Flora's Lot by Katie Fforde (13 inch ebook reader TXT) 📕

‘I'vehad a brilliant time,' said Flora, when Amy came back. 'But I expect I've sold everything far too cheaply.'

‘You'vesold it, that's the main thing. And that looks like loads of money.'

‘A fiver of it is mine, I'm afraid. Isold a very nice suede skirt I'd bought bymistake.' She frowned slightly. 'Ihope the man was right, and his wife was a size ten.’

*

Onceback at the cottage, when she'd seen to her brood and shown themthe teapot, which now had pride of place on the mantelpiece, Flora lay onthe sofa, contemplating the prospect of a dinner party with nomoney. Having too little money to buy posh ready mealswas bad enough, but barely having enough to buy basicingredients was worse. The rain was pouring down outsideand, she reflected, a less buoyant personality than her own could get pretty miserable.

William camein through the back door, shaking his hair,sending water flying off him. 'I'll sleep here tonight if you don't mind, Flora.'

‘Don'tblame you. The kittens are so adorable! I could hardly bear to leavethem. Go up and look.'

‘I will in a minute. Tea?'

‘I'm already on the wine, I'm afraid.What am I going to feed these people on, William? I've hardly any money.'

‘Vegetarian then. Far cheaper.'

‘ButI don't know how to cook any vegetarian dishes. Isn't it all goats' cheese and aubergines and that bean curdstuff ?'

‘Tofu?Not necessarily, but aubergines are good.’

Flora winced at the thought. She felttoo tired to think about big shinyvegetables she never knew what to dowith. Didn't they require something complicated to do with salt? 'I'll see if I can get some recipesoff the computer.'

‘I could cook foryou,' William offered amiably. Flora opened her eyes. 'Could you?'

‘I've worked as a chef and I used to cookin the Buddhist centre where I lived for awhile. Vegetarian dishes are my speciality.'

‘That would befantastic! But wouldn't it look a little odd, you doingthe cooking? Did I tell you that you have to pretend to be Emma's partner?'

‘No! Why do I have to do that? Why can't I just be anotherfriend?'

‘Because where would yousleep?'

‘On the sofa, where I always sleep.'

‘Yes, but no one's supposed to knowthat! And although I could put a guest up,I suppose, you're meant to be Emma'spartner, calling on me, while I'm down here!’

Williamfrowned. 'This is all far too complicated.’

‘I've gotto explain your presence somehow, for your sake as much as anything.'

‘It wouldbe much better if I were just Emma's friend. Far less complicated.’

Florathought about this. Having a handsome, heterosexual maleas a regular caller was not going to do her any goodin the eyes of Charles and Annabelle. 'You wouldn't pretend to be gay?'

‘No.'

‘There's no stigma—'

‘No,Flora. I'll be pretend to be Emma - is it Emma? - Emma's old friend from university, who she got back in touch with, andtold that you were living down here and didn't know anybody.’

Floranodded slowly. 'That could work. That could explainwhy you were doing t'ai chi naked on the lawn. Emma doesn't know you very welland you've changed overthe years.'

‘Thatpart at least is true,' he said with a grin. 'I'll have a think about what to cook and give you ashopping list.'

‘AndI'll make chocolate mousse for pudding. I can use my new ramekin dishes. Oh, and I must ring Henry. I'm still hoping he'll cancel his conference inSwitzerland and come.’

But Henry resisted allblandishments.

Chapter Twelve

‘I can'tbelieve you've joined a choir!' said Emma as Flora droveher back from the station on Friday evening. 'It's such a - well - you know . .

‘What?' asked Flora defensively.

"Old person" thing to do.'

‘Nonsense!I love it! It's very soothing, singing. You have to concentrate, really hard, all the time - or at least I do because I'm not very good - and that meansyou can't think about work. We'regoing to do a concert. You must come down for it. Now, how are you?’

Emma knewthat this meant 'how are you and Dave?’

‘Well, OK.He's just lost interest in me, I think. All the littlethings I do that he used to think were sweet now just irritate him.'

‘Oh,I do understand! That happens to me all the time!’

‘What?’

Realisingthat she was about to say how she got irritated bythe little habits that used to enchant her, Flora hurriedlyinverted her statement. 'About how they sigh when you dothings wrong when they used to do them for you, in a really sweet way.'

‘Exactly.'

‘Well, what youneed is a new man, sweetie. And I've got just the one.'

‘You mean William, the naked tae kwon do expert?’

‘T'aichi. It's quite different. And he mostly wears clothes.'

‘Still don't fancy it,Flo.'

‘It's him you have to fancy. You probably will, no problem. He'sgorgeous.'

‘So why don't you fancyhim, then?’

Flora hadthought about this, and presumably so had William. 'Don't know. The chemistry'snot right, I suppose. But he's really nice,funny, cooks, everything a girl wants, really.'

‘Perhaps you fancy someone else. Henry?’

Florawrinkled her nose and then remembered it would giveher lines and stopped. 'Yes, I do fancy him, sort of, but not in a gut-wrenchingway.'

‘Itdoesn't always have to be gut-wrenching. It can creep up on you slowly,from behind.'

‘Well,if it does, it does, but it hasn't yet, and quite honestly I have no emotional energy left to sparefor a relationship, just at themoment. The business is my obsession.'

‘So do you fancyyour business partner, then?’

‘Charles! What? No way!'

‘Why not?'

‘Apartfrom the fact that we had a blazing row, he can't wait to get rid of meand I hate his guts, you mean?'

‘Never stopped anyone fancying anyonebefore.’

Floralaughed. 'True, but not in this case. He's too stuffy tolive. I mean, when I'm not hating him, I do admirehim, for the way he does his job, but definitely not the wayhe runs his business.' She thought for a moment.'And he is good-looking, and I suppose his sternness could be sexy, but no!'

‘Why not?'

‘Comeon, Em, he's spoken for, for one thing, and even if he wasn't, it wouldtake years to get him to unbend.'

‘You'vealways liked projects before. A challenge, someone who doesn't just fallin love with you immediately they see you.Treat her mean and keep her keen was always the way to get you interested.'

‘No,it wasn't,' Flora