Recipe for Love

CHAPTER Sixteen





THE OTHERS HAD long since left. Cher had waved imperiously from her father’s Jag, after ceremoniously giving Zoe an air kiss and hissing, ‘May the best woman win.’ No one had questioned Zoe on what she’d be doing for the two weeks they had free.

Zoe’s first action was to let the dogs out from the room where they lived when the house was full of strangers or people who weren’t keen on them. While they obviously liked their space well enough, they were pleased to see her and ambled into the kitchen.

Then Zoe decided to go upstairs and have a good look round. With Rupert’s parents on their way she’d need to know where everything was and as Fenella had got into the car she had insisted she felt free to go everywhere and find things she needed.

She couldn’t resist going to the bridal suite first, hoping for some sign of Gideon. But there was none. The room looked as if it had never been used it was so tidy. She couldn’t tell if he was planning to come back or not. She knew he didn’t travel with much, but a toothbrush or something would have given her a little hope she might see him again.

The guest bedroom was next to the bathroom she had helped Fenella clean. The airing cupboard was next to that. She went on opening doors and discovered a door at the end of the passage. There were a couple of rooms beyond it. One was small but useable if you overlooked the bare floorboards and cracked wash basin but it had a single bed in it. Next to it was a larger room full of tools and ladders and a disconnected bathroom suite. Zoe guessed that the small room would be the bathroom for this room when it was finished.

Zoe made sure she knew where things where before she went back downstairs. She began to feel sympathy for Fenella – no one would want picky in-laws staying when the house was part way through such a major refurb.

After she got downstairs she cleared up the kitchen, which was looking a bit like the Mary Celeste: abandoned in the middle of a meal. As she worked she wondered about Gideon. Would he just drive home after the judges had done whatever they did after a challenge? She wasn’t even sure where home was for him. Or would he come and see her? He’d know where she was.

She very much wanted him to come and find her and not go home. Not only did she desperately want to see him again she wasn’t sure if she wanted to sleep in such a huge house on her own with only the dogs for company, with the threat of Rupert’s parents hanging over her like a Sword of Damocles.

She poured herself a glass of wine and toasted herself. She never thought she’d make it this far – to the final. She texted her mother with the good news. Her mother phoned her and they chatted for a bit while Zoe explained what she was up to. Then she went back upstairs to make sure the guest accommodation was ready for Rupert’s parents. Glad it wasn’t the bedroom that she and Gideon had shared and having found a lot of matching bed linen dumped on the bed, waiting to be put on, she enjoyed herself making sure everything looked immaculate, if a little hotel-like.

She wondered about picking some flowers but she didn’t really want to leave the house even for a short time. Gideon or Rupert might ring. She compromised by taking a few sprigs from the flowers in the big arrangement in the hallway, which was beginning to drop a bit anyway. She pulled out the deadest blooms leaving only the best bits. It did make rather a mess on the floor but she would hunt for the hoover and deal with that later.

She went back down to the kitchen once more and, her wine finished, made a cup of tea and looked at the pictures on the wall. There were some of Fenella and Rupert and others of Somerby. Then she examined the array of cookery books perched on the bookshelf that adorned one of the corners of the room. The house was very quiet without the usual bustle going on and she found she didn’t like it. She was beginning to think that Gideon had decided to go straight home and was torturing herself with thoughts that he’d come to his senses and taken the cowardly route by not even saying goodbye to her. She had just reached a very low point when chopping an onion seemed the only way to regain some sense of perspective when the back door opened and Gideon himself walked in.

‘You are here. Rupert texted me to say you were. I’m so sorry I was so long! I had to take Becca and the train had gone from the nearest station so I had to drive to Hereford and I got lost in the lanes coming back.’

She walked into his arms and felt she was in the right place. It was familiar and exciting, comforting and thrilling. He had meant to come back to her. She laughed at her wild imaginings.

She raised her face to his. After a deliciously long, luxurious kiss, he led her out of the kitchen and up to the room where they’d shared their night of passion. Neither of them spoke. He lowered her on to the bed, kissing and undressing her by turns. Zoe began to melt as lust coursed through her. They seemed welded together, unable to part even long enough to finish getting undressed. Just as Gideon was at last taking off his belt, all the bells of heaven and hell and a lot of banging was unleashed on the front door.

‘Oh damn!’ he breathed, not letting her go although she tried to pull away.

‘Rupert’s parents?’ Zoe asked.

‘Yup,’ said Gideon with a sigh.

The banging started again. ‘We’d better let them in before they take all the paint off the door,’ said Zoe, her voice muffled by Gideon’s chest.

‘Or go through a panel,’ said Gideon, still holding Zoe as if she were a lifebelt and he was a drowning sailor.

She gave a shuddering sigh and broke free. She ran into the bathroom, did up her bra and took a moment to make sure her hair wasn’t all over her face. Leaving Gideon to compose himself she rushed downstairs and pulled open the door.

‘Thank Christ someone’s in this damn money pit!’ announced a tall man in a hat. ‘Why they have to live in this godforsaken hole I have no idea! And why can’t they get a nanny like normal people do?’

‘Oh, Algy! We’ve been through this and they obviously have got help which is something.’ The woman following the man was strangely similar to her husband. ‘Good evening, we are Lord and Lady Gainsborough. And you are?’

‘Zoe Harper.’ Just for a second Zoe contemplated telling them that she was not paid staff but just then the dogs pushed through to greet the visitors and the moment passed.

‘Get off, you brutes!’ shouted the man. ‘Haven’t they got a damn kennel? Dogs should never be kept in the house.’

Zoe wrangled the dogs back inside, feeling everything would be better if only he’d stop yelling. ‘Do come in. Do you need help with your bags?’

Just at this moment Gideon appeared. He looked much more presentable than he had five minutes ago although he was still tucking his shirt in. ‘Can you take the luggage?’ demanded Lord Gainsborough of him. ‘Are we permitted through the door? Or would that make life too inconvenient for you?’

Sarcastic as well as loud, thought Zoe, amused as well as annoyed. ‘Of course. If you follow me I’ll show you your room, unless you know the way?’ They might be frequent visitors, although judging by Fenella’s panic at the thought of their arrival they probably weren’t.

‘We never know where we’re going to be able to lay our heads,’ said Lady Gainsborough. ‘Only half this pile is actually habitable.’

‘Your room is delightful,’ said Zoe. She picked up several of the many small cases that now littered the hall and set off up the stairs.

‘So Fenella finally did the sensible thing and got some staff,’ declared Lady Gainsborough. ‘I never thought she’d do anything so intelligent. She’s got all these mad ideas but I expect you know all about them!’

Zoe didn’t feel in a position to comment.

‘Hmm,’ Lady Gainsborough went on as Zoe showed her the room. ‘Not too foul, I suppose.’ Zoe was thrilled by the effect of the flowers, the side lights which she’d thought to turn on, and the general effect of calm luxury the room gave.

Lady Gainsborough went on, ‘But of course we can’t share a bed. He snores.’

Zoe indulged in a moment of panic. ‘OK, I’ll just make up another room for you. Fen – Mrs …’ Fenella’s surname deserted her. ‘She didn’t say you needed two rooms.’

Lady Gainsborough snorted. ‘It didn’t used to be so bad. I probably should have mentioned it,’ she added grudgingly.

‘I’ll just go and see which bedroom is most suitable,’ said Zoe. She’d need another quick snoop round this floor to find another room. She really hoped Gideon’s wouldn’t be the only usable option.

‘And if you can bring up a bottle of whisky and some glasses that would help,’ her ladyship went on.

‘I’ll ask Gideon,’ said Zoe.

Lord Gainsborough arrived in the bedroom before she could get out of it.

‘Can’t sleep with her ladyship, she snores like a train,’ he announced. Gideon, who was carrying the rest of the many cases, gave Zoe a look that could easily have sent her into fits of giggles.

‘I’m just arranging another room,’ said Zoe. ‘I didn’t know you needed separate ones. And Gideon, could you bring up a bottle of whisky and some glasses.’

‘And if the fireplace actually functions, which would be a small miracle, maybe you could light the fire up here?’ Lady Gainsborough added.

‘No. The fireplace is out of action. The chimney needs attention,’ said Zoe swiftly as a vision of her and Gideon trailing up and down the stairs with buckets of coal added to the horror. ‘Excuse me, I’ll just sort another bedroom for you.’

It turned out that the only other remotely suitable room on this side of the house was Gideon’s. He could have the little single room at the back she decided. She had her room in the cowshed still. She didn’t feel Lord and Lady Gainsborough would appreciate Gideon and her sharing a bedroom. Every floor creaked; they’d be sure to hear if they tried a midnight tryst. Her heart lurched. It would be too cruel if they were kept apart by Fenella’s vile in-laws.

Zoe thanked her stars that she’d found where the airing cupboard was earlier and she was extremely relieved to find lots and lots of good quality bed linen in it. She supposed it was to do with having bridal suites with beds in them, and it didn’t take her long to assemble some bedding for the room where she and Gideon had shared so much. Lord Gainsborough could do without flowers.

She went back to the first bedroom where Rupert’s parents were now knocking back whiskies large enough to float a battleship.

‘I’ve got the other room ready,’ she said, envying Gideon for having escaped and Rupert’s parents for the strong drink.

‘Thank you,’ said Lady Gainsborough, who was obviously planning to keep the room with the sofa and chairs. ‘Now when could we eat? We don’t need much but we are hungry so if you could call us down when it’s ready? Half an hour do you? Fenella said she’d make a stew before we came so you could just heat some of that up. Oh, and a baked potato and some sort of green veg. No peas or beans though.’ She paused. ‘They make him fart.’

Zoe went down into the kitchen where Gideon was topping up her wine, having made himself a cup of coffee.

‘They want stew, baked potatoes and a green vegetable, not peas or beans, in about half an hour.’

Gideon nodded. ‘And you haven’t seen a stew?’

Zoe shook her head.

‘We could search the freezer.’

She nodded.

‘And defrost it in the microwave?’

She nodded again. ‘And if there’s nothing suitable in the freezer, pray to God there’s something green in the garden.’

‘But before you go looking … come here, you little gypsy.’

She had just gone into his arms for the second time when they were disturbed by a distant jangling. Zoe sighed. ‘They have a sixth sense, they know the minute we go near each other.’ She frowned. ‘That’s not the front door, is it?’

Gideon shook his head. The jangling continued. Then he laughed. ‘Look!’

Zoe looked at where he was pointing. An old-fashioned bell indicator showed one of the little windows waggling.

‘I don’t believe this!’ said Gideon. ‘I really don’t!’

‘I’d better go,’ said Zoe.

‘I’ll go if you like,’ said Gideon, apparently giving up on his plans for Zoe. ‘But there’s something I must—’

Zoe interrupted him. ‘No, I’ll go, but could you look in the freezer for the stew?’

‘Where is the freezer?’

‘Oh! Well, I think there’s a chest one in one of the sheds but otherwise the fridge freezer is in there.’ She pointed towards the scullery where the washing machine and fridge lived along side tins of olive oil and jars of jam.

‘I’m not going into any shed,’ Gideon warned her. ‘If I draw a blank, they’ll have to have an omelette.’

‘Or spaghetti. You know, that’s just what I fancy. A really plain spaghetti with just some olive oil and garlic.’

‘And a bit of chilli?’

Zoe nodded. ‘Oh yes. But we’ll have to wait. Now I must go and see what her ladyship wants.’

‘So the bell works, does it?’ said Lady Gainsborough. ‘We weren’t sure. So little does work in this barracks.’

‘What can I do for you?’ Zoe felt she was in a play. She knew she’d be tempted to curtsey when she left the room, even if that wasn’t what a real maid would do.

‘Can you bring some bottled water? I assume there is some? I have pills to take.’

Zoe glanced towards the bathroom wondering why she couldn’t float her pills down on whisky. ‘There are glasses. I checked.’

Lady Gainsborough shook her head. ‘Don’t trust the water here. I think the plumbing is probably all lead pipes.’

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ said Zoe. ‘Sparkling or still?’

‘Still please.’ Lady Gainsborough turned away, which meant she wouldn’t see if Zoe curtseyed or not.

As she ran downstairs Zoe was grateful there were bottles of water left from the filming. And if none of them still had water in them, well, the taps worked just fine. Personally, she didn’t care if Fenella’s mother-in-law died from lead poisoning or not. She hadn’t even had time to wonder how Fenella was doing at the hospital!

‘Nothing remotely stew-like in the freezer,’ said Gideon, ‘but I did find this in the fridge.’

It was a Pyrex bowl full of greying meat with some whole shallots and mushrooms sticking out of it. On the top was a bay leaf and a small bundle of sticks.

‘I bet Fen or Rupert made this, put it in here to cool right down and then forgot to put it in the freezer,’ said Zoe.

‘But when was it made?’ asked Gideon.

‘Smell it,’ suggested Zoe.

‘You smell it,’ said Gideon.

Wrinkling her nose in advance, Zoe sniffed. ‘It smells a bit winey. You try.’

Emboldened by Zoe’s reaction, Gideon took a proper smell. ‘I think it’s probably all right,’ he said eventually. ‘They probably won’t notice if it’s a bit off.’

‘OK, let’s put it in a pan and heat it up. But don’t ask me to eat it.’ Zoe, suddenly overcome with tiredness, yawned hugely. ‘Sorry. My early morning has got to me.’

‘It has been a long day.’ Gideon put his arm round Zoe’s shoulder and rubbed her arm. ‘Poor darling. We could tell “them upstairs” to take a running jump and fend for themselves. Quite apart from wanting to make love to you hard enough to loosen your teeth, I need to tell you something, but it’ll keep.’

Zoe hoped it was something nice and was quite happy to wait – for the mad passionate love-making too if she had to. ‘I promised Fen I’d look after them. And besides, it’s sort of fun. A challenge: can we make them happy?’

‘Nothing daunts you, does it?’ he said, his head on one side, with an expression in his eyes she didn’t have time to respond to. ‘No matter what happens, you come out fighting and win.’

‘I don’t know about that.’

‘But you always find a solution, you never just give up.’

Zoe considered. ‘Well, I always feel if you’ve started something – a job, a competition, even just cooking a meal – you might as well give it your all or why bother doing it at all?’

‘That’s always been my attitude,’ said Gideon as he selected a pan from the stand in the corner and put it on the heat. ‘I always wanted to be a food writer but I knew it wasn’t really a way to make a living so I did other things first. But I never lost sight of my ambition.’

‘And now you’ve achieved your dream.’

‘Not quite. I picked up other dreams along the way. As you know I want to really educate the public about food. I want to get the supermarkets on side so that a busy person doesn’t have to read the backs of every packet to check what’s in it, or where it comes from. They’ll know they can trust it to be ethically sourced.’ He tipped in the stew, which looked even more unappetising now.

‘That’s what I’d like for my deli. Ethical, delicious, and no one being ripped off along the way.’ She looked up at him, excited to find they shared something that was important to her. Then she looked at the stew. ‘Are you sure it’s OK? We don’t want to deal with them if they got food poisoning.’ The thought made her turn pale with horror.

Gideon, who’d been hunting round for a wooden spoon, looked at her. ‘That really would test your friendship with Fen and Rupert.’

She was loving this time together. They were like a team pitted against an enemy. She felt she could cope with anything if she had Gideon by her side.

Zoe sniffed the stew. ‘I’ll add a slug of wine. That should disguise any off tastes.’ She gave him a look. ‘I know you shouldn’t put wine into a dish and not cook off the alcohol but this is an emergency.’

He held up his hands in surrender. ‘I wasn’t going to say anything!’

Zoe nodded. ‘Good, then I’ll start the baked potatoes off in the microwave. I’ll crisp the skins in the oven. I can imagine the uproar if they thought the potatoes had been cooked in a microwave.’

‘But they can’t expect baked potatoes in under an hour.’

‘I don’t think they have any idea how long a baked potato takes to cook,’ said Zoe. ‘I don’t imagine they’ve ever set foot in a kitchen except perhaps to deliver something they’ve just shot.’



She was in the garden on the hunt for green veg, since the freezer contained exclusively peas, beans and sweet-corn, when Gideon called from the door. ‘Come in! It’s Rupert. He wants to talk to you!’

Clutching the colander full of green stuff to her, Zoe hurried to the house. She very much wanted to talk to Rupert too. How such a nice man could have such difficult parents was a mystery.

‘Rupert? How’s Fen? Has she had the baby?’

Rupert laughed. ‘Not yet, I’m afraid. She’s having an epidural in a minute though, so at least she won’t be in so much pain.’

‘But everything’s OK otherwise?’

‘Yes. Everyone’s being brilliant. But how are things at your end? Are my parents being a nightmare?’ Correctly interpreting Zoe’s silence as a reluctance to tell a man his parents were the guests from hell, he went on, ‘You can see now why poor Fen got in such a state about them. They insisted on coming to help with the baby though we’d have been fine on our own. Are they treating you like staff? Tell them you’re not! Don’t put up with being ordered about.’

‘It’s fine. It’s easier to be staff than try and be friends.’

‘Yes, well, I can understand that bit.’ Rupert chuckled. ‘Did you find the boeuf bourgignon?’

‘Oh, was that what it was? Yes.’

‘In the freezer? I made it a while ago now.’

‘No, in the fridge. But I think it’s all right. Smells OK now we’ve added some extra wine. Do you want to talk to your parents?’

‘No. I’ll ring Mater direct on her mobile.’

Zoe paused and then said, ‘Tell me, Rupert, please, that you do not really call your mother Mater.’

He laughed but didn’t answer immediately. ‘Only sometimes. Fen sends love, by the way.’

‘And mine to her! We’re thinking of you!’ Zoe suddenly found herself getting quite emotional at the thought of Fenella having her first child.



*

‘I really don’t want them eating dinner down here,’ said Zoe firmly when she’d let Gideon know there was no further news. ‘We’ll have to find somewhere else.’

‘The dining room is as big as a football pitch,’ said Gideon. ‘We could just clear one end of the table.’

‘No! We’d have to make conversation, or hover behind their chairs. I’m not up to either of those options just now. I’ll have a scout round for somewhere else.’

She went into the room that Fenella used as an office. Apart from the desk, which was a tottering heap of paper-work, it was perfect. There was a round table without much on it, two suitable chairs and – miraculously – an obviously working fireplace. It wasn’t really cold, it being May, but a fire would brighten everything up. A cloth over the desk would sort the mess in seconds.

The fire-lighting fairy, or possibly Rupert, had left kindling in the basket on top of some logs. It was all very dry. Zoe, who liked making fires, didn’t take long to get a blaze going. She made sure it had really taken and then put the guard in front of it and went off in search of tablecloths and cutlery.

She thought she’d sit down in the kitchen on the sofa, if only for a minute, before Rupert’s parents needed clearing up after. She’d made Fen’s office look really cosy, and the stew actually smelt quite nice by the time Gideon took it through. He’d obviously been delayed. Maybe they were complaining that their knives and forks weren’t quite as shiny as they might have been. It was true, they weren’t, but Zoe had been pleased to find the real silver and thought, in the candlelight, a little tarnish might not show. The candle-sticks themselves she had given a quick rub over.

She settled a cushion into the curve of her back and pulled a mohair throw over her, just for comfort. Then she closed her eyes.

‘You’re beginning to make a habit of this,’ Gideon said softly a little while later.

Reluctantly, Zoe opened her eyes. ‘I only sat down for moment.’ She smiled sleepily up at him.

‘I know. The same thing nearly happened to me. We were up early.’

‘Did they like their dinner?’

‘Loved it. Particularly the greens. I didn’t recognise them. What were they?’

Zoe had to think what he was talking about for a minute. ‘Oh! Oh you know! Coltsfoot! I suppose they look different cooked. There was nothing else that I could find. Thorn said they’re really good with sesame seeds. You’d better not tell them though.’ She paused. ‘I’d better get up.’

‘Stay there for a minute.’ Gideon put his hand on her shoulder. ‘I’ve got kind of used to watching you sleep.’

Zoe swallowed. She no longer wanted to sleep quite so much now Gideon was with her.

‘You know, I will have to go home at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I’ve got work to do.’

The thought of them being parted was horrible. ‘What sort of work?’ Zoe asked, although the moment she’d spoken she realised it was a silly question. He was a writer – that was his work.

‘I need to do a piece for a cookery magazine. I’ve left it really late.’

‘Do you have to go home to do that? Don’t you just need a laptop? You could use mine.’

‘I always feel sharing a computer is more intimate than sharing a toothbrush,’ he said.

Zoe didn’t know how to respond. She felt like that herself, a bit, but didn’t want to make her suggestion seem like too big a deal. She managed a shrug. She’d have offered to share a life-support machine with him if it meant he stayed with her. ‘Whatever. The offer’s there,’ she managed eventually.

Gideon regarded her seriously. ‘That’s very kind of you, but I have my own laptop. It’s my notes I’ll need.’

Zoe felt abashed. Of course he’d have his laptop with him. No writer – or in her case chef – would travel without one if they were in a car. And if they went by train they’d have a netbook.

‘I can make a start without notes,’ said Gideon. ‘You have another snooze. They won’t be needing us for a bit.’

As Zoe closed her eyes she thought how cosy it was – Gideon working and her dozing. To her it meant that they were friends and not just lovers.

She was still in a reverie when she heard the door open. It was Lady Gainsborough with some dishes.

‘We did call but no one came. Is there any chance of some pudding? We do like to end the meal with something sweet. Not raw fruit. That makes him fart too.’

Zoe sat up abruptly.

‘But if you’re in separate rooms …’ Zoe said, her drowsiness making her forget her role as unquestioning family retainer for a moment.

‘I’ll be able to hear it,’ said Lady Gainsborough, frowning slightly to indicate she wasn’t used to being questioned. ‘Now what about the pudding?’

‘I don’t think there is any,’ said Zoe, deciding to be firm.

‘Well, can’t you make something? Are you a cook or aren’t you?’

Zoe sighed, forced to acknowledge that given the challenges she had risen to lately, making a pudding was hardly difficult. ‘I’ll bring something through as soon as I can. How do you feel about ice cream?’

Lady Gainsborough shook her head. ‘Only if there’s nothing else, but Algy will complain.’

‘OK, I’ll find something.’

Lady Gainsborough left, naturally without saying thank you, and Zoe peered into the fridge. Gideon abandoned his laptop and peered over her shoulder.

‘I bet you can’t make anything half decent out of what’s in here,’ he said, looking at a muddle of butter, cheese, leftovers and jars of jam and condiments.

‘How much do you bet?’ said Zoe, who’d spotted a half-eaten bar of white chocolate. It was stuck right at the back and had the air of having been there for some time.

‘Fiver,’ said Gideon.

‘Done!’ They sealed the deal with a kiss. Then Zoe sniffed at a carton of cream. It smelt OK although it was a little crusty round the edges.

Encouraged, she took these things and went to the fruit bowl for apples.

‘What are you going to do with that lot?’ said Gideon.

‘Wait and see. And take a last loving look at your fiver. It won’t be in your wallet for much longer. But don’t stand over me. Go and write your article.’



It didn’t take her long to make a pancake batter and a few crêpes. Then she fried a couple of apples in butter, added a slug of calvados and then turned her attention to the white chocolate and cream.

Gideon’s bet was a fillip to her enthusiasm. She didn’t greatly care if Rupert’s parents had something delicious to eat, but she did want to impress Gideon.

She put the broken-up chocolate into a bowl and whisked it over a pan of water until it was melted. She added some of the cream and tasted it. Perfect! Just custardy enough, she decided.

Gideon was engrossed in his writing but occasionally looked up and smiled, sniffing the air appreciatively as the delicious smells wafted down to his end of the kitchen.

Roughly twenty minutes later, she summoned him from his corner.

‘Come and look at this! And pay your debts!’

On each of two plates lay a perfect crêpe filled with fried apple with a little pot of white chocolate custard on the side. She had sieved a little icing sugar over the pancakes and they looked almost restaurant standard.

‘Hmm, not everyone likes white chocolate. In fact some people don’t think it should even be called chocolate at all.’

Zoe swatted him playfully on the arm ‘Come on! Cough up!’ she demanded, knowing he was just teasing her. ‘And I’d better take this in now.’

Biting back a ‘ta da!’ she put a plate in front of each of Rupert’s parents.

‘What’s this?’ demanded Lord Gainsborough. ‘Custard? I only like Bird’s custard.’

‘But you love pancakes,’ said his wife. ‘Stop being so fussy.’

Zoe left the room before she giggled.

‘Did they pass the test?’ asked Gideon. ‘If they don’t like it I don’t have to pay up.’

‘Well, the custard wasn’t Bird’s, which was a bit of a downer, but apparently Lord Gainsborough loves pancakes. His wife told him he did.’

‘In which case …’ He reached into his back pocket, opened his wallet and took out a five-pound note and handed it to Zoe.

‘I wish I’d got you to bet more now.’ Zoe took the money and tucked it into the pocket of her jeans. ‘It could have been a nice little earner.’

‘I wouldn’t have risked any more than that,’ said Gideon. ‘I know you’re both a good cook and very resourceful.’

‘Thank you, kindly,’ she said, in a way that meant he wouldn’t guess how much his words meant to her.

‘So are you going to let me sample the pudding? I feel as I’ve paid for it.’

‘You’d pay far more than a fiver for that pudding in a restaurant,’ said Zoe, ‘but there’s plenty of batter so we might as well use it up.’

They had cleared the plates and made hot drinks for his parents (filter coffee and peppermint tea) when they heard a car. The dogs began to bark and Gideon and Zoe looked at each other.

‘Who … ?’

‘Do you think … ?’