28........

Continued.....

Marta was making her birthday cake. She poured a generous glass of cognac into a bowl of dried fruit and showed it to Jamie, who was fiddling with his iPad.

'Look at these lovely flame raisins soaking up the brandy,' she said 'all wee and wrinkly one moment, fat and boozy the next.'

'Mmm,' said Jamie, 'how is your mother?'

'Don't be mean.' said Marta, wondering why he'd turned the iPad over when she approached. 'She's always nice about you.'

'Really? Define nice. The first time she met me, she said I reminded her of a ferret!'

'She meant it kindly. Anyway, as I recall she apologised.'

'She did. She said she was very wrong to have called me ferrety.....when what she actually meant, was a weasel.'

Marta laughed. 'Oh stop it, that's just her sense of humour. Anyway, never mind her.... look at these lovely almonds my dad sent from Spain.' She bit into one. 'Try them - they're so fresh and full of flavour.' She offered the bag to Jamie. 'In my opinion, there's nothing worse than fusty, tasteless old nuts.'

'Mmm,' agreed Jamie, 'and as I was saying.... how is your mother?'