Hannah might have got over her initial feelings had Sadie not suggested a company-wide bake off for Comic Relief. When Hannah produced her Victoria sponge, made to a recipe her aunt had taught her when she was thirteen, she had been proud of the rise of the sponge, the even shape, and the perfectly sprinkled icing sugar on top. It looked professional and competent… until she saw Sadie’s magnificent three-tiered raspberry mousse and chocolate cake that looked as if it could have been served at The Ritz for tea. For some reason it made Hannah feel safe and dull. She was still plodding the same safe furrow that had guided her since childhood. Still using the same recipe. Still working for the same company. Still the same, sensible person. Stupid that something like a cake had brought her up short, but it had. She’d always stuck to the easy things, never made herself do things out of her comfort zone. When she’d seen the article in the Sunday supplement about Adrienne, something inside her had taken it as a sign. That competitive part of her didn’t like being bad at something.

Jason was still looking at her and she realised he was still expecting an answer. ‘I saw an article about Adrienne and the school. I thought it would be a good thing to learn to cook properly.’

Jason snorted.

‘What about you? What did you do before you worked in the restaurant?’

‘Bit o’ this, bit o’ that. You know. What do you do?’

‘I’m a lawyer.’

Jason’s eyes widened with comical instant horror. ‘The law.’ He shuddered, making Hannah laugh.

‘Don’t worry. These days I don’t do criminal law.’

‘You mean you don’t do the police station jobs then.’

‘I did once. Not anymore.’ He nodded and turned around as if he couldn’t get away fast enough.

The challenge in the afternoon was puff pastry, which turned out to be a right old faff. Each time it came to turning it to fold it again, Hannah couldn’t remember if she’d turned it the right way.

‘The other way,’ whispered Bronagh at her elbow. The girl was assisting her and Fliss, buzzing between them as she removed dirty dishes, brought over more supplies, and wiped up spillages.