‘Of course, I make stuffed aubergines for dinner sometimes. Dan likes them.’
‘I bet he’d like mine more,’ she murmured.
I looked to Joy to see if she’d heard this. But she had her back to us, her hands in the sink, and even if she did, she wasn’t getting involved. I bit my tongue and endured a patronising demo on how to slice and salt aubergines like I’d never seen the vegetable before.
‘I’m sorry, Joy, but she’s being really annoying,’ I said, when Ella popped to the bathroom. Up to this point I’d bitten my tongue, but I’d just had enough. ‘Yes, I eat meat, but it doesn’t mean I don’t eat vegetables. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.’
‘She means well,’ Joy said diplomatically.
‘Really?’ I wasn’t so sure, but clearly Joy wasn’t going to agree with me.
‘Flatbreads,’ Ella said as she re-entered the kitchen, rubbing organic olive oil into her hands. ‘I’m going to show you how to make them, it’s the easiest thing – and they’re the yummiest. Not like the shop-bought rubbish that’s filled with baddies, eww,’ she said. Did I imagine the overlong glance at the sliced loaf I’d bought the previous day from the supermarket?
She then proceeded to mix flour and water and salt and made a dough and, while I worked on the aubergines, Joy disappeared to ‘check on the men’， though I think this was just an excuse to escape the atmosphere between me and Ella.
As soon as she’d gone, Ella said, ‘I think we’ll serve dinner at nine-ish tonight. Okay with you?’
She so knew it wasn’t. This was a flash of the toreador’s red cape to me, the bull, as I’d criticised her for booking the restaurant so late the previous evening. It would also mean I had to feed the children separately – something I didn’t like to do on holiday. It was family time and I liked us to eat together as my nursing shifts at home often meant we couldn’t. But I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of thinking she’d annoyed me, so I said, ‘Great, we can eat without the kids,’ which took the wind out of her sails.
I continued to chop and salt and fry. All the time building myself up to what was going to happen later. The late dinner would in fact play right into my hands – all the adults, no children, but plenty of witnesses.
‘It’s more Mediterranean to eat late,’ she added. ‘After all, it’s everyone’s holiday, not just the children’s.’ She really was trying to push me.
‘Absolutely.’ I nodded vigorously, wanting her to see she wasn’t getting to me. Then I turned and said, ‘Actually, Ella, I wonder if nine is a little—’
Her eyes lit up; she was itching for a fight. ‘Sorry, Clare, we can’t do any earlier… it might be even later than nine actually – these aubergines need to be cooked super slowly.’
I laughed. ‘Oh, that’s perfect – what I was going to say was that nine is a little early as I need to get the children to bed. So, shall we say nine thirty so I can be sure the children are settled and we can enjoy a relaxed evening?’ I said, stuffing the final aubergine with gusto.
‘Okay… I mean as long as nothing spoils,’ she said, but I could see she wasn’t happy. I was giving her mixed signals, confusing her, and she suddenly wasn’t sure how to play me.
* * *
Getting the children settled was a slow process, almost as slow as cooking the stuffed aubergines, which apparently took ‘hours and hours’。 I’d made them a million times and they cooked within an hour, but I didn’t argue – Ella knew best.
I recruited Dan to help with the kids. He always had a calming effect on them and luckily for us they were soon asleep. I went into his single room to change so I didn’t disturb them.
‘I’m surprised you’ve agreed to a late dinner tonight,’ he said as he zipped up the back of my dress.
‘Oh, you know what she’s like by now. Ella wants to play hostess, and I couldn’t be bothered to argue,’ I said. ‘She always has to have her own way,’ I added. But secretly I knew it was nothing of the sort. Tonight we were dancing to my tune – I was the choreographer, even if it seemed to everyone, including Ella, that she was. ‘I’ve decided to just go along with it all, I don’t want to ruin everyone’s holiday.’
‘Well, I’m glad you’re being a bit more chilled about things. She really isn’t so bad, and all she wants is to cook for us. She told me she feels so grateful that we’ve welcomed her into the family.’