Lily and Arlo erupted into the room, crash-landing on the sofa, and were swiftly followed by Prim, who launched herself gleefully at Ella. Ella, happy for the distraction and still trying to get her pulse back under control, made a fuss of the dog, who was behaving as though she were a long-lost friend recently returned from some terrible adventure instead of someone Prim had met just yesterday.
‘Budge up, you two.’ Max plonked himself back on the sofa opposite Ella’s. Lily and Arlo clambered onto his knee and he slid his arms round them, rolling his eyes at Prim, now lying on Ella’s feet.
Noelle settled beside her, and Ella’s worried glance darted across to the older woman. Last night she had been wondering how she was going to get through her time at Halesmere with Max not wanting her here. Now she was more concerned about avoiding Noelle and her apparently famous persistence for the next three months. Ella’s heart tilted in a very strange manner at the sight of Max and his children and she was sharply reminded of what they had lost. Lily was consulting a handwritten list that, Ella saw, was surprisingly long, and the little girl gave Arlo a firm nudge with her elbow.
‘How many kinds of pizza can you make, Ella?’ His honey-brown eyes were wide, his tractor still held in one chubby hand, and she thought his shy little smile was adorable.
‘Oh, lots, I suppose.’ There hadn’t been much call for pizza on the precisely planned menus at the sumptuous events she had cooked for. ‘Once you have the base with the tomato sauce on top, you can pretty much add whatever you like.’
‘So if I wanted cheese and chocolate on my pizza, could that work?’
‘Absolutely not,’ Max said firmly, ruffling his son’s hair. ‘That would be revolting, Arlo, and very bad for you.’
‘But Daddy, Ella’s just said you could add whatever you like.’ Arlo had to tip his head back to find his father’s exasperated gaze. ‘And she’s a chef, so she should know, not you. You promised to make pizza with us, and you still haven’t done it.’
Ella’s eyes met Max’s and she saw the flash of guilt. ‘Chocolate is tricky to heat up, Arlo,’ she said quickly, hoping to distract him. ‘The fats can separate if you don’t get it right, and it wouldn’t be very nice with cheese once it’s cooked. As a professional chef I wouldn’t recommend it.’ She hoped he understood she was taking his questions seriously. ‘What other things do you like?’
‘Haribo? The fizzy ones,’ he said hopefully, and she laughed, heard Noelle’s chuckle beside her. Lily’s scowl made clear her irritation with her little brother.
‘Nice try, Arlo, I’m sure you know that’s sweet as well. All that sugar would make a horrible gooey mess and would be awful with tomato sauce. What about vegetables or maybe some chicken?’
‘I like small tomatoes, not the big ones, and sweetcorn. Mushrooms if they’re sliced, not whole.’
‘Perfect. Anything else?’
‘Ham? I like it in sandwiches. Daddy makes good ones, better than Mamie’s. We take them to school sometimes. Lily doesn’t, cos she doesn’t eat meat.’
‘Yes, ham would be fine as well, we can ask Lily what other toppings she might like on her pizza.’ Ella was enjoying this. Arlo clearly loved his food, and it wouldn’t hurt to throw together a couple of pizzas with them while she was here. ‘So have I got this right? Tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, sweetcorn and ham? But as I’m a chef, Arlo, can I suggest trying another cheese as well, one like cheddar or Parmesan? Mozzarella is great because it’s ideal for melting but it doesn’t have as much flavour as the others. What do you think?’
‘Yes!’ Arlo scrambled off the sofa to face his father with imploring eyes. ‘Please, Daddy, can we have Ella’s pizza tonight?’
‘Arlo, sit down.’ Max went to grab him as Prim leapt up with a startled bark and shot over to the French doors. Ella saw her staring outside, searching for the source of excitement or harm about to befall her family. ‘Now look what you’ve done, she’ll be slobbering all over the glass. Prim, come here, you bloody idiot, there’s nobody there.’
‘That’s another pound please, Daddy.’ Lily didn’t miss a beat and her face was expressionless.
‘What?’ Max stared at his daughter. ‘For pity’s sake, Lily, do you always have to keep count?’
‘The dog shelter needs the money and Prim might, too.’
‘Too right,’ he muttered. He reached into his pocket and removed a blue note from his wallet. ‘Here, have five. Might as well put the other three on account, you’ll be needing them soon enough after what your grandmother’s been getting up to.’
He placed the wallet on the table, his eyes shifting for a second to Ella’s. ‘And no, Arlo, Ella won’t be making pizza for you tonight. Maybe another time when we’re all more used to one another.’
‘That’s not fair.’ Arlo stuck his bottom lip out and she resisted the urge to grin. He looked cute even through his sulk and she was glad she wasn’t the one saying no to him. ‘It’s Saturday and you said yesterday that we could have pizza tonight. Why can’t we have Ella’s? I don’t want frozen pizza again, I want Ella’s, made how she said.’
‘Arlo.’ There was a warning note in Max’s voice along with weary resignation. ‘Stop please, before I decide you have to wait outside until we’re finished.’
‘Max,chéri, if Ella is happy to make pizza this evening, then why not?’ Noelle made it sound perfectly reasonable. ‘It would be a simple way to get to know one another, as you said. Lily and Arlo will enjoy it and she will be collecting the children from school next week after all.’
‘And she might not. I’m making no promises until I’ve seen the relevant paperwork.’ Max’s voice tightened as he attempted to regain control over the direction his mother was trying to take him. ‘Besides, Maman, I hardly think that making pizza is what Ella came here to do. She probably wants to get away from the kitchen.’
His eyes found hers and Ella flushed, remembering how she had confessed her hopes for a new dream to him not fifteen minutes ago. Was he being kind because he knew she wanted something of her own in her life? Or was it a convenient excuse to prevent her spending time with his children, something she already knew concerned him? Or both? She was still trying to work it out when Noelle made the decision for him.
‘Ella? Would you be happy to cook pizza for the children this evening?’
‘If Max is okay with that?’ She tried to keep a casual note in her voice, not wanting to thwart her new employer so obviously in front of his family. She could whip up the base and tomato sauce in the flat beforehand, help them spread the toppings on and leave them to it; she’d be in and out in no time.
Arlo squealed and it quickly turned into a roar as he toppled onto Lily and she shoved him away. Ella saw Max’s quick scowl and wasn’t sure if it was because of the children’s behaviour, his mother’s interfering over supper or being forced to accept Ella cooking pizza if he didn’t want a riot on his hands.
