Page 30 of The Twilight Garden

‘It sounds revolting, but it usually turns out all right. Let’s wait and see, shall we? Plus, of course, there’s the most delicious-tasting bread to go with it. Cut into big thick chunks, slathered in butter…’

She waited until Rowan had passed her some of the vegetables to peel before asking the question she most wanted to know the answer to. ‘How many am I doing? For three of us or four?’

‘Four. Leo’s staying tonight. He’s had a bit of a tough day, I think. The last thing he needs is to go home to an empty house with just his thoughts and the four walls. I hope that’s okay.’

‘Course it is,’ replied Gemma, picking up a potato. Her cheeks were just as pink as they were. ‘Not that I even know where he lives. Is it far?’

‘About forty minutes away. But I get the feeling it’s a repository for his belongings and a place to lay his head rather than a home, if that makes sense.’

She nodded, realising she had no images in her head for the kind of place Leo would own. Something similar to the one she was sitting in, perhaps.

‘How did you get on today anyway?’ asked Rowan. ‘Find anything out?’

‘A lot of interesting stuff… but not the right interesting stuff, sadly. I’m not sure I’m ever going to.’

‘It’s no matter if you don’t. It would just be nice, that’s all.’

Gemma paused for a moment, wondering how her suggestion would be received. But there was only one way to find out. ‘I had an idea earlier though, and wondered what you might think.’

‘Oh?’ Rowan was chopping onions at speed.

‘Just that Ashley doesn’t really do anything all day. She doesn’t need to work, but she doesn’t do much else either, just kicks about the house. I might be wrong but she doesn’t seem to enjoy that very much, so I wondered how you might feel about her helping us out for a bit? On a purely voluntary basis of course. She’s been so kind helping me with our research, and we get on really well.’

‘Sure, if you think she’d like to. Have you asked her?’

She shook her head. ‘No, I wouldn’t. Not until I’d spoken to you. And Willow, of course.’

Rowan slid a line of onion from the knife. ‘Have a chat to Willow, too, but I’m sure she’d agree. I think it’s a great idea for you to meet new people. Life up here could feel a little isolated otherwise.’ He pushed his glasses further up his nose. ‘It’s something Willow and I need to get better at, but we’ve always been a pretty self-contained unit, and some of the comments that came our way when we moved in made us think it wasn’t such a bad way to be.’

‘Was it really that bad?’

‘In the grand scheme of things, probably not. Just a couple of vocal dissenters but it was a bit of a shock and left a bad taste in our mouths.’ He smiled. ‘It gave us a good excuse to do what comes naturally and keep ourselves to ourselves. Perhaps having Ashley here will be the push we need to involve ourselves with people a little more.’

‘Great, I’ll see what Ashley says then,’ said Gemma, smiling back.

The stewp was, in fact, an incredibly accurate name for a dish which was thicker than a soup but not quite the right consistency for a stew. Regardless, it was full of flavour, comforting, and yet still managed to feel virtuous. Gemma laid down her spoon and took a bite of bread, pulling off a piece of the crust with her teeth.

She was about to load up her spoon for another mouthful when she stopped and chewed, amazed by the taste of the bread in her mouth, and the texture too – the chewy softness of the middle contrasted with the crispness of the outside. Her bread. Well, not quite all hers, but… It wasn’t just the taste which had ambushed her either, but a feeling which was completely unfamiliar to her, at least where food was concerned. It was accomplishment. Gemma didn’t cook. She took things out of packets, or scooped them out of jars, and that wasn’t the same thing at all.

‘This bread is heavenly, Gemma,’ said Willow, grinning at her husband. ‘I know you had a good teacher, but… I’m not sure I know whose is best now.’

‘Oh, I’m not there yet,’ replied Gemma. ‘Thank you for the compliment, but Rowan really doesn’t need to worry about the competition. Not just yet, anyway. I’ll make the bread tomorrow though, if you like?’ she suggested, pleased that she might finally be of some use.

‘We’ll take it in turns,’ said Rowan. ‘I enjoy it too much to give it up, but… I’m happy to share the privilege.’ His eyes twinkled. ‘Was I right about enjoying it then?’

Gemma dipped her head. ‘I didn’t think I would, but… it sort of crept up on me.’

‘All the best things do,’ he replied.

‘Apart from serial killers,’ put in Leo, much to everyone’s amusement.

The rest of the meal passed in companionable silence, interspersed with light-hearted conversation, but eventually the time came to do the washing-up.

‘Would you mind if we leave you two to clear up?’ asked Willow. ‘Only we’re going to see a man about some bees and he’s almost an hour away. We need to leave around now.’

‘Bees?’ asked Gemma anxiously.

‘Don’t worry,’ replied Willow. ‘We’re not rushing into it. That’s why we’re going to see this chap. He runs a beekeeping society and he recommended we come along to a couple of meetings before we make any decisions. There’s a lot to think about.’