Knowing Me Knowing You (22 page)

‘
God, sorry about that
.
D
id she take hold of your hand? She does that to get a look at your life and love lines on your palm. She will have you half sussed out by
now,
’
Kate spoke, leading the way down the path and stopping at the gate.

‘
I was more distraught at the thought of microwavable faggots,
’
Joel admitted.

‘
I highly recommend them.
’

‘
Well, I hope you like steak too. I
couldn’t get a lane until nine
so I booked a table at
the Ranch House
. Have you been there before?
’
Joel
enquired
, opening the car door for her.

‘
Is that the place where you cook your own food?
’

‘
Yes it is. It’ll be fun,
’
Joel replied, shutting her door for her.

‘
But you know I’m no good with cooking,
’
Kate told him.

‘
I’ll help and if we get into real difficulties there’s always KFC,
’
Joel said with a smile.

Half an hour later they were sat at a table cooking steak and sausages on a grill set into their table. They were wearing cowboy hats and neckerchiefs and had been served by a waitress called Darlene. Kate was convinced it couldn’t be her real name.

‘
Do you think they’re done yet?
’
she asked with a sigh.

The novelty of cooking your own food had worn off twenty minutes ago. The grills seemed to take forever to cook the meat and there were a set of triplets sat at the table next to them who had screamed ever since they got there. Kate had slight sympathy for the parents because she was a mother and she knew how hard it was to look after children, particularly in a public place where they were liable to be on their worst behaviour. But when they started to bang their knives and forks on the table and the parents seemed completely oblivious to the din
,
all sympathy quickly evaporated.

‘
A few minutes more, unless you want yours rare.
See how easy it is to make steak and salad?
’

‘
Is this my nutrition lesson? I feel like an experiment or one of those sad cases on
Freaky Eaters
,
’
Kate replied, leaning on her elbow and looking glum.

‘
It’s just a misconception that ready meals are quicker to make. You can steam vegetables in a few minutes you know.
’

‘
How fascinating.
It’s a good job we’re not on a real date; you would have bored me rigid by now.
’

‘
Bethan
would have great fun helping you prepare a salad
.
K
ids love anything with colour in and they’re more likely to eat things they’ve helped prepare,
’
Joel carried on.

‘
That’s very good information Jamie Oliver
,
but is the meat on this grill cooked? If not I’m tempted to suggest a self-service spit roast to the management, starting with one of those kids,
’
Kate told him, indicating the badly behaved trio who were now shaking condiments all over the table and flicking salt and pepper at each other.

‘
Let’s see
.
Yep, I think that’s fine.
H
ere you go,
’
Joel said and he put a piece of steak and a sausage on Kate’s plate.

‘
So,
d’you
come
here often?
’
Kate asked, adding salad to her plate and dousing it all with dressing.

‘
Cheesy line,
’
Joel remarked.

‘
Well?
’

‘
No, I haven’t been here before, well not to this particular one. They have one of these near where I lived with my parents. They used to take me and I loved it
.
I thought cooking food at your own table was so cool! I still do. I guess that makes me about twelve,
’
Joel admitted with a smile.

‘
It is quite cool, I suppose, if you have all night and aren’t sat next to the Devil’s offspring,
’
Kate admitted.

‘
Kids will be kids,
’
Joel replied unfazed by the unruly behaviour as the three boys started to stamp their feet on the floor.

‘
Not at a restaurant
.
I would die if
Bethan
behaved like that.
’

‘
People spend a lot of time these days worrying what other people think of them. We should just be who we are and people can take us or leave us,
’
Joel told her.

‘
God that was profound for a steak house in
Highbridge
.
’

‘
Well I just think you should be genuine, not pretend to be something you aren’t. What’s the point of that?
’

‘
Speaks the
man
who’s pretending to be my boyfriend to win a relationship contest,
’
Kate spoke with a laugh.

‘
There are extenuating circumstances for that situation and it’s only temporary,
’
Joel reminded.

Kate smiled and desperately tried to ignore the three boys who had now mounted the backs of their chairs and were pretending to wave lassoes in the air and shoot each other, their fingers stuck out like pistols.

‘
So what sort of stuff did you do with your parents?
’
Joel asked.

‘
We weren’t the going to the restaurant sort of family if that’s what you mean,
’
Kate replied.

‘
Then what stuff did you do?
Any great family holidays?
’
Joel
asked
.

‘
I only remember going on one family holiday, to Bognor Regis. I had one perfect day on the beach building sandcastles and chasing my dad with seaweed. The next day my mother said she was ill and we had to go home. She said she was ill a lot so Dad would take me off somewhere.
’

‘
So if I was Larry Rawlins would you be a sun seeker or a snow lover?
’

‘
Oh sun, definitely, you won’t get me on skis, ever. The
salopettes
look hideous and having two planks of wood attached to your feet is just unnatural,
’
Kate replied, trying desperately not to let salad dressing drizzle down her chin.

‘
So have you travelled?
’
Joel asked.

‘
I went to
Spain
with some girlfriends once
-
Torremolinos
. It’s all a bit hazy, well it was a hen weekend and they’re supposed to be hazy aren’t they? I came back with food poisoning and a straw donkey. And then I went to
Cuba
on honeymoon. Matthew didn’t like it, he said it was too hot and he
got diarrhoea on the third day -
I was pretty much on my own after that. I saw the sites though. I did
Havana
and smoked cigars, well one and it made me sick but I had to do it, it was
Cuba
,
’
Kate informed him with a grin.

‘
I would love to go there, it’s such a one-off place and so full of history.
’

‘
Well, where have you been?
Apart from touring all the major war zones which we definitely aren’t going to mention again.
’

‘
I am so sorry about yesterday, the whole throwing you to the ground thing, I thought
…
’
Joel began his face flushing.

‘
That it was a bomb going off?
’
Kate
offered
.

‘
Yeah, something like that,
’
Joel admitted.

‘
Did scare me a bit too.
’

‘
But you didn’t take cover,
’
Joel responded.

‘
I might have done, if you weren’t there coming to my aid and putting me to the pavement in double quick time.
’

‘
Now you’re being too kind,
’
Joel responded with half a smile.

‘
So where have you been? Tell me about the nice places.
’

‘
I lived in
Germany
for a while, great sausages and excellent beer.
’

‘
But what about the sites and the history?
The Rhine and the Danube?
’

‘
They were good too but the beer and sausages were more spectacular in my opinion.
’

‘
Philistine.
’

‘
After
Germany
there was
Croatia
,
Czech
Republic
,
Netherlands
…
’

‘
Now you’re just showing off.
’

‘
But I fell in love with
France
.
The country and the scenery, the cafés, the food, the slow pace of life.
’

‘
The cheese, the onion sellers, the
Eiffel
Tower
, Gerard Depardieu
…
’

‘
Don’t mock it; it’s a fantastic country. I try and go at least once a year to this little village in the south. I stay at this ancient farmhouse surrounded by the greenest fields you can imagine and I spend my time letting the peace and quiet soak into me,
’
Joel spoke.

Kate watched his expression, saw tranquillity washing over him as he conjured up obviously very happy memories.

‘
Sorry, you must think I’m crazy. It’s just I can’t seem to find that feeling here. When I’m in
Marchette
there just seems to be so much space and time. Everything seems so stripped back and simple and that’s what I like.
’

‘
It sounds lovely but I can’t afford to even think about a foreign trip anywhere at the moment. I want
Bethan
to see everything and do everything but when you’re a single mum you have to concentrate on the essentials, luxuries have to take a back seat.
’

‘
But when we win the competition and the money, the world will be your oyster,
’
Joel reminded her.

‘
That money will be going on the mortgage; I don’t want repossession knocking on my door.
’

‘
Bethan
would love Euro
D
isney
.
I did and I was twenty three when I went,
’
Joel said.

‘
You don’t look like a Disney kind of guy.
’

‘
And what does a Disney kind of guy look like?
’

‘
Goofy.
’

‘
That’s lame.
’

‘
Who did you go with?
’

‘
My girlfriend at the time and no, before you ask she didn’t look like Minnie Mouse.
’

‘
Why did you break up?
’
Kate asked directly.

‘
She wanted to wear costumes in the bedroom.
’

‘
No!
’

‘
No,
’
Joel confirmed with a laugh.

‘
So why?
’
Kate asked him seriously.

‘
I don’t know really, it just wasn’t right,
’
Joel told her thoughtfully.