Liv glanced at her to see she had lots of strands of fairy lights around her neck.
‘You okay?’ she asked.
‘I’m sorting out the decorations,’ she said holding up a large knot of lights.
‘Fraser’s kitchen staff aren’t due in today so he needs help in the kitchen,’ said Dolly.
‘Sure. What can I do?’ asked Liv, but Fraser was already shaking his head. She was starting to lose her patience with him. ‘What now?’
‘I don’t have time to train you,’ he said.
Liv hated being underestimated. She put her hands on her hips. ‘I might be a Michelin-starred chef for all you know. You’ve not bothered to ask.’
‘Are you?’ asked Dolly, her eyebrows and expectations raised.
‘No, but the point is he didn’t ask.’
Fraser threw up his hands. ‘Okay so what do you do for a living?’
‘I’m an SEO expert.’
‘That sounds made up to me,’ said Fraser. ‘Or is it like when they call a window cleaner a transparency enhancement engineer?’
‘I am a very good search engine optimisation expert, but I guess it could also be called online marketing.’ Fraser clicked his fingers in a ‘there you go’ fashion, which annoyed Liv. ‘But I do have other skills and to put those into fancy terms I am also an underwater ceramics technician with additional domestic water-erasing abilities.’ She left a pause where they looked at her blankly. ‘I can wash and dry dishes.’
‘That’s useful,’ said Dolly. ‘Isn’t it, Fraser?’
He did not look impressed. ‘Barely,’ he said. ‘We have two commercial dishwashers.’
‘I can also peel and chop things.’Including you into little pieces if you don’t stop being an arse,she added in her head.
Fraser did not look convinced. ‘It doesn’t look like I have a lot of choice.’
‘I have rarely felt so valued and welcome,’ said Liv. ‘Shall we?’ She stood back and elaborately waved for Fraser to lead the way to the kitchen. He stomped off in that direction.
Liv found him in the kitchen banging about. She put on an apron and joined Fraser where he was scanning a handwritten menu. ‘What are we cooking, boss?’
‘Cullen skink to start, venison with Hasselback potatoes or foraged wild mushroom and truffle ravioli, and for dessert cranachan with a pistachio crumb.’
‘Nothing fancy then?’ Liv grinned at him.
She received a stony face in response. ‘And it’syes, chef.’
Liv snorted a laugh. ‘Blimey, you’re serious. Nah, that’s not happening, Fraser. Remember I don’t actually work for you. I’m the one doingyoua favour here.’
‘You’re doingmea favour? That’s rich. You turned up here with amnesia. We looked after you, I carried you to your room, arranged for medical attention and now you are stranded by the snow, and I have given you a room and board for as long as you need. I also suspect you will be looking to me to find someone to sort out your blown tyre once the weather lifts?’
‘Fair enough. I’d say that makes us quits. Shall I start on the skink or the cranancanahan thing?’ He shook his head and hauled a sack of potatoes onto the counter. ‘Fine. I’m not too proud to peel spuds.’
‘Do not peel them,’ said Fraser. ‘Do you even know what Hasselback potatoes are?’
She briefly considered giving a smart-arse response along the lines of them being a distant and slightly less glamorous relative of David Hasselhoff, but given the ferocity of Fraser’s frown she thought better of it and shook her head. What followed was a cooking lesson worthy of any TV chef. He was less cranky when he was talking about cooking and surprisingly patient as he explained things. Liv forgot it was Fraser showing her what to do and got caught up in her job as commis chef.
*
Effie was quite pleased with the things she’d rediscovered and spent a happy couple of hours getting the dining room ready for dinner. As Fraser was planning to open a restaurant this was the one room that had been recently decorated, but she wasn’t a fan of the stark white finish. Fraser called it classic, clean and sophisticated. Effie thought it was bland, boring and sterile.
With a bit of effort Effie had pulled some tables together to make a table for three and another for four as that seemed a lot cosier than the restaurant set-up Fraser had explained to her. It wasn’t open yet so this seemed more friendly to Effie and it meant she could sit next to Liv. They’d not had a chance to get the new linen pressed so they were straight out of the packets with creases included. She laid the places and then went to choose a selection of plants from the lean-to greenhouse. She’d been nurturing them for some time. Some she’d planted from seed and others she’d picked up from neighbours and brought on. She picked the best of the pots and gave them a wash in the utility.
