had in mind for a meal I’ll put it together—if you like.’
‘I just meant you to share the meal, not prepare it for me!’ he said swiftly.
‘Just tell me what you had in mind and I can make a start.’ She smiled mischievously. ‘I’m hungry. So if I lend a hand we’ll eat all the sooner.’
He bowed in defeat, then opened the refrigerator and took out the ingredients for a very respectable cold meal—salad greens, tomatoes, cheese, half a ham. He looked at her levelly. ‘You know, this is very good of you. I had expected to spend a solitary evening.’
So had Hester, who was more charmed by the prospect of dinner with Patrick Hazard than she cared to admit. And the informality of helping with the meal only added to the charm. While she set eggs to boil and washed salad greens her host laid the table, then took a bottle of champagne from the refrigerator.
‘I thought we might celebrate my first dinner guest with this,’ he announced.
Hester hesitated, then smiled ruefully. ‘Mr Hazard, I dislike wine of any kind. Vintage champagne would be utterly wasted on me.’
“Then we’ll drink something else,’ he said promptly. ‘But only if you call me Patrick.’
She nodded, smiling. ‘I’m Hester.’
‘I know.’
They looked at each other for a moment, then Hester took the pan of eggs from the hob and ran cold water over them at the sink. ‘I shall be perfectly happy with a glass of this, straight from the tap,’ she said over her shoulder.
‘Does your dislike of wine extend to alcohol in general?’
‘I enjoy a Pimm’s as a rare summer treat, and I keep brandy in the house for emergencies. But wine I really dislike.’ She looked up from peeling the eggs. ‘When I was a student I was afraid to admit it—bad for the image—so I drank it and suffered the consequences. I’m a bit wiser now.’
‘Which must be a generally held opinion locally since you were asked to be a magistrate.’ He took a loaf of bread from the crock and began slicing it. ‘Though you can’t have been on the bench for long.’
‘Just over a year now, but I still feel like a beginner. I did all the usual courses, naturally, and I shall go on doing others in the future. For legal instruction I rely on people like John Brigham—he’s the barrister who usually acts as clerk of the court.’ Hester halved the eggs and took out the yolks. ‘Are those handsome cupboards empty, or have you anything I can use to make a dressing and so on?’
Patrick Hazard’s store cupboards were surprisingly well-stocked. With hot pepper sauce to devil the eggs, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil to dress the salad, the meal they sat down to a little while later was simple, but very much to Hester’s taste. It was completed with a large, ice-filled goblet of bottled Cotswold spring water, which her host produced in preference to the alternative straight from the tap.
‘I got some of that in for Lydia,’ he said, pouring himself a beer. He raised his glass to her in toast. ‘To my unexpected but very welcome guest. I’m only sorry the dinner isn’t more in keeping with the occasion.’
Hester shook her head as she helped herself to ham. ‘This is exactly my kind of meal. I wouldn’t have done nearly as well at home. I tend to get tired by Saturday night. If I’m not going out I usually don’t bother too much about dinner.’
Patrick offered the basket of bread. ‘Hester, since circumstance has thrown us so unexpectedly together, I own to curiosity. Will you allow me to ask questions?’
She took a slice and buttered it thoughtfully. ‘About myself?’
‘Yes.’ He smiled. ‘I’ll respond in kind, if you like. Fair?’
‘Fair,’ she agreed, equally curious to learn about Patrick. ‘What would you like to know?’
‘Anything you care to tell me. For a start, are you a native of Chastlecombe?’
‘No. If it hadn’t been for a certain baby I might never have come to the place, other than as a tourist. I got a job at Queens High School as a replacement for the history teacher while she was away on maternity leave.’ Hester drank some of her water. ‘Richard Conway was on the board of governors. He was in his early forties, and a confirmed bachelor. I was late twenties and, I thought, a career educationist. Wrong on both counts.’
She smiled crookedly. ‘We were married the day after the school closed for the summer holidays. And instead of applying for another teaching post I went into the business with Richard. David was still in college then. So I involved myself in the shop and the buying, leaving Richard free to do what he did best—create beautiful furniture.’
Patrick regarded her steadily, then leaned over to refill her glass. ‘What happened to him, Hester?’
‘He died of a sudden, massive heart attack while we were on holiday in France, celebrating our first anniversary.’
Patrick let out a deep breath. ‘Poor young bride,’ he said very quietly.
Hester looked away. ‘Afterwards Richard’s family were very good to me. They persuaded me to stay in the business, so I did.’
Patrick got up and took their plates, then returned with the fruit bowl and pushed the platter of cheese towards her.
Hester accepted a crisp green apple. ‘Your turn, then, Patrick. You’re a lawyer, of course?’
He nodded. ‘Guilty. How did you know?’
‘Your bow to the bench was a bit of a giveaway.’
‘Reflex action. Though I’ve retired from actually practising law.’
‘Retired?’ She eyed him curiously. ‘Aren’t you a bit young for that?’
‘I’ve taken up another career,’ he said blandly. ‘But I used to be a city lawyer, working in the London office of a New York-based firm, earning a quite outrageous salary. UK law governs project and corporate deals in Europe and Asia, and global-minded American law firms tend to hire UK lawyers to stay on top of the competition. And as the icing on the cake I shared a flat with the gorgeous Alicia, who earned a six-figure salary in advertising.’
Hester listened in awe. It all sounded a long way from the laid-back lifestyle of Chastlecombe.
‘On one of my trips to the Washington office I took Alicia with me and introduced her to an American colleague, Jay Benedict the Third.’ He smiled crookedly. ‘Big mistake. Jay earned more than I did, and his daddy’s rich, too. Jay’s also an ex-college quarterback, half a head taller than me—all shoulders and flashing white smile. And a brilliant lawyer, the swine.’
Hester let out an involuntary giggle.
Patrick grinned. ‘I gave them my blessing through clenched teeth, flew back to London and proceeded to expand the office and make an even bigger packet for myself. Then one day I took a good look at myself and didn’t much like what I saw. After some soulsearching I resigned and became a defence lawyer with a firm where I did as much legal aid work as the more remunerative stuff. I trust,’ he added, ‘that you are now full of respect
