‘It’s going well,’ Carly whispered. ‘Look over there.’
A couple of women who appeared to be in their sixties had taken out their phones and it looked like they were exchanging numbers.
‘Exactly what I’d hoped for,’ I said.
Before long, The Chocolate Pot was filled with the most delectable smell of scones baking. Jed and Carly were chatting to some of the attendees and I smiled as I gazed around the room at the bonds being formed.
The door opened and I turned round to see who the latecomer was.
‘I’m too late, aren’t I?’
I certainly hadn’t expected it to be Zoe. It had to be about four weeks since the incident with Griff and, although she had dropped her leggings off for repair a week later, I hadn’t seen her then and she hadn’t returned to collect them.
‘You’re here for The Friendship Pod?’
‘You’re making scones, aren’t you? They were my granny’s speciality so I wanted to come but I hadn’t registered the date until I walked past just now and saw the lights on, but I can go if you’re finished.’
‘There’s plenty of ingredients left so I can get you started on a batch. How about you dump your bag and coat behind the counter here and go through to the kitchen to wash your hands?’
I needed to check on the scones in the oven so I followed Zoe into the kitchen. She was wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt and shepushed up the sleeves before turning the tap on. My eyes widened. There were cuts all over the inside of her arms, and most of them looked recent. She must have felt me watching her as she rolled her sleeves back down and turned back the cuffs instead to wash her hands.
Could Griff have inflicted those wounds? I didn’t want to make an issue of it now as there was a high likelihood Zoe would bolt. Best to act as though I hadn’t noticed and question her later instead.
‘Do you want to make cheese, fruit or plain scones?’ I asked.
‘Fruit, please.’
‘Okay, I’ll wipe down a table and we can get you started.’
‘Actually, can I make them in here? I know it’s about making friends but I’m really late and everyone’s already talking and?—’
‘It’s fine, Zoe. You can work in here. I’ll gather what you need.’
If I managed to time things right, Zoe’s scones would still be baking by the time everyone else left and I’d be able to take that opportunity to ask about those cuts. Whether she opened up was another matter entirely, but I had to try. I was so pleased to see her here again. When she hadn’t returned for her leggings, I’d feared Griff had driven her out of town and had kicked myself for not doing more to help her. Now was my chance to try again because, even though there’d been all sorts of chaos in my world recently with the fallout from Ingrid leaving, Zoe had never been far from my thoughts and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I could make a difference to her if only I could convince her to let me.
31
TARA
By nine o’clock, it was time for everyone to head home. Jed had gathered names and email addresses so that we could let the attendees know about future sessions. The original plan for next week had been an art session but I didn’t want Jed to feel tied in for two weeks in a row given his current family situation. Carly had offered to run a cake decorating session instead but I wasn’t sure about two food-related sessions in a row either and wanted to give it a little more thought overnight.
Zoe’s scones were still in the oven so she offered to help me, Carly and Jed clear up. Once we were done, Carly headed back to her flat and I suggested Jed left too so he could catch Aaron before he went to bed. I locked up behind him and put some of the lights off then went into the kitchen with Zoe to check on her scones. They were ready so I told her to remove them from the oven and place them on a wire cooling rack.
‘Do you like animals?’ I asked Zoe while she removedthe scones from the baking tray.
‘Yeah, why?’
‘Because if you like animals, I thought you might like to meet Hercules. He’s my giant house rabbit.’
Her eyes widened. ‘I’ve never seen one of those before – not in real life.’
‘He’s very cuddly and he loves meeting new people. We’ll go up to my flat while your scones are cooling and you can say hello to him while I dig out your leggings.’
‘You fixed them?’
‘I did.’
As she followed me upstairs, I rehearsed several conversation openers in my mind.I couldn’t help noticing those cuts on your arms…Too direct.How’s things going with Griff?It sounded like I was enquiring about a new boyfriend.Have you had any more trouble from Griff since I last saw you?
