He came through the kitchen door, where Amanda was sitting at the table, painting.
She looked up. ‘You’re early,’ she said.
‘I can sit outside and wait if you like,’ he said, half joking.
‘Don’t be silly, come in and you can wash the lettuce while I finish this.’ He came inside and looked over her shoulder.
It was a watercolour of Moongate Manor at night, with fairy lights around the house and lanterns and bunting hanging from the trees and the moon gate. The moon was full above the house, in a navy sky filled with stars. Simon wondered if he had ever seen anything quite as beautiful.
‘My God, Amanda, that is incredible.’
Amanda looked up at him and smiled, and he noticed the tiny flecks of yellow and little shards of green in amongst the brown of her eyes.
‘Hazel,’ he said aloud.
‘What?’ She looked at the painting and then back to him.
‘Your eyes,’ he said. ‘I thought they were brown but they’re actually hazel.’
Amanda swallowed and nodded. ‘It depends on the light,’ she said. ‘Or my mood.’
‘Oh?’ He was still looking down at her eyes.
‘When I’m angry they go darker. I don’t know why.’
‘And now? What mood are you in now?’
She paused; their eyes locked. ‘I’m happy,’ she said.
‘Good.’ He pulled his gaze away and went to the kitchen.
‘Is it bad if I ask you how to wash a lettuce? Just tell me and I’ll do it,’ he said.
‘You haven’t washed a lettuce before?’ she asked.
‘No, if I buy lettuce, its prebagged,’ he said. ‘From Tesco.’
‘Oh this is from Frank and Shelley’s garden,’ she said, standing up, opening the old refrigerator and taking out a large lettuce. ‘I’ll give you a biology lesson on this lettuce.’ She washed her hands and dried them on a tea towel.
‘This is the core of the lettuce, which leads to the heart,’ she explained and she took a small paring knife from the drawer and cut the core out. The heart pulled out with it and she put it in the compost bin.
‘I can’t believe you haven’t washed a lettuce before.’ Amanda laughed. ‘Didn’t you have salads growing up?’
Simon sighed. ‘My mum wasn’t much of a cook. We did a lot of takeaway. She’s a historian, would prefer to be reading or at the university lecturing students about the Scandinavian world in the early Middle Ages, including Viking activity and the history of Scandinavian arts and crafts.’
‘Wow, that’s very specific,’ said Amanda.
‘Yes, she’s quite knowledgeable if you would like to know the military tactics of Vikings and their hunting skills and habits, but not so great on the day-to-day stuff.’
‘What a shame the Vikings didn’t make salads, then you would know how to do this,’ teased Amanda and he laughed.
‘So, your mum was a good cook then?’ he asked as Amanda washed the lettuce and he watched.
‘She was not bad – a little experimental sometimes, and there was a whole season when she was obsessed with vegan food, which I didn’t love but eventually she caved and we ended up getting Chinese food – including the sweet and sour chicken – and our vegan phase was over.’
Amanda washed the lettuce and then put it in the spinner she had pulled out from the cupboard.
‘You can spin it,’ she said and Simon did so, making sure the lid was on properly.
