Hot Basque: A French Summer Novel 2 by Laurette Long Page B

dear?’
    Caroline did. She loved glazed carrots. And Madeira sauce. And Beef Wellington.
    ‘I know it’s not strictly ‘on’,’ Birdie continued, ‘serving a starchy veg with the pastry crust, I mean, but Margaret does love my roast potatoes, and it is her birthday.’
    ‘True,’ said Caroline. ‘And you know who else loves your roast potatoes, don’t you? I hope you’ve done twice as many as usual.’
    Birdie tutted.
    ‘He’ll probably be starving by the time he arrives poor lamb. I’ll make him a nice ham sandwich to tide him over.’
    Both Birdie and Margaret adored the ‘poor lamb’. Adored was the wrong word. They idolised him.
    ‘Would Edward like this, do you think we could do that when Edward comes, do make sure Edward’s not working too hard Caroline, and that he’s eating enough and getting enough sleep and and and and...’
    If she hadn’t been besotted with him herself she’d have felt quite jealous.
    ‘How are the pears getting on?’
    They were doing pears poached in red wine for dessert, served with homemade vanilla ice-cream. Caroline opened the freezer, dipped her finger into the egg and cream mixture. It was thickening nicely and the cinnamon stick in the poaching liquid was filling the kitchen with its spicy scent. She popped a left-over piece of pear in her mouth, hoisted herself onto the kitchen counter and chewed happily. She loved being in the kitchen with Birdie. It was as much fun as cooking with Claudie and she got to catch up with all the latest village gossip. She glanced at her watch.
    ‘You know I think everything’s under control, Birdie, brilliant organisation as usual. The nibbles are chilling, the champagne’s chilling, we can’t put the beef on until everyone arrives, so if you want to pop upstairs and change, I’ll keep an eye on things down here.’
    ‘Are you sure, dear? I won’t be long. The Rayburns are due at one. I was planning to wear my blue two-piece from John Lewis, what do you think? Margaret’s decided on her cream dress, we’ll look like a piece of Wedgewood!’
    Birdie trotted briskly out of the kitchen chortling at her own joke.
    The Rayburns. Edward’s mother and father, Julie and Adam.
    Caroline had met them for the first time last summer. When Edward had announced they were invited for dinner at The Limes, she’d turned into a quivering mass of jelly. What if they didn’t like her? What if they thought she wasn’t a good enough catch for their handsome, brilliant elder son? What if–
    Watching her change outfits for the fifth time, Edward had finally turned her to face him, put a finger under her chin and looked into her panic-filled eyes.
    She’d confessed.
    His eyebrows had shot up, he’d thrown back his head and roared with laughter.
    Caroline had been so furious she almost refused to go. But he’d pulled her on his lap, covered her bare shoulders with kisses and told her with supreme confidence:
    ‘Wait till you meet them.’
    He was right. The minute that Caroline set eyes on Edward’s mother the words burst from her lips.
    ‘Oh–you look just like Claudie!’
    Julie laughed and leaned forward to kiss her cheek.
    ‘Thank you my dear. There is a rather large age difference. I’m very flattered.’
    She turned to her son inquiringly.
    ‘You never told Caroline that Claudie’s mother and I were twins?’
    ‘I didn’t want to frighten her off,’ Edward replied, slinging an arm affectionately round his mother. He winked at Caroline. ‘They run in the family. Twins.’
    ‘We managed to escape, Julie and I.’ Adam bent to give Caroline a kiss and a warm hug. ‘Hello Caroline. Lovely to meet you. We’ve heard all about you. Claudie was on the phone from Paris an hour ago, actually. Yes, as I was saying, Julie and I spaced our two out, gave ourselves a breather, but poor old Anouk and Gerard ended up with the Terrible Twosome all in one basket.’
    He threw back his head and gave a roar of laughter. The same roar of