‘I’m sure they will be just fine,’ Alice reassured him.
Ten minutes later Alice asked her guests to take a seat at the table as dinner was about to be served. Alice was delighted that all of her shopping had arrived early this morning from Waitrose. Online shopping really was a godsend, saving her a trip all the way across town. The nice delivery driver had even brought the food inside and unpacked it for her.
‘You must let me help.’ Jess placed her glass down and followed Alice into the kitchen, which looked surprisingly neat.
A huge cauldron of a casserole was carried to the table, alongside a mountain of buttery-looking mashed potato in a dish. Another bowl had green beans and julienne carrots.
‘That smells amazing.’ Declan rubbed his hands together. ‘I’m starved.’
‘Good,’ said Alice as she ladled bowls of coq au vin out, at her guests’ request, plus a small portion for Maisie.
‘Help yourself to vegetables.’
Mark opened the wine and filled glasses, everyone opting for a glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon apart from Jess, who went for white, pleased Mark had brought her favourite Pinot Grigio.
‘Now, I would firstly like to thank you all for coming. You have made an old lady very happy,’ said Alice, feeling thrilled that they had accepted her invitation. She wasn’t sure that they would, wondering if people of their age could be bothered with a woman of her age.
‘There’s no way I was missing out on a home-cooked meal,’ said Declan and Mark agreed.
‘Oh, I see, you are only here for the food,’ said Alice in a serious tone. Declan looked a little embarrassed, as did Mark, before Alice burst out laughing. ‘Your face was a picture,’ she teased, and Declan breathed a sigh of relief, before taking a glug of his wine.
‘You had me there.’ He laughed.
‘How can a face be a picture?’ asked Maisie, puzzled by Alice’s remark.
‘I suppose it does sound funny, doesn’t it? It simply means when someone shows their emotions in their face,’ explained Alice.
‘What are emotions? Are they like emojis?’
‘Yes, they are,’ said Jess, laughing. ‘Emojis are cartoon emotions. They show our feelings.’
Maisie nodded and went back to her drawing.
‘And now, I would like to propose a toast to Alice and thank her for inviting us. Here’s to getting to know our new neighbours,’ said Jess.
‘To Alice and new friends,’ said Mark, suppressing a knot in his stomach when he thought of how much Diane would have loved this. Why hadn’t he reached out to his neighbours before now? Being here, getting to know these people was farmore enjoyable than the feeling of being rushed in a restaurant, knowing you had a maximum two-hour window for the table.
‘To new friends.’ Everyone raised their glasses and Declan made eye contact with Jess. She could feel her face flush, as Alice gave a knowing look.
The coq au vin was a winner, the chicken melt in the mouth, the sauce rich and delicious. Maisie ate a piece of chicken and made an appreciative noise.
‘Is that okay for you?’ asked Alice.
‘It’s yummy,’ declared Maisie.
‘That sauce is spot on. What kind of red wine did you use?’ asked Declan.
‘A good Burgundy, although Beaujolais works just as well,’ said Alice, before taking another mouthful of food.
She certainly had a good appetite for someone her age, thought Jess.
‘Mummy, am I allowed wine?’ asked Maisie, looking a little doubtful. Jess hadn’t even thought about that.
‘Don’t worry, there is no alcohol in it now. It cooks away, so you are only left with the flavour,’ explained Alice.
‘Alcohol is the bit that makes you drunk,’ whispered Declan, who was sitting next to Maisie, on the opposite side of Jess. He went cross-eyed, and she giggled.
For dessert Alice placed a banoffee pie and an Eton mess in the middle of the table that people helped themselves to. During dessert, Declan mentioned the picture hanging on the wall of the lounge that showed a brunette young woman with a group of girls, all smiling.
