As they were walking along the street, Michaela stopped and tugged at Anna’s arm. ‘This is where I bought the glasses and jug.’ She dragged Anna into the shop, leaving the men to continue along the road.
Inside were tasteful displays of stylish stationery, fragrant artisan soaps, pretty tablecloths, napkins, glasses – and the most adorable candle holder, which Anna immediately decided to buy. Just as they were about to leave Michaela pointed to a pretty red dress.
‘That would look lovely on you.’
Anna wrinkled her nose. ‘I’m not sure about red.’
‘Oh, but it would be perfect with your colouring,’ insisted Michaela, taking it down from the display, holding it up against Anna and guiding her to a nearby mirror.
Fifteen minutes later, Anna found herself emerging from the shop with the dress and a bag full of items that would make the apartment much more homely.
‘I’m not sure shopping with you is such a good idea,’ teased Anna.
‘Oh, it is. I know all the best places. And the dress you’ve bought is lovely.’
‘Thank you. It’s funny because I’m not really a dress person,’ said Anna. ‘But I love this one you’ve lent me and the one I’ve bought.’
‘Why not?’ demanded Michaela. ‘They suit you. You have an elegant shape.’
Anna laughed and fanned the fabric of Michaela’s dress around her legs, relishing the feel of the material wafting around her. No one had ever described her like that before. ‘Thank you.’
Michaela pressed her again. ‘Why don’t you wear dresses?’
Anna thought about it. ‘I don’t know. It was never a thing at home. My aunt always wears skirts and blouses and I don’t want to look like her, and my cousin Rebecca is either in jeans or sportswear. I guess I never think of buying one.’ Her mother had worn dresses, soft cotton summer dresses in the garden and smart shift dresses for special occasions.
They joined the men outside the Hotel Galant. Anna was not surprised to find that it had its own brewery on site and brewed four varieties of beer. Of course it did.
She and Leo pondered the choices for a little while at the bar, before Leo opted for the Galant 11, a dark lager, while Anna chose the much lighter, gold coloured Galant 10. They took their drinks to the garden, which had a view of Holy Hill.
They sat and chatted in the sunshine, talking mainly about Michaela and Jan’s plans for thechata, including Jan’s vision of a vegetable patch at the side of the house and Michaela’s ideas for the kitchen, including how they might revamp the old-fashioned dresser.
‘If you take off all the mouldings, sand it and paint it a dark blue, you could add light wood handles which would really stand out against the blue – and put a matching wooden top on it. Or you could put on trendy copper or brass handles. You can get these really cool satin copper ones, which would look lovely against the blue.’ Anna did a quick search on her phone and brought up the picture of the handles she’d been hankering after ever since she’d seen them.
‘I like that idea,’ said Michaela. ‘And we could paint the cabinets in the kitchen the same colour and it would all blend.’
‘Where will you get the cabinets?’
‘Jan is going to build them.’
Anna felt a tinge of envy that they had a project.
‘I could get used to this,’ said Leo, wiping the foam from his upper lip. ‘This place is idyllic.’
‘You should see it during the wine festival. It gets very busy with tourists from all over Europe. You must come and stay in September.’
Anna and Leo exchanged glances and it was Anna who spoke first. ‘We won’t be here.’
‘Ah, yes. The beer competition.’ Jan cocked an eyebrow. ‘How is it coming along?’
Anna nodded. ‘I think I’m nearly there but I need a name for my beer, which is the difficult part. The brewery is so old, it’s hard to find something traditional. And then we have to present our beer and our marketing and sales plan to a panel at the British Embassy in the next three weeks. And they’ll choose which one will be presented at the Christmas Beer Festival.’
‘Whereas the name is the easy part for me, but I don’t have the beer yet,’ mourned Leo. ‘And as for a presentation…’ He shuddered.
‘I thought you’d enjoy being the showman.’
‘That bit’s fine. It’s the computer bit, putting together slides and things. I don’t have the patience. But I don’t need to worry until I have a beer I’m happy with.’
‘Why haven’t you made the beer yet?’ asked Jan.
