the hair,’ gushed Kate. ‘It’s fabulous.’
‘Do you really think so?’
‘I do. It looks amazing.’ She made another abortive attempt to run her free hand through her mass of frizz. ‘I really need to do something with this, but I don’t have three minutes to spend in the hairdresser’s. Never mind three hours.’
Connie laughed.
‘This is Jemima, who I don’t think you’ve met yet,’ said Kate, indicating the child now cowering behind her faded denim A-line skirt. ‘And this is Domenique, our au pair. Domenique, this is Connie, who’s responsible for the cookery club I’ve been telling you about.’
Domenique’s huge dark eyes, framed with long, silky lashes, gazed at Connie. ‘Ah, si. That is very good idea, I think.’
‘It is,’ agreed Kate. ‘I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying it. It’s the most fun I’ve had in ages.’
‘Mummy, can we go now, pleeeeeese,’ came a plea from the skirt.
‘In a minute, darling.’
‘But I need the toilet.’
Kate rolled her eyes. ‘Nothing new there. Best go. I’ll see you at the next club meeting, Connie – if not before. And believe me when I say I cannot wait. It’s my one and only chance to escape.’
Back at the house later, Kate’s words ringing in her ears, Connie sat at the kitchen island with her laptop.
Bringing up a blank screen, she headed it up The Cotswolds Cookery Club Blog. And began to type: With so many pressures on us all today, what better way to escape them than spending a few hours in the kitchen with friends…
Two hours later, she read over her one thousand words. And smiled.
The next morning, after a relaxing Liam-free night in her tartan pyjamas, Connie most definitely wasn’t smiling.
‘Darling, we’re coming to visit,’ announced her mother on the phone first thing. ‘And I’m sure Anna wouldn’t mind if we stayed the night.’
Connie’s brain furiously groped around for Reasons Why Her Parents Couldn’t Possibly Stay the Night. ‘Well, I’m sure Anna wouldn’t mind,’ she blustered. ‘But it’s really not convenient. The decorator’s here. The house is upside down.’
‘Not to worry. Just squeeze us in anywhere. See you before lunch.’
And before Connie could conjure up any further protestations, the line went dead.
‘Crap,’ she grumbled to Liam, as he prepped a wall in the living room. ‘My parents are coming.’
‘Great. I’d love to meet them,’ he replied brightly.
Thereby adding to Connie’s concerns.
Three hours later, Connie’s dad’s navy Volvo pulled up, behind Liam’s Decadent Décor van.
All of a jitter, Connie opened the door and stood on the step, braced for some cutting criticism from her mother.
‘Goodness,’ the woman puffed. ‘You look…’
Connie held her breath, awaiting the inevitable fat, old, worn out, desperate.
‘…different.’
Hmm. Good different or bad different?
‘You look amazing, darling,’ remarked her dad, enveloping her in a hug. ‘The Cotswolds obviously agree with you. You’re positively glowing.’
From behind the living-room door, Liam made a strange snorting sound. Connie ignored it.
Her mother, though, hadn’t finished. ‘And your hair. It’s…’
Too short, too coloured, too everything it shouldn’t be.
‘… gorgeous.’ Then, narrowing her eyes, ‘It looks expensive.’
‘Oh, it didn’t cost that much,’ batted back Connie, trying not to think about how her credit card had winced when she’d handed it over in the salon. ‘Would you like to come in?’
‘Of course. We haven’t come all this way to stand out here. And I am dying to see the house. Can I have a little tour?’
Winding up the tour – which had included much ooh-ing and aah-ing, her mother summarised her opinion by saying, ‘Heavens, Anna and Hugh are obviously doing very well’ – the accompanying look in Connie’s direction screaming “unlike some people”.
Connie, though, had determined not to let her mum grind her down. ‘Yes, I suppose they are,’ she agreed blithely. Then moving the subject swiftly on as they entered the living room, ‘And this is Liam. Liam, this is my mum and dad, Sandra and Lawrence.’
‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Liam, turning to face the visitors, roller in hand.
‘Liam’s the decorator,’ added Connie – rather unnecessarily given the roller in hand.
‘And doing a sterling job,’ gushed Sandra. ‘The place looks fabulous.’
‘Thank you. We aim to please. One hundred per cent satisfaction guaranteed – that’s the company motto,’ said Liam. With a cheeky wink at Connie.
She returned it with a reprimanding glare, having issued him with strict instructions earlier to be on his best behaviour and not say anything. She knew that if her mother gleaned the slightest inkling of anything going on between them, she’d never hear the last of it.
‘Ready for a cup of tea?’ she asked, with more enthusiasm than she’d intended. Liam opened his mouth to reply. But before he could utter a word, Connie had whisked her parents from the room.
‘So, what have you been up to?’ her dad asked a few minutes later as Connie bustled about making tea in the kitchen.
From the hall, she heard Liam give a meaningful cough.
‘Oh, this and that,’ she breezed, deciding that, as soon as they’d finished their tea, she was removing them all from the house – and as far away from Liam as possible. ‘I’ve set up a cookery club in the village. We’ve only had two meetings so far, but it’s going really well.’
‘A cookery club?’ sniffed her mother. ‘What’s one of those?’
‘Well, it’s a bit like a book club, I suppose,’ explained Connie, strongly suspecting – as she wasn’t making any money out of it – that her mother would fail to see the point. ‘But rather than sharing literary opinions, we share recipes, make a few dishes together. And then eat them.’
‘Sounds great,’ said her dad.
Her mother pursed her lips. ‘But are you making any money out of it?’
‘No, Mum. It’s purely for pleasure.’
Sandra puffed out a long, disapproving breath. ‘You know I’ve always encouraged your interest in food, Constance, but at your age, don’t you think it would be more sensible to direct your efforts into something that’s going to pay a decent wage?’
Connie felt a prick of annoyance. She quashed it. She should have known better than to even mention the club. ‘I’m sure you’re right, Mum,’ she conceded levelly. ‘But I’ve never had a chance to do anything like this before. The fact I’m only here temporarily is incredibly liberating. Which is why I’m using the time to experiment a bit.’
She ignored Liam’s snort of muffled laughter as it floated in, and the ensuing stab of irritation. ‘And I’ve met some lovely people. Like Kate, the village vet.’
The mention of Kate’s high-profile profession had the desired effect.
‘Oh. Well, if you’re mixing with