Page 121 of Until the Sea Runs Dry

It seemed an innocent enough request, though Jane suspected that nothing about Delia was as she seemed.

Still shopping with his mother.

What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

Ten minutes later,they sat in Delia’s Mercedes, Loki sticking his nose out of the tiny crack of Jane’s open window. Even with her fingers looped around his collar, she was afraid to open it any further in case he somehow fell out of it.

Delia was a calm and considered driver, not taken to being affected by whatever madness surrounded them on the streets. Jane found her presence calming, which was a surprise given the situation warranted any other feeling but that.

“I suppose we should start at Rodeo Drive?” Delia asked, looking to Jane for agreement.

Jane considered her suggestion. “I can’t imagine him needing any more clothes or accessories, not with the amount of designers who keep gifting him things. Besides, he doesn’t seem to care too much about what he wears as long as it’s comfortable and well made. Why don’t we look for something fun he can use in the kitchen? He told me he learned how to cook from you, maybe we could find him some gadget or other that he doesn’t have yet?”

Her answer seemed to have taken Delia by surprise. She didn’t reply immediately, but when she did, it was with a sidelong glance that she caught.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“The Grove should have some good stores for that,” Jane suggested. And it was true. It was also just about the only place she knew other than the clothes stores she had previously frequented.

They spent a few happy hours ambling around the shopping center, with Loki’s antics keeping them entertained. Today, he’d decided to carry one of Logan’s shoes with him, something which seemed to amuse everyone who saw him. Jane had attempted to wrestle it from him, but the look he had given her had been enough for her to stop.

It was only a shoe, and Logan had plenty of others.

Despite her picture being displayed on the tabloids and entertainment channels, Jane was able to walk around without being noticed much. Here, she was just a woman shopping with her dog and her boyfriend’s mother.

The conversation steered away from anything intense. Mostly, Delia chatted about the products they were considering as gifts, though Jane had no doubt in her mind that questions were coming up. Logan’s mom seemed a patient woman who was able to bide her time.

They went into a pet store where Jane picked up some treats and a ball that bounced around on its own, hoping it would come in handy when they were too busy to entertain Loki. Then they perused several stores, contemplating the goods on display. While in a pretty homeware store that made her think of Martha Stewart, Jane finally decided on a sous vide machine.

Reading the label, Delia turned her confused eyes to Jane. “I’m not even going to pretend to pronounce that. And what exactly does it do?” Her cookery lessons hadn’t amounted to using one of these high-tech looking machines.

“It’s pronounced sue-veed. It’s French. It means “under vacuum” and isn’t half as frightening or difficult as it looks. You just simply put whatever you are cooking, meat or fish, for example, vacuum-seal it in a bag then immerse it into a very precise temperature in the water bath. The process cooks things perfectly every time with no burning, retaining any juices and moisture. When it’s done, you can broil, sear or fry to brown it off.”

Delia looked far from convinced. “Seems like a lot of trouble to go to.”

“Oh, it’s really very simple. I can’t live without mine.”

To moment she said the words, the ramification of the words hit home.

“I had a sous-vide machine! I’ve just remembered something else!”

“That’s wonderful, Jane. Now that the floodgates have opened, I’m sure more and more things will come to you.”

“I hope so. It’s a strange feeling, not remembering who you are or where you came from. Almost as if I’m only half a person.”

She didn’t see the sympathy that dimmed Delia’s bright green eyes.

“Do you think I might have been a chef? I mean, what normal person would have one of these at home?”

“You were just thinking of getting one for Logan,” the older woman replied.

“But he’s far from normal.”

Delia nodded. “That’s true, even if I do say so myself. Well, since you’re getting him that, I’ll go for this Air Fryer. It’s wifi controlled apparently, whatever that means. I hardly think anyone would need to surf the internet while using one.”

Jane fought to contain a laugh. “I think it just means that you can control it using your phone.”

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