Anything but Vanilla(35)
‘Any news of Ria?’
‘Nothing, but I can’t worry about her today.’
‘Is it going to be a problem, Sorrel? What about that new chocolate ice for next week? Is that made?’
‘No.’
‘Terrific. I can’t believe she’d do this to us!’
‘I’ll sort it,’ she said, turning away so that Alexander wouldn’t hear, ‘if I have to go to Wales myself and find her.’
‘Don’t leave it too long. Wales is a lot bigger than you think.’
She called her uncle next and once he’d confirmed that everything was ready for tomorrow, she said, ‘Basil, how do you and Grandma fancy running Ria’s ice-cream parlour for a week starting tomorrow?’
‘Serving proper old-fashioned ices? Banana splits? Chocolate nut sundaes with hot fudge sauce? Those fabulous Knickerbocker Glorias?’
‘All of the above,’ she said, laughing, mostly with relief that he sounded so enthusiastic. ‘I’ll organise a couple of students to come in and do the running around, but I want a really good show. Maybe you could create a bodacious sundae of your own?’
‘Well, who could resist an offer like that? I’ll have to check with Lally, of course, but you can count me in and I’m sure she’ll be happy to help out, but what about the Jefferson event?’
‘No problem.’ She glanced at Alexander, who was standing over the churn watching the sorbet begin to chill. He really should be wearing a hat... ‘I’ve got a volunteer ready and willing to stand in for you.’
‘If you’re referring to me, I did not volunteer for anything,’ Alexander said, without turning around.
‘Oh, and tell Gran there’ll be one extra for supper, will you? I’m going to have to bribe him with steak and ale pie.’
EIGHT
Ice cream is like medicine; the secret is in the dose.
—from Rosie’s ‘Little Book of Ice Cream’
Alexander, as a matter of instinct, absorbed the sounds around him. In the rain forest it was a lifesaver. Here it was only the hum of the freezers, the whirr of the churn, the street sounds filtering in from the front of the shop. They were safe noises that he could filter out, allowing him to focus all his attention on Sorrel.
Her urgency, the slightest hesitation as she assured ‘Elle’ that she was coping, her determination as she turned her back on him, lowering her voice as she told her sister that she was prepared to go to Wales and find Ria. Good luck with that one. He registered the warmth in her voice as she spoke to someone called Basil, the hint of a giggle that made him want to smile.
Just being in the same room as her made him want to smile. Something he hadn’t anticipated this morning when he’d discovered the extent of Ria’s problems.
‘Steak and ale pie?’ he asked, since he had obviously been meant to hear that last part.
‘Unless you’re a vegetarian like Ria,’ she said, ‘in which case you can share Geli’s tofu.’
‘Who or what is Geli?’
‘Angelica is my younger sister,’ she said, joining him at the business end of the kitchen to check the mix. ‘The animal lover.’
‘And Elle?’
‘That’s Elle for Lovage, Big Ears, although I’d advise you to stick to Elle when you meet her. She’s my older sister.’
‘The one with three little girls.’
‘All under the age of five.’
‘Good grief.’
‘She makes it look easy and her husband is a fully engaged father,’ she said. A shadow crossed her face so quickly that it would have been easy to miss. ‘He’s a dab hand with a nappy.’
‘Good for him.’
‘Yes...’ Again that shadow, before she shook it off, looked up. ‘Grandma is also called Lovage, but everyone calls her Lally.’
Sorrel, Angelica, Lovage, Basil; he was sensing a theme... ‘Steak pie is absolutely fine with me, I just didn’t expect to be having dinner with The Herbs.’
She pulled a face. ‘“And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.”’
The face was meant to be comic, but he sensed that it masked some more complicated emotion and that if he probed a little, this supremely assured young woman might just fall apart. ‘From the ease with which you trotted out the quotation, I’m sensing a lack of originality,’ he said, sticking with the superficial. Ria was emotion enough for any man.