‘Now pop it in your mouth and tell me what you taste.’
Olivier bit into the chocolate and let it melt on his tongue for a moment. There was a strong taste of cherry liqueur that was infused into the chocolate, coupled with flakes of almond. Olivier chewed the last piece and swallowed.
‘It tastes like tea. And coconut.’ Celeste’s voice was dry.
Olivier’s eyes popped open. ‘Pardon? Did we try the same chocolate?’
‘Yes.’ Celeste rolled her eyes. ‘What does it really taste of?’
‘Cherries and almond.’
‘Isn’t it the strangest thing?’ Sylvia shook her head, and crossed her arms, regarding her niece with an expression almost close to reverence.
Olivier blinked. He’d come across people who could only really taste strong flavours but never this. ‘Your taste buds are…’
‘Wired up wrongly with my brain,’ Celeste explained. ‘I had a bad accident. Do you remember?’
‘Oh, oui. When you fell off the horse?’
‘That’s the one. It took a long time to get better from the concussion. And now, everything tastes of the wrong thing.’
‘I’m so sorry.’
‘No. It’s fine. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a small price to pay. And at least it gives your mum some amusement.’
Sylvia went around the table and gave Celeste a hug. ‘I wasn’t mocking you, Celeste. I’m sorry. I just knew Oli would be interested. He loves the science behind food.’
He nodded. ‘It is fascinating. Does it happen as strongly when you canseethe food? There’s evidence that many people are strongly suggestible, so if something looks like it would taste of lemon, they think it does, just because it’s yellow. Does that happen to you?’
Celeste laughed. ‘I’ll tell you all about it when you come to dinner. You can question me to your heart’s content. Unfortunately, I have to dash now. Got to pick up Richie.’
‘Of course, go and give him a big kiss from me.’ Sylvia hugged her again and Celeste grabbed her coat, calling out that she’d see them soon.
‘Now. Tell me what you think.’ Sylvia leaned forward on the counter opposite him and nodded to the tray of chocolates. ‘Well?’ He hesitated and she tilted her head. ‘It’s okay, Oli darling. I’m genuinely asking your opinion. This isn’t a trick.’
‘I think the cherry is just a touch too strong.’
‘And? I can tell there is an “and” coming.’
‘Perhaps almond essence in the chocolate and then chopped cherry…or maybe prune as the inclusion.’
Sylvia’s eyes widened. ‘Oh yes, plum goes so well with almond.’
‘Cherry does too.’
‘I know.’ She patted his arm. ‘But prune is something a little unexpected. Of course I’ll have to see how it maintains its flavour when diced so fine. It might be too subtle. Thank you.’
‘Thank you for asking,’ he said. It was a novelty. As was being asked to volunteer an opinion.
‘You don’t get asked at the restaurant?’ she said lightly.
‘Sometimes.’ He gave a one-shouldered shrug. Sometimes being perhaps once every couple of years.
‘Auguste should make more use of you. You’ve always had such a great imagination for flavours you could put together. I’m glad to see you haven’t lost your flair.’ She raised her eyebrow. ‘Now, I just need to cash up and then we can walk home. I won’t be long.’
‘Of course. I’ll take a look around while I wait.’ He escaped into the shop, pleased that the work conversation hadn’t developed too far. He didn’t want to complain about his papa to Sylvia. For his own selfish reasons he supposed. He wanted his parents to remain amicable, and he hadn’t spent enough time away from Auguste to know whether he was being truly objective about how overbearing he was. Whenever you spent a lot of time with someone you were bound to end up being irritated by them. He needed to figure out whether that was what was happening with himself and his papa, or whether there truly was a deeper problem.
He browsed the new confectionaries his maman was now stocking in the shop. He’d loved helping her out the back when he came to stay; seeing all the things she’d experimented with in the kitchen at home, brought in and packaged up once perfected. And of course, he was drawn to the window. With it being Christmas there were plenty of boxed reindeers and snowmen, as well as little chocolate lollipops and foil-wrapped Santas, but the window display was always something magical.
