“That was brilliant,” Beryl said with a big grin. “Proper brilliant.”
Kyle handed Ruthie to Mitch. “Hang on, let’s see if there are any comments yet.”
Joyce stared at him. “Comments?” Her sense of panic returned. For a brief moment, she’d forgotten about the comments.
Kyle turned the laptop a little and scrolled down below the video. He nodded. “Yep, they’re starting to come in already.”
He leaned in. “‘I’m living for Joyce and Beryl. Can they adopt me? When are you having them back? Tomorrow? Please!’” He paused. “Hang on, there’s more. ‘Great episode, Lucas. Loved the special guests. Food looked fantastic. I might attempt those roasties.’”
Mitch grinned at Joyce. “Don’t go getting a big head, now.”
“Wait,” Kyle said. “I’m not done. ‘If these two opened a restaurant, I’d eat there every day. When does their cookbook come out?’” He laughed. “They love you guys.”
Beryl fluttered her lashes. “We’re famous, Joycie.”
Joyce and Beryl’s phones started going off. Both devices were on the kitchen counter by the sink.
Beryl hopped up. “I’ll get them.” She returned with the phones, handing Joyce’s to her as Beryl read from her own screen. “Lucas said the response has been great. He’s already gotten emails asking when we’re going to be on again. He said he wants to talk to us about setting up the next filming time.”
“This is mad,” Joyce said. “How can all these people like us? We’re just people like them. We’re nothing special.”
Mitch shook his head. “That’s not true at all. You’re very special. Something that clearly came through the screen.” He kissed Ruthie’s head. “Tell ’em, Ruthie.”
She let out a little screech, probably more because of the sound of her name than anything else but it was sweet all the same.
Joyce tried to take it all in with the graciousness their mother had taught them, bless her. She glanced at Beryl, who seemed to be glowing. “What would we make?”
“Does it matter?” Beryl said. “We’ll just pick a dish. Bangers and mash. Toad in the hole.”
“Your cottage pie is pretty amazing, Joyce,” Kyle said.
Beryl nodded. “There you go. Cottage pie it is. Always a crowd pleaser. You can do that and I’ll do jam tarts for pudding.” She looked at her phone again. “I’ll text Lucas.”
“Hold on,” Joyce said. “Give it a minute, would you? I need to…think about this.”
Their phones went off again. This time the messages were from Harper, Frankie, and Willa. More sweet, supportive, wonderful words.
Joyce got a little teary-eyed. It was hard not to believe such things when they were coming from a variety of sources. “Were we really that good?”
“Joyce,” Mitch started. “You were very entertaining, the food looked great, and having eaten it, I know for a fact it tasted even better. This could be the start of something big.”
“I don’t need anything big,” she countered. “I have you and Kyle and Ruthie. And now Beryl. I have everything I need.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Beryl said. “Might be fun to be a little famous.”
“You’ve gone barmy,” Joyce said. She tipped her head at Mitch, still looking at her sister. “He’s famous and he hates it.”
Mitch laughed. “I don’t hate it. I hatesomeof it. But the truth is, I know my success is a blessing. I might act like I hate it sometimes, but I’m well aware of the benefits it’s given me. The life it’s allowed me to live. Don’t be so hasty, Joyce. You never know what might come of this.”
“You really think so?”
Mitch nodded. Kyle nodded. Beryl nodded. Ruthie had fallen asleep.
Joyce took a breath and looked at her sister. “All right. Tell Lucas we’ll do it one more time.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Frankie smiled as she read Beryl’s text back to them.Thank you so much for the lovely words. We’re going to do another episode! But not to worry, your chocolate chip banana bread will be along this afternoon.
