Page 11 of An Ill Wind in Seabury
‘We get that sort in town sometimes,’ said Kate. ‘They find themselves here by mistake and wander off again soon enough. What’s she done to make herself so unpopular?’
‘Took a pop at Jess’s chickens, blocked the entrance to the allotments, and reduced Lionel to a quivering wreck!’ said George, counting off the offences on his fingers. ‘How about you? Lionel seemed to think you’d had a run-in with her about pumpkins?’
Kate chuckled. ‘She was desperate for a pumpkin-spiced skinny latte. I’d have gladly made one for her if I had it… but, I mean… we’re only a small place, and that’sveryspecific. I offered to make her anything else she fancied on the house. Spiced chai latte, cinnamon tea, coffee of her choice with some vanilla syrup, but nothing was good enough!’
‘Oh dear.’ George was struggling not to laugh.
Kate shrugged. ‘What can you do, eh?’
‘I wonder why she’s here,’ said George. ‘Did she mention anything to you? She’s booked in at the hotel, but Lionel doesn’t know how long she’s planning to stay.’
‘She wanted to know how to get to Seabury House,’ said Kate. ‘I got the feeling she’d been driving around for ages looking for it. Kept asking all sorts of questions about the Peppers, too… like what they did for a living, and if they owned the house, and what kind of reputation they had in town.’
‘That’s kind of odd, don’t you think?’ said George.
Kate nodded. ‘She mentioned something about her sister’s engagement?’
‘Oh, wait a sec!’ said George. ‘Charlie told me this morning that Rory has just got engaged.’
‘Goodness,’ said Kate. ‘Well, if this woman’s the sister of Rory’s bride-to-be, I hope he knows what he’s getting himself into!’
George sniggered. ‘Did you tell her how to find her way to Seabury House?’
‘Yeah,’ said Kate. ‘I didn’t tell her she could find Ewan and Connie at All Things Woolly, though. It didn’t seem fair to unleash that dragon on them in the shop.’
‘Fair point,’ said George. ‘I’ll nip in there in a minute and give them the heads up that there’s an uninvited guest on the warpath.’
‘Good plan,’ said Kate with a nod. ‘I mean… at least that way they’ll be ready to… erm… welcome her.’
‘For Rory’s sake, I hope they do,’ said George. ‘Or at least, I hope she’s on better behaviour than she was with Lionel!’
‘Is he okay?’ said Kate with a look of concern.
‘He’s fine,’ laughed George. ‘Just a bit surprised, I think. Hattie seemed to think the whole thing was hilarious, though.’
‘She might change her tune later,’ said Kate. ‘Imighthave suggested she’d like to eat at the hotel.’
‘Mean!’ chuckled George.
Kate shrugged. ‘It’s the best place for miles. I’m sure our little head chef can hold her own.’
‘I’m almost tempted to book a table so that I can watch the show,’ said George. ‘Right, now that I know you’re okay, I guess I’d better get on with my round.’
‘Sure I can’t tempt you with some cake before you go?’ said Kate.
George shook his head.
‘Not even a squishy bit of brownie?’
George put his fingers in his ears and made a loud humming noise to block her out as he backed towards the door.
‘Fresh coffee cakes are arriving later!’ she bellowed after him just as he made a break for it.
George was only three steps towards his van when he changed his mind and popped his head back around the café door.
‘Coffee cake?’
Kate grinned and nodded.
