More than ready to tuck in, Flick felt no such concern. Slicing into the filo crust, her mouth watered as a creamy mix of Camembert, bacon and caramelised onions oozed out of its shell. She paused before scooping a forkful into her mouth, making sure to savour the taste before swallowing. “I’m in foodie heaven.”
“Me too,” Brenda joined in.
“Now will you listen?” Pete said to his wife. He looked to Flick. “I keep telling her we should put together a menu, but will she have it?”
“And I keep telling you, I’m just a home cook,” Jess said.
“I don’t think so, dear,” Flick’s mum said. “I’m a home cook and I couldn’t produce anything as good as this.”
“She’s right,” Flick said. “And I have to say, I agree with Pete, you should do a menu.”
Jess shook her head and smiled, pleased with the compliment. “Well, I’ll leave you to enjoy it,” she said, as more customers arrived to divert her attention. “Come on, Pete. We’ve got work to do.”
“Bon appetite,” he said, before doing as he was told.
Flick was happy to continue eating in silence. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten something so delicious. “Wow!” she said, finally setting down her knife and fork. She pushed her plate to one side and flopped back in her seat. “I’m stuffed.”
“Me too,” Brenda said, following suit.
“I’m always saying this place should be a restaurant,” an unexpected voice said.
Flick looked up to spot Dee staring down at their empty plates. Automatically sitting up straight, this was the last person Flick expected to see.
Dee plonked herself down in a chair. “I was just on my way back to the office when I spotted you both. And I thought why ring when I can talk to you face-to-face?”
With her nerves making a sudden reappearance, Flick looked to her mother for reassurance before speaking. “How did it go?”
“Very well.”
Much to Flick’s dismay, rather than continue, Dee spent the next few seconds trying to catch Jess’s attention. A fruitless task, considering the proprietor was still busy serving customers inside.
“In fact,” she said, at last, only to falter once more as she again tried to catch Jess’s eye. Thankfully, this time she was successful and as she mouthed her coffee order Jess put her thumb up confirming she understood. “Sorry about that,” she said. “You know how it is when the caffeine levels get a bit low. Now, about the viewing.”
Flick held her breath, steeling herself for the outcome.
“He loved it.”
Flick exhaled, her relief there for all to see.
“I thought you’d be pleased,” Dee said.
“Enough to put an offer in?” Brenda asked, clearly less enthusiastic.
“Indeed.” Dee tilted her head and knitted her brow, indicating it wasn’t all good news. “Although it’s a little bit lower than what you and your husband paid, I’m afraid.”
“How much lower?” Flick asked. Planning on paying her mother back every penny, she had hoped to at least break even.
“Sadly, not everyone appreciates a building’s history. Developers tend to–”
Flick jumped in. “The viewer is a developer?”
“He most certainly is. And a very successful one, by all accounts. From England. Anyway, buyers like that don’t want to pay a premium when they’re just going to rip a place apart.”
“What do you mean?” Flick didn’t like the sound of this.
“He wants to turn it into apartments,” Dee said. “Subject to planning permission, of course.”
“You mean he’s going to carve it up? But he can’t.”
