‘She comes to my yoga class.’
‘Great.’ Aidan rolled his eyes. ‘How much do you know about her?’
Cara shrugged. ‘She’s very flexible. Does a mean downward dog – and possibly the best chakrasana I’ve ever seen.’
Aidan frowned. ‘And that’s it? So you don’t know her at all, really.’
‘I’ve chatted to her a few times after class and she seems nice. And like I said, she’s very flexible. So that’s a plus.’ She grinned and popped a piece of fried tomato in her mouth. ‘Anyway, at least I’ve come up with some people for you. More than the rest of them have done.’
‘Yes, at least Cara’s making an effort,’ Sheena said.
‘Mum’s trying to fix Aidan up with someone,’ Abbie explained to Lou with a mischievous smile. ‘She’s got us all on the case.’
Not exactly a three-pipe problem, Lou imagined. She was surprised he was still single. Then again, the long hours he worked at the restaurant wouldn’t leave a lot of time for meeting people other than staff. And she knew from experience that being a single parent didn’t make dating easy – or even a priority.
‘Mum’s decided it’s time for me to find a bride,’ Aidan said jokingly to her.
‘Can I be the bridesmaid if you get married?’ Bo asked him with an appealing grin.
‘’Course you can.’
‘But I don’t want you to marry a witch. Not even a good witch.’
‘Don’t worry. I’m with you on that one.’
‘Where were you thinking of having the vegetable patch?’ Liam asked Lou that afternoon, leaning on the handle of his spade.
Lou looked around the garden. She couldn’t believe the amount of work they’d got done in a few hours. The weeds had been dug out, overgrown bushes cut back and the grass mowed. Sheena, Liam and Finn had arrived with car boots loaded with power tools and gardening equipment and set to like a crowd of worker ants. Lou was grateful that they’d brought enough tools so she was able to join in instead of watching from the sidelines while they transformed her garden. Even Bo and Jack were helping, digging up weeds and filling compost bags with leaves and stalks, enjoying playing in the dirt.
‘I was thinking over there, along the side wall,’ she said, pointing. ‘But I think you’ve done enough for one day.’
‘Not at all. It’ll take us no time if we all muck in. And we’re here now, we might as well get it done.’
‘Well, how about a break for lunch first at least?’
‘I won’t say no to that,’ Liam said with a smile.
‘What about a flowerbed?’ Sheena asked. ‘It’d be nice to have some flowers, wouldn’t it?’
‘Yeah, it would.’ Lou looked around.
‘I think that would be a good spot for it, across the back of the house,’ Sheena said, nodding. ‘Then you’d see the flowers from the kitchen window, or if you’re sitting on the patio.’
‘That patio could do with a good clean and a bit of tidying up,’ Liam said as they downed tools and went inside. ‘But I think that’ll have to be a job for another day.’
‘Yes, it could be really lovely with some containers and pots, and maybe a nice little bistro table,’ Sheena said.
Lou had made a big pot of vegetable soup and a pile of sandwiches. There weren’t enough seats for everyone, so they stood around her kitchen, chatting as they ate.
‘This soup is amazing, Lou,’ Finn said, helping himself to another ladleful.
‘Powerful stuff!’ Liam agreed.
Sheena offered to do the washing up while they all went back to work, and Lou gratefully accepted.
By the time Aidan arrived later in the afternoon, Liam had dug out the entire space for the vegetable patch and Finn and Lou were almost finished digging the flowerbed.
‘Typical! You arrive just as we’re almost finished,’ Finn said to him.
