Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fondant: A light-hearted culinary cozy murder mystery (Baker's Rise Mysteries Book Three) by R. A. Hutchins

Author:R. A. Hutchins [Hutchins, R. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-20T16:00:00+00:00

Put dried fruit, citrus juices and zests, alcohol, butter and brown sugar in a large pan

It was freezing in the big house on top of the hill the next morning, and Flora was thankful that the new heating system was installed so she could finally heat the old place up. The heating engineer was now doing his final checks, the rest of his team having finished up and moved onto a job in another property. The plumber and electrician’s teams had also just completed the rewiring and piping, and Flora was expecting a couple of hefty invoices in the next day or so. With Reggie on her shoulder, Flora took a slow tour of the downstairs rooms. Her heart sank a little when she saw the holes in the walls which had been made in order to fit the new wires. There was so much for the building team to make good in these rooms before they could be decorated. Free of all of Harold’s papers, at least Flora could see the full size of the spaces now, and the thought of how they could look did still fill her with excitement. She trailed her hands along the wooden dado rails and over the china cabinets, knowing she would need to decide soon which furniture to keep and which to send to charity or auction. Certainly, before the rooms could be painted and have new flooring laid, they would need to be cleared. Sometimes the list of jobs felt overwhelming, though Flora knew there was no real rush to complete them. It was her own impatience that made the project feel stressful. Well, that and the fact that every small job seemed to cost a fortune.

Returning to the kitchen, where no renovations had yet taken place other than Flora adding a new perch she’d had delivered the previous week for Reggie, she took a moment to enjoy the view from the large windows. Bleak and wet, it was still a calming scene, and one which Flora drank in. A flash of a dark green cap caught Flora’s eye, and she was surprised to find Billy Northcote already up there, sitting on his bench in the rose garden. Rushing out to greet her friend, Flora brought him inside with her for a hot drink. Poor man looked frozen. At least Flora had a kettle and some teabags up here now.

“Billy, you’ll catch your death of cold if you sit out there.”

“Aye lass, but I’m getting on a bit you know, it might be my last year to sit and see the seasons change. This time of year was my Mabel’s favourite, when she could sit inside with the fire on, doing her knitting and listening to the radio. A real homebody she was. But she loved coming up here and watching me work in the spring and summer months. She would sit on that bench there, her knitting needles clicking away, and we’d share a flask of tea and a scone during my break.

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