ruby another pat as she leaned into his legs.
‘Come on, before it goes cold,’ called Daisy.
Callum washed his hands at the sink, lathering them with soap and warm water. After drying them on a thick towel, he pulled out a seat at the table. He rubbed his hand over the reclaimed wood. It was the first piece of bespoke furniture he had made long before Daisy had come to live on the island. The table was a reminder of the kind of work hewantedto be doing rather than the functional joinery work that he had to do in order to pay the bills. Maybe one day he would when he had more time.
‘You can add some seeds and raisins if you want,’ suggested Daisy, passing him a packet of what looked suspiciously like bird seed. ‘It’s good for the gut,’ she said knowingly. ‘Though only have it if you want to. I don’t want to tell you what to do,’ she said in a sing-song voice. ‘Or be bossy. Like you are with me.’
Callum grinned as he eyed the packet dubiously. ‘I’ll pass.’ Picking up his spoon he took a mouthful of the porridge. It was surprisingly tasty. He could feel Daisy watching him and waiting for his response.
‘You know, this is actually really nice. Especially after trudging about all morning in the cold and dark.’ He took another spoonful and frowned. ‘You have definitely made it differently though to how I would do it.’
‘Urgh, of course I have,’ she groaned. ‘That’s because you use water and salt which is absolutely disgusting. No wonder I never want to eatyourporridge.’ She didn’t speak for a minute and then hesitantly spoke. ‘Did my mum like porridge?’
‘Sometimes,’ he said gently. She’d caught him by surprise as she hadn’t mentioned her for a while. ‘And you did too when you were little. You loved it when she made you banana porridge.’
Daisy chewed her lip thoughtfully. ‘It was really creamy I think. I do kind of remember that.’
‘But when she was pregnant with you she preferred Coco Pops. She would eat boxes and boxes of them.’
Daisy pulled a face. ‘Yuck. No wonder I don’t like them. This is far nicer.’
‘Right . . .’ He didn’t quite know whether to keep talking about Isla or change the subject. He paused, waiting to take her cue.
‘Do you want to know how I made this?’ she asked.
‘Sure. Talk me through it then. What did you do? How did you make it?’
‘Okay . . . well, I have been researching all the different ways that you can cook porridge. Did you know that you don’t just have to use water?’
He nodded. The moment to talk about her mum had passed. ‘I did know that. You can use milk or cream and sugar instead of salt . . . Gran said her parents used to make it with water and salt and then pour it into a drawer to set. Then they would slice it up into bars and eat it later.’
‘That sounds horrid. A drawer? You mean like a drawer in the kitchen?’
‘Yes, some of the old-fashioned kitchen tables had drawers in them, or some people would just use one of the bottom drawers in their dresser. If you Google it, you’ll find pictures online.’
‘But why on earth would they want to pour it into a random drawer? I mean there could be stuff in it.’
Callum smiled, knowing he could easily wind Daisy up with this, even though he shouldn’t. ‘Well I don’t think health and safety was such a thing back then. But yes, sometimes they found old drawing pins and bits of fluff and stuff in the bars if they forgot to wipe the drawer our properly.’
Daisy’s face was a picture of horror. ‘That is totally gross. Yuck.’
