In the end she chose the home-made terrine of pork, chicken, and pistachio with grape must and a mustard and mesclun salad. Of course, she had to ask what mesclun was – it turned out it was a blend of salad leaves. For her main course she chose the pollack with Noilly Prat sauce on a bed of garden herbs, which sounded delicious.
‘And the most important thing is the wine,’ said Luc. ‘What would you like?’
‘You are officially in charge of my wine education,’ said Hattie. ‘You choose.’
He spent some time perusing the wine list and Hattie studied him. The more time she spent with him, actually getting to know the man, the more she liked him. At first she hadn’t really taken him seriously; she’d thought he was a light-hearted flirt who was interested in some fun, but now she was starting to realise that there was a lot more to Luc. He was very loyal to his friends, passionate about his goals and had a strong sense of who he was and what he wanted. He didn’t need to rely or lean on anyone else and he didn’t expect anyone to rely or lean on him. It was an extremely attractive trait.
‘You look lost in thought,’ he said, his words penetrating her quiet contemplation.
‘I’ve got a lot to think about,’ she said.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ he asked.
She scrunched up her face. Did she?
‘No,’ she said with finality and flashed him a bright smile. She was with a gorgeous man having what was set to be a delicious meal. Life was good; now was not the time to think about the future. She had the summer to enjoy herself and she was damn well going to.
The terrine when it arrived was a perfect striped square of layers of chicken and pork drizzled with grape must, which reminded her of a rich syrupy balsamic vinegar, and topped with a light crunch of pistachio. The bite of the mustard, rocket, frisée and endive leaves was the perfect accompaniment to the coarse texture of the meat. Hattie sighed when she finished the last mouthful.
‘That was delicious and just the right amount.’
‘Told you,’ said Luc, with a quick superior smirk.
‘Although I might need a rest before the next course.’ She turned her wrist to check the time.
Luc put his hand over her watch. ‘Where’s the fire, hotpants?’
She laughed.
‘You should slow down, enjoy life, savour things, enjoy lunch … the French way. You take things too seriously. You need to slow down and have some fun.’ He poured her another glass of wine. ‘What do you think of the wine?’
‘It’s very…’ She paused and then took another sip, determined to not just say it was nice. She swilled the golden liquid around her mouth, taking the time to assess the feel of it in her mouth and thinking about what the wine reminded her of. ‘Summer sunshine, honey and hay,’ she announced.
Luc beamed at her. ‘Very good. It’s a Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley.’
She felt a quick kick of delight as if she’d got the right answer in a difficult exam.
They sat and drank wine in the sunshine, watching passers-by including a group of very tipsy pensioners, who were clearly having a very lovely time. Luc caught Hattie’s eye and they exchanged wry smiles as they watched two elderly ladies trying to prop up a third between them.
Now that she wasn’t worrying about the time, Hattie allowed herself to relax, enjoy her wine and the golden sunshine. Maybe she did need to have some fun.
It was almost a shame when the next course arrived, since it meant she had to do something, but the first taste of the perfectly cooked, fragrant fillet of fish made it more than worthwhile. The large white flakes had absorbed some of the flavours of the lemon thyme, fennel leaves, parsley and tarragon.
‘Sorry,’ she said apologising for her earthy groan of pleasure. ‘That is … something else.’ She reached for her glass of wine.
‘Don’t apologise.’ He paused before adding wickedly, ‘There’s a certain pleasure, watching a woman enjoying herself.’
Hattie choked, spluttering slightly as the wine almost went down the wrong way, her eyes widening, but she wasn’t about to let Luc get away with his outrageously risqué comment.
‘I wouldn’t know,’ she said, which was the best she could come up with, after the sudden hitch in her pulse.
‘Of course, there’s even more pleasure in making sure a woman enjoys herself.’
‘Is there?’ Hattie couldn’t believe the question had popped out but she felt brave and bold.
Luc’s eyes darkened and he gave her face a slow thoughtful perusal.
‘Oh, yes,’ he said, and his voice turned husky, intensifying the flare of attraction she felt for him.
