Chapter Sixty-Four
On Saturday morning Cat decided to deep clean the kitchen and do an inventory of herbs and store-cupboard ingredients.
She was feeling uplifted by Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Emmeline Eversley from their impromptu movie night, although the awakening of Harry Harrington vomiting in his bed as the credits rolled had put a slight dampener on the warm and fuzzy glow.
Cat was making a list of herbs and spices that needed restocking when Lumi walked into the kitchen, fixing a brooch to her cashmere sweater.
‘Would you like lunch today, ma’am?’ Cat asked keenly.
‘No thank you Catalina, I’m meeting an old friend.’
‘In which case, when I’ve finished this I might go snowboarding this afternoon. Would you be wanting dinner?’
Lumi pondered it.
‘Hmmm, I’m not sure right now.’
Viktor had taken Mika with him to Helsinki, to try to ignite some interest in the business and make him useful. Lumi had already had texts from her son saying it was a disaster and that his dad was being ‘a prick’.
Somehow, her son’s pain rolled over her. She was too blissfully happy riding the wave of a rekindled love affair to worry about her young prince. He’d find his way. Young people always did.
‘What do you want to do with your life, Catalina?’ Lumi asked suddenly. Cat was taken aback. What was she meant to say? She didn’t particularly want to cook for a family for the rest of her life. But she didn’t want to bite the hand that fed her.
Lumi looked at her as if to say, go on.
‘Well, erm, I would like to open my own restaurant one day.’
Lumi looked enchanted.
‘Oh really! Where?’
‘Who knows? Buenos Aires. Paris. Zurich. Here.’ The idea was gathering pace. ‘Argentinian traditions with a Swiss twist.’
‘You do it so well,’ Lumi conceded.
Cat stopped herself.
‘I suppose you don’t want to hear this, ma’am,’ she said.
‘I do Catalina. I think you would be wonderful. I can see it now.’ She threw her cream coat over her shoulders and fluffed up her silver-blonde hair. ‘It’s not easy in this town, but I’m sure between us we’d have the contacts to do some research.’
Cat looked confused.
‘Are you trying to get rid of me, ma’am?’ she joked.
Lumi laughed.
‘Goodness no, but I am not one to clip a young person’s wings.’
Cat smiled gratefully. She’d never considered it as a real possibility. She didn’t have the finance for starters. Where would she begin? But Lumi’s faith lifted her spirits. There was more to life than a dead relationship.
‘Have a lovely afternoon snowboarding Catalina. And if I am back for dinner, I would love some of that Argentinian goulash, if there are any leftovers?’
‘There are, Mrs Kivvi.’
With that, Lumi waltzed out, and Cat decided to hit the mountains.
She hadn’t been snowboarding all week, and she just knew that when she was flying, through powder and air, all the tension built in her shoulders would be left in the tracks behind her.
Besides, she had a restaurant to think about.
If Lumi could envisage it, then why couldn’t Cat?