‘Yup,’ said Izzy. ‘The whole family are cookery royalty. Adrienne used to have her own show, her daughter and son-in-law write cookery books, and the other daughter is married to some top chef in the US.’
Hannah felt woefully ignorant, which wasn’t like her at all. At work she was renowned for being well prepared and thorough in her research but that was different; that was serious stuff. For a starter, she’d seriously underestimated the prestige of Killorgally. Part of her had been sold by the fact it was close to Aidan and Sorcha and she thought it would be fun to see them. Clearly bloody Conor Byrne had assumed she knew who he was. Did he think that was why she’d kissed him? Flip. Of course he flaming well did.
Adrienne breezed up with a glass of wine, thrusting it into her hand before turning to address some comment to Jason.
‘You all right, Hannah?’ asked Izzy kindly. ‘You look a bit…’
‘I’m fine.’ Apart from dying of embarrassment inside. ‘I think travelling always takes it out of you. Where did you come from today?’
‘Oh I had quite the journey. A drive to Edinburgh to catch a flight to Luton and then a flight to Kerry. And then I picked up a hire car. I’m cream crackered. I’ll be taking to my bed not long after dinner if we’ve got to be up early tomorrow.’
‘No chores tomorrow,’ Adrienne piped up, turning again from her conversation with Jason. ‘We’ll sort out who’s doing what later and we’ll take it easy on your first day. It’s going to get intense though.’ She beamed at them. ‘I can’t wait to knock you all into shape.’
Hannah and Izzy exchanged a quick glance and when Adrienne moved on to talk to Alan, Izzy whispered. ‘God, sounds like cookery boot camp. I might have bitten off more than I can chew but I need to learn to cook really well, really fast and this seemed the best option.’
‘I’m sure it will be fine,’ said Hannah, wondering at Izzy’s need for urgency.
‘It’s going to be fun,’ said Meredith. ‘Feeding people and making them happy. What could be better? It will be a joy. Trust me.’
‘You sound like my sister. She loves feeding people. Now, she can cook. She runs a cafe in Switzerland and does the cooking for a small ski chalet.’
‘That sounds wonderful. Have you been?’
‘Only for a long weekend but it was fabulous. The scenery was incredible and Swiss cakes… who knew? Some of them are amazing.’
‘Ooh. I’m looking for cake recipes for my cafe. I want to create some real signature pieces that people can’t get elsewhere.’
‘I’ll have to put you in touch with Mina, although chocolate is her real passion.’
‘Sounds heavenly. Chocolate cake.’
‘And don’t forget the cheese,’ added Meredith.
‘That’s one of the things I’m really interested in,’ said Izzy with sudden enthusiasm. ‘You know you can have a go at making cheese here. We’ve got goats in Scotland; I’m wondering if making goat’s cheese would be a goer.’
Hannah was starting to think that maybe she’d also bitten off more than she could chew. When she’d signed up she’d liked the idea of being away from home and seeing her friends as much as learning to cook, but it hadn’t occurred to her that perhaps she needed a basic level of expertise to start with.
‘Dinner is served,’ called Bridget. ‘Come sit.’
Hannah was pleased to find herself between Meredith and Izzy who were both easy company but then she realised that there were a few extra place settings at the table, one bang opposite her.
Oh no, please don’t let Conor Byrne be coming for dinner.
To her relief, Fergus entered the room at that moment and slid his lanky form into the seat opposite and he was followed by the woman and man Hannah had seen harvesting the vegetables.
‘I’m famished. I could eat a small cow.’
‘Everyone, this is my youngest son, Fergus. He’s permanently hungry,’ Adrienne said with a fond smile at him. ‘And my father-in-law, Franklin Byrne, and my daughter, Mairead, who is married to Eamon Buchanan.’ They both nodded with warm smiles. Hannah had heard of Eamon Buchanan, the cookery school’s bread expert.
‘Welcome to Killorgally,’ said Franklin, his eyes twinkling from beneath bushy white eyebrows.
‘And here’s Conor,’ Adrienne added as he strode in, ‘who needs no introduction.’ Even Jason, it seemed, had heard of him and gave him a quick salute. Thankfully, Conor slipped into the seat next to Fliss, whose face brightened immediately; blossoming like a flower finding the sunshine.
Izzy nudged Hannah in the ribs. ‘Someone’s happy. Although I’m not surprised. Like Meredith said, he’s a hottie. Even better in the flesh.’
‘Fliss is welcome to him,’ muttered Hannah.
‘Doesn’t float your boat?’
