‘I told you,’ said Michaela, both smug and proud at the same time. ‘Wines from South Moravia are excellent. This is Vinselekt Michlovský. You can buy it in the supermarket and it’s a good one.’
‘I don’t know much about Czech wine or food, really,’ said Anna.
‘Except that you love a dumpling,’ teased Leo, reminding her of their day in Prague.
‘I do love a dumpling,’ she admitted. ‘We had them at Lokal for the first time, they were delicious. Dense and fluffy at the same time, if that makes sense.’
‘It does. You must come to dinner this weekend. We were going to go to thechatabut we decided to stay here. Now we have friends coming on Saturday and I am making potato dumplings. Come in the afternoon and I will teach you.’
Anna considered for a moment. ‘I’d love to but my boyfriend is coming over for that weekend.’
‘That’s a shame but there will be another time.’
‘But I’m going to need some help in the DIY store. Would you mind helping me? And where is the nearest store?’
‘No problem. It’s Jan’s second home but I will come take you because you’ll need a translator,’ said Michaela. ‘What are you doing after work next Wednesday?’
‘Meeting you at the DIY store?’
‘Yes.’ Michaela gave her an approving grin. ‘We have a date.’
‘Not without me,’ said Jan, shaking his head. ‘You can’t go to the store without me. And you have to go to U Rotta.’
Michaela patted him on the arm. ‘It’s his favourite.’
‘Well, I’m coming too, then,’ declared Leo. ‘You’re not leaving me out. I might miss something.’
Anna laughed. Having Leo along would make the visit more entertaining; he always brought the fun. Steve wouldn’t have been quite so keen on a visit to a DIY store, which immediately brought a stab of guilt because today was the first time in days she’d thought about his forthcoming visit. Did that make her a bad girlfriend or just busy and happy?
ChapterTen
Anna’s phone rang as she peeled off her white wellies, having spent the morning in the mash room. She glanced at the screen, not intending to answer, but was surprised to see Steve’s name flash up. They usually spoke in the evenings after work. Guiltily she wondered if she was even thinking about him at the moment. Coming to Prague had given her the space to realise that a lot of what they shared was routine and regularity. There was nothing wrong between them but then again, it wasn’t … right? Perfect? Fun? She was loath to define her disquiet and stared down at her phone.
‘Steve?’ she answered.
‘Hi, Anna. I needed to call you. I’ve got good news and bad news.’
‘Aha.’ It wasn’t the first time he’d prefaced a call this way.
‘I’ve been selected for the Village Sevens.’
‘Congratulations, that’s brilliant,’ she said automatically, mentally thumbing through her memory bank to work out which tournament he was referring too.
‘Yeah! I’m so chuffed.’ His voice vibrated with delight.
Silence ensued as she realised that he was expecting her to join the missing dots. It took her a minute to pick out one of the files in said memory bank. Village Sevens. It was a local pub’s all-day rugby tournament that involved as much drinking as rugby playing, and she wasn’t sure ‘selected’ was quite the word.
‘It’s this weekend,’ he said in a sudden rush as if he were pulling a tooth out and the word dump would make the news less painful.
‘This weekend?’
‘Yeah, I know I was supposed to be coming over to see you but … of course, if you really want me to come, I will.’
If Steve didn’t come, she could go to Michaela and Jan’s and eat dumplings, was her first thought. Immediately, she felt disloyal, but then it did sound as if he really wanted to play, and, after all, she wouldn’t be pining at home for him.
She found herself telling him it was fine and that there’d be plenty of other weekends.
She slid her phone into her pocket and went to find Jakub. They had a meeting to discuss the beer that she was going to make for her presentation and she wanted to pick his brains about the malting process. Unlike many brewers that bought in malted grains, here at Šilhov they malted their own barley. She wanted to propose using a low percentage of lighter caramel malt in her beer to give it a mild sweetness, a bready flavour and a light golden colour that she felt would have universal appeal. Here in the Czech Republic women often drank beer, but she wanted to create one that would appeal to women back in the UK.
