‘So how was dinner with the lovely Luc?’ Fliss wasn’t about to let her off the hook. ‘Here, have some breakfast, fresh out of the oven.’ She pushed a plate of warm cinnamon buns towards her.
‘Dinner was very nice.’ Hattie took one of the flaky pastries and pulled off a coil, popping it into her mouth.
‘And dessert?’ Fliss teased.
‘Mmm,’ she mumbled around the pastry, commending herself for not blushing. She was quite proud of her attempt to sound nonchalant when there was a fizz of happiness bounding like bubbles through her bloodstream.
‘I saw Luc. He looked very chirpy,’ said Fliss. ‘He was just off to the vineyard. He had quite a spring in his step.’
‘Did he?’ Hattie tried to keep the smirk from her face but failed miserably and her face burst into a big grin.
‘He did. I take it you’re responsible for putting it there.’
‘Mmm,’ responded Hattie again, busy dissecting the rest of her bun. She didn’t know Fliss well enough to be divulging details, even if she’d been that sort of person. She hadn’t had the mental bandwidth for a girlfriend or confidante in recent years.
Fliss took pity on her. ‘Good for you. Life’s too short not to be happy. I wasted far too long before deciding what I really wanted. I could tell the two of you fancied the pants off each other, I just wasn’t sureyouwould do anything about it.’
‘Am I that sensible and boring?’ asked Hattie, a little stung.
‘God, no. Wary, I would have said. Or even cautious, and perhaps because … oh God, I’m talking my mouth off … sorry.’
‘Don’t apologise. It’s a bit of a relief to talk to someone.’ Hattie glanced over her shoulder as if someone might overhear them. ‘I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing but … how could I not? Look at him.’ After their conversation last night she wasn’t going to think about whether it was right or not, she was just going to enjoy it.
Fliss pulled a face. ‘I suppose, if you like that type.’
Hattie stared at her. Surely she had eyes.
‘Sorry. He’s a bit too clean-cut and tidy for me. I guess too much like my brothers. I mean I don’t like Alphonse, not at all, but he is all man.’ Fliss’s face took on a slightly wistful expression which made Hattie stare even harder at her. She thought Alphonse was more attractive than Luc –Alphonse?
‘And I don’t see why you think you’re not doing the right thing. You’re both single, aren’t you?’
‘Yes,’ said Hattie, ‘but I’ve just come out of a long-term relationship, the last thing I want to do is dive into another one. I just want … a bit of fun.’
‘Well, why not? No one’s going to judge you.’
‘It just feels a bit weird. I was with Chris, my boyfriend, for so long.’ Hattie couldn’t help worrying that it might be disloyal to move on so quickly. Chris would be so hurt.
‘Sometimes when you’ve been dumped, the best thing is to get back in the saddle.’
‘I sort of finished it,’ said Hattie, and with the words came the weight of guilt.
‘You did? So, what’s the problem? As they say, you’re a free agent. It’s not like you signed a non-compete clause that forbids you to have carnal relations with another man.’
Hattie shook her head.
‘And you like Luc, don’t you?’
‘Mmm.’ After a night like that she liked him a whole lot more this morning. It was ridiculous how much she liked him. You couldn’t fall in love with someone when you barely knew them, could you? This buoyant effervescence was just the lightness of being after spending so long in the dark – that was all.
‘Mm, as he’s all right, or mm, as in I’d like to cover every delectable inch of him in honey and lick it right off?’
Hattie burst out laughing at Fliss’s totally deadpan and unexpected words and said through her gentle snorts, ‘I thought you didn’t think that much of him.’
‘I didn’t say that, just not in comparison to a man like Alphonse.’ She paused before observing with a slight smile, ‘Now there’s a man deserving of a whole barrel of honey.’
‘Who deserves a barrel of honey?’ asked Solange coming into the kitchen. ‘Is this an English saying?’
Fliss’s eyes widened. ‘Mm,’ she muttered.
