She had received a surprisingly strong hug from the boy when he had emerged from the station with his luggage, one she had gladly returned. But once they’d put his things in the car, he was all business.
‘We have to pretend because his friends are coming for the weekend and they think we’re a couple because we went to a dinner dance together. These people keep trying to find dates for him. If they think he’s already in a relationship, they’ll stop.’
‘And?’
‘And what?
‘Why aren’t you and Luke an item?’
‘We’re friends, Xander. That works fine.’
‘I’d be OK with it if you did get together.’
This took Hattie aback rather. ‘Glad to hear it, Xan, but don’t worry, it won’t be an issue.’
‘Mum was really awkward asking me about Tom. But honestly, she’s so much less stressy now she’s got him. And he doesn’t try and be my dad, so it’s cool.’ He turned to look at her. ‘Luke’s cool, you know.’
‘That’s very good hear to hear,’ said Hattie. ‘Now, I want to swing by Mary’s house. There’s a garden full of herbs and I need some. They’ll bring my salad to life this evening.’
‘Would that be scrumping, Hattie?’ said Xander.
‘I’m surprised you know that concept, and I suppose it would be. Although “scrumping for mint” doesn’t sound quite like “scrumping for apples”, does it?’
‘I think you’ll find it’s the principle of the thing,’ said her nephew.
It was a bit disconcerting to see an estate agent’s sign in the front garden of Mary’s house. It wasn’t a local agent, or Hattie could have called to find out what was going on with it without Clive knowing.
‘I’ll park a little way away from the house,’ she said, pulling off the road. ‘I’ll show you what to pick. I’ll get the rosemary and thyme as it’s harder to pick without scissors.’
‘Have you got scissors?’ asked Xander.
‘I have my trusty Swiss Army knife,’ said Hattie.
When Hattie and Xander had liberated enough herbs to keep her going for a few days they went back to the car.
‘So, you’d like me to drop you off at Luke’s and I’ll go shopping on my own? I do have a very long list.’
‘That would be good, if you don’t mind. I’m a bit tired.’
‘Fair enough but don’t untidy anything, will you? I’ve tidied and gussied up the house for these people. I don’t want to do it again.’
‘I’ll just lie on the sofa and watch YouTube.’
Only briefly did Hattie wonder what her sister would think about this plan.
Hattie had made her list carefully and it included a few labour-saving items on it. Ready-choppedsofrito, pre-made cheese sauce and fresh pasta slices were among them. For pudding she planned to make Mary’s classictrifle recipe which didn’t faff about with jelly and took about ten minutes to assemble. She was prepared to provide a very nice meal for Luke’s friends but she wasn’t prepared to spend a lifetime doing it.
She was soon home and cooking. She had added a nice heavy frying pan to her purchases that she intended to keep for herself; she deducted it from Luke’s grocery bill.
The lasagne was all ready to go into the oven and Hattie had started on the trifle when Xander came in, obviously hungry. He looked at the trifle ingredients. ‘I’m not sure I’ll like that,’ he said.
Hattie sighed. ‘OK. I suppose it’s nice to offer a choice of pudding. I’ll try to think of something else. Only it can’t be difficult and we have to remember Luke’s cupboards aren’t terribly well stocked.’
Hattie had bought flour in case she hadn’t been able to get ready-made cheese sauce and had lots of butter.
‘I really don’t want to have to go shopping again,’ she said to Xander, who was making inroads into the olives and salami intended to go with the pre-dinner drinks. ‘I’ll have a look in the freezer. Ah!’ At least a year ago – it could possibly have been two – Hattie had given Luke some stewed apples from Mary’s garden. And here they were. ‘Apple crumble will be delicious. And I bought extra cream.’
The house looked delightful, thought Hattie, trying very hard not to think about the little card stuffed between the papers on Luke’s desk. As it was a little chilly for the end of August, she’d get Luke to light the wood burner when he got here. The flowers all smelt lovely, and even the fake ones (very high-end from Rose’s shop) had a delightful, subtle fragrance. The throws and cushionswere bright and uplifting and Hattie was very happy with her temporary home. Xander had already taken refuge in Luke’s cabin, promising to come out when there was food.
