Page 115 of Escape to the Country

‘Is it safe?’ he asked.

‘Only if you trust me,’ she told him.

‘Good thing I do,’ he replied, walking over to peer into the pan. ‘It looks like pancake batter.’

‘Well, here’s hoping it’s fifth time lucky,’ she told him and took the mixture back into her workshop to pour it into the mould.

‘Now what?’ he asked, leaning on the door frame.

‘We wait until tomorrow. And pray.’ She glanced around the messy workshop. ‘And wash up,’ she said, grimacing. What a mess.

‘Do you want a hand?’ he asked.

She shook her head. ‘It should be fine. Hopefully it won’t take too long.’ So after he had left, she tidied up everything and waited to see what would happen.

In fact, she was so long waiting that Annie wandered up later on as the sun began to sink lower in the sky.

‘We’ve already had dinner. Even Tom’s back at the house,’ she said. ‘Are you okay?’

Eleanor was sitting outside in the courtyard on the bench. ‘I was waiting for my soap to set.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘How sad does that sound?’

‘I think it sounds exciting,’ said Annie, giving her a nudge with her elbow. ‘Come on. Give us a look.’

But before they could head into the workshop, Annie’s phone rang. She picked up. ‘Hi Neal,’ she said, frowning. ‘Is everything okay?’

Eleanor’s heart lurched as her mind ran through the possible scenarios for Megan’s husband calling Annie.

‘With us?’ Annie looked around wildly. ‘Yes, I think she’s up by the bar. The signal’s terrible in there. I was just outside calling Sam. Do you want me to give her a message?’

Eleanor watched Annie’s face grow pink as she began to look flustered.

‘Okay!’ she said into the phone, faking a cheerful grin. ‘I’ll let her know.’ But once she had hung up, her face immediately dropped. ‘Neal thinks we’re out with Megan at The Club,’ she said.

Eleanor was astonished. ‘That fancy new bar in Aldwych? But if she’s not out with us and she’s not with Neal, who’s she with?’

Annie bit her lip and looked concerned.

Eleanor thought quickly. ‘Did you talk to her today?’

Annie shook her head. ‘No. What about you?’

‘Yeah, but it was just a normal conversation. I thought she sounded okay. She said she can give me some unused cupcake trays to use for the soaps. Said she never bothered to make cakes anyway.’

‘Maybe she was a bit low?’ said Annie.

‘Actually I thought she sounded excited, you know?’ said Eleanor, recalling how her friend had been on the phone.

‘Well, whatever she’s up to, I think we should find out,’ said Annie.

‘Let’s go,’ agreed Eleanor.

They quickly walked away and back up to the house, the soap long forgotten.