‘Well, you’re here now,’ said Amelie. ‘And it’s lovely to see you. Your room is all ready for you. Why don’t you go up and get settled? I’ll make sure we save you some coffee and cake.’
‘Oh that’s fine,’ said Sarah waving an airy hand. ‘Dave, you take the cases up and I’ll wait for you down here. I’ve been so looking forward to some of your delicious cake, dear Amelie. You have got such a wonderful light touch. Dave’s the baker in our house.’ Her mouth pursed. ‘Of course he’s nowhere near as good as you.’
Dave shrugged and his Eeyore face looked resigned.
‘I’m sure that’s not true,’ said Amelie, tucking her arm into his and giving him a sparkling smile. ‘I think it’s lovely that he bakes at all. So many people don’t bother these days. What’s your favourite cake to make, Dave?’
The clouds on his face parted and the wrinkles fanning from his mouth cleared. ‘I like making lemon drizzle cake. Lovely, moist sponge with nice, tart, sugary topping. Learned that one from my gran. Great woman.’
‘I always think it’s wonderful when recipes are handed down through the family.’
Sarah snorted. ‘Dave’s family are not that posh. His gran probably scribbled the recipe on the back of a pack of Benson & Hedges.’
‘I remember cooking with my grandmother in this very house,’ said Amelie as if she hadn’t heard the dismissive comment. ‘Cooking the same recipes brings back lovely memories. Leave the bags for now. Come have coffee, and I’ve made a lovely gingerbread cake which is just what you need after your journey. How was the train?’
Before Sarah, her mouth downturned in a crescent of obvious displeasure, could voice her disagreement and reiterate her earlier demand that her husband take up the cases, Amelie had steered him through the archway into the lounge area and was guiding him to a spot next to Claudia.
Mina was about to catch Luke’s eye, wondering what he’d been about to say, but Sarah beat her to it. ‘So Luke, what have you been up to today?’ Neatly elbowing Mina out of the way, the other woman fell into step beside him, and without allowing him to respond, began talking at him as they followed Amelie and Dave into the lounge.
With a grin, Mina shook her head to herself. It would be interesting to see what course Amelie intended in her attempt to fix the overbearing Sarah and her poor downtrodden husband.
Chapter Thirteen
The next few days passed quickly as Mina spent the mornings in the kitchen perfecting herkirscher torterecipe and the afternoons exploring the cross-country ski trails with Claudia and Amelie.
Her godmother continued to marvel over her uncharacteristic patience, as she tested several different variants of the recipe, making copious notes, but Mina was in her element. She loved this part of the process and it further reinforced how stifled she’d been at work and how little job satisfaction she’d derived in the last year.
On Friday, Amelie shooed her out of the kitchen and she spent a glorious day snowboarding with Luke, after admitting to herself that she had been avoiding him, something she regretted the minute she got out onto the slopes. Her misspent childhood in the skatepark came into its own and she found that snowboarding came more easily than she’d expected, although as always Luke proved to be an endlessly patient teacher.
They returned to the chalet having been wedged in on a packed train as the weekend skiers flocked in to the resorts.
‘Thanks for taking me out,’ said Mina, as she shook off her coat in the boot room and sat down to take her boots off. She’d had a wonderful day. A bit too wonderful. Luke had been a perfect gentleman, not one kiss or attempted kiss, and if he’d held her hand a couple of times, either helping her up or leading her up from the station, he just happened to be a very tactile person. He was also incredibly easy to be with. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed like she had today or enjoyed someone’s company as much as his. Being with him was like drinking champagne all the time. She felt fizzy and sparkly, energised and excited. But, she told herself sternly, that wasn’t real life. You couldn’t drink champagne every day.
‘My pleasure,’ he said, giving her one of his broad smiles, his eyes twinkling, and she knew he meant it in the fullest sense of the word. She loved that he always seemed to be so happy and positive, embracing life with lively energy and enthusiasm. In some ways it was quite intoxicating and in others inspiring. It was also very attractive, and her heart chose to respond with one of its wayward flutters, but she managed to hold his gaze. It wasn’t fair. He was so damn gorgeous.
‘Not only did I have a great day but it helped clear my head. I’m starting a new train commission this week. A new suitcase is being couriered to me and I find getting out in the fresh air and exercise helps spark the old creativity.’ He grinned and tugged down the zip of his coat. ‘And I’ve come up with an idea. The client for the next commission wants a by-moonlight theme and I was racking my brains trying to think what that might look like.’ He tugged off the coat and tossed it on the bench next them before sitting down next to her.
‘Ooh, that sounds tough.’ Mina was relieved the conversation had taken a less personal tack.
‘The train track is going to run along the seafront and I’ll have the moon reflected on the surface of the sea.’ He circled the air with one finger as if tracing the route of his imagined train. ‘And I’ll have little pools of light under the lampposts and a blue wash over everything.’
‘Clever.’ At times like this, she realised there was more to him than met the eye. How did a man who was as vibrant and full of life as he was, have the painstaking patience to put together those intricate, beautiful models? She’d seen Uncle D at work and knew that the lifelike, miniature replica scenery took hours to create.
Having kicked off his boots, he rose and gave her a quick modest bow and took her coat and hung it up next to his.
‘And I’ve had a result today,’ she said, remembering her revelation at the top of one of the slopes. ‘I’m going to make mykirscher tortea slightly different shape to the original that it’s inspired by. I’m going to shape the meringue on top into little peaks, so that they look like the mountains at sunset. You know, when they turn slightly pink.’
‘You had me at meringue. I’ve got a very sweet tooth.’ He patted his extremely trim stomach and Mina’s mind went where it shouldn’t, imagining a smooth stomach and dark hair arrowing downward. Despite all her pep talks she couldn’t deny the strong sexual attraction she felt for him. Who wouldn’t? He was pretty perfect.
‘Looks like we’ve both had a productive day. Although, I’ve had another brilliant idea as well.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Mina, finally toeing off her boots. ‘And what were you going to say the other evening?’
He looked down at her, a faint smile on his face as if considering telling her, and then shook his head. ‘Same thing actually, but today I’ve decided to keep it a secret, but I think you’ll like it.’
‘I love surprises,’ said Mina, realising that she was usually the one that did the surprising, although it hadn’t worked out too well the last time she organised one, she thought, as she remembered Simon’s shocked face and that quick side-long look at Belinda. The surprise had definitely been on her. Shaking the memory from her head, she stood up. ‘I’m going to go and see if Amelie needs any help with dinner before she serves cake.’ She didn’t voice her concern, but her godmother was looking more and more tired.
‘OK,’ said Luke, seeming a little preoccupied. ‘I’ll see you in the lounge in a while.’
