‘Oh, yes please,’ said Jago. ‘This is the best Sunday lunch I think I’ve ever had.’
Gilly’s heart swelled a little. She loved feeding people and she loved Jago for being so enthusiastic. Although she knew she mustn’t become too fond of him. He and Helena may well not get together properly. It was far too early for her to look on him as a second son.
‘Yeah,’ said Martin, ‘your gravy is great and for once your Yorkshires have risen properly.’
‘Thank you for your kind words, both of you,’ said Gilly. ‘Although Jago’s words are quite a lot kinder than yours, Martin dear.’
‘Mum! I am your son! You shouldn’t expect compliments!’
‘I think she should,’ said Jago, ‘when her cooking is as good as this.’
‘Shall I help clear away?’ asked Cressida, just as Gilly was about to see if she could persuade anyone to have another potato or another sliver of meat.
Helena leaped to her feet. ‘Don’t bother, Cressida, I know where everything goes.’
‘So do I!’ said Cressida, sounding a bit surprised.
‘I’ll help too,’ said Leo.
Gilly got to the kitchen first, hoping to field the huge number of dishes that were about to fill it. It was a magnificent kitchen and she loved it but it was slightly short of work surface. ‘Why don’t you go back into the dining room and see if everyone’s got wine?’ Gilly said to Leo. ‘Cressida, will Ismene have pudding? Or would you rather she had cheese? Or some grapes?’
‘Grapes are full of sugar. I can’t believe you still think they’re suitable food for a child,’ said Cressida.
‘Well, go away anyway,’ said Gilly, feeling fairly calm about this admonishment. ‘I’m assuming you won’t want chocolate, then? I have some of the ninety per cent cocoa solids you’re so fond of.’
Cressida managed a smile. ‘Then I do want it! Unlike ordinary chocolate I count it as a health food.’
Gilly took a bar from the cupboard and handed it to her daughter-in-law with a smile that even Cressida would realise meant ‘please leave my kitchen’. Now Gilly could find out what was up with Helena.
‘Everything OK, love?’ asked Gilly as Helena rinsed the plates and loaded the dishwasher whileshe retrieved one pudding from the range and another from the fridge.
‘Oh yes, fine!’ said Helena. ‘Actually Jago has found me somewhere for my loom so that’s one less thing to worry about.’
‘He’s such a nice man!’ said Gilly, which was code for ‘tell me all the details of your relationship’.
‘He is! Although of course we’re only really friends at the moment.’ Helena found a tablet for the dishwasher and switched it on.
‘Although it might lead to something else?’
‘You never know!’ said Helena with a teasing smile.
‘Starting off as friends is always a good thing – even if it doesn’t develop into something more,’ she added quickly, seeing that Helena was going to protest about it being ‘early days’ and ‘too soon to tell’. But as she said it, Gilly wondered if she and Leo were just friends? She thought not – not from her point of view anyway.
‘What else have you got to worry about?’ said Gilly, wishing Helena would just tell her why she was being twitchy.
‘Oh, you know! All the work I need to do before World of Wool. Nothing you can help with, Mum.’ She looked around the kitchen. ‘Are we having cheese first and then pudding? Or what?’
‘Both at the same time,’ said Gilly. ‘I can never decide which is better so it’s easier to let peopledecide for themselves.’ She smiled at her daughter. ‘I like your Jago’s appetite!’
Helena laughed. ‘I knew you would! I didn’t say anything to him but if I had wanted him to make an extra good impression I’d have told him to accept second helpings of everything.’
‘Why didn’t you tell him?’
Helena shrugged. ‘Didn’t think I’d need to!’ She paused, possibly searching for the right thing to say. ‘Mum, you know I like to clear up a bit before I go? But today I need to get off fairly speedily. Will you be OK? Will Leo help?’
‘I’m glad you like him,’ said Gilly, although she knew that Helena hadn’t said that.
She wasn’t entirely surprised that Helena was ambivalent about Leo, which was why she hadn’t really wanted to introduce him so soon. Leo was the first man she’d gone out with since her divorce. It was bound to be a shock for Helena. Cressida and Martin seemed quite relaxed about it, but it was different for them, she supposed. Martin had left home, more or less, before the divorce. He’d had a couple of years working abroad before he came home and went to university. He hadn’t seen her pain in quite the same way that Helena had. She sighed. Maybe it was asking too much for Helena to like any new man she might meet as much as she did. But perhaps Leo would grow on her.
