by Pam Rhodes
“Claire,” said Gary, “I don’t think you’ve met my wife Karen.”
Karen’s smile was open and friendly as she acknowledged Claire, who covered her fluster by introducing her mother, who had just arrived at her side.
“Lovely to meet you, Karen. This is my mum Ruth – and my husband Nigel, who’s doing a gallant job of keeping this table for us. My dad is in the queue drooling over all those gorgeous cakes.”
Karen laughed. “We’re on our way to join the queue now. Bang goes the waistline!”
With just the faintest acknowledgement, Gary nodded towards Claire. He understood. They both did.
Just as it was the boys who had brought the two families together, so it was the boys who dragged them apart again, as the twins hared off to speak to another group of friends.
“Sorry,” said Karen. “It seems we have to go. Lovely to meet you, Claire. Have a wonderful tea, and perhaps I’ll see you at Beavers before too long. I’m planning to be there more often from now on.”
There was a flurry of goodbyes as the two families went their separate ways.
“They were nice lads,” commented Nigel. “The boys seem to get on so well. Perhaps Josh should invite them round one day.”
“Hmm,” agreed Claire, as she busied herself settling her mother into a spare seat at the table.
On the other side of the foyer, Trevor and Mary were having a cup of tea with Ray.
“I used to be able to play spoons years ago,” remembered Ray. “It was a grand idea of yours, Mary, to get the youngsters doing it today.”
“They surprised me,” replied Mary. “I really didn’t know if it would appeal to them, but they loved it from the moment I showed them how to do it.”
“It’s all computers and technology for the kids now, isn’t it?” mused Trevor. “They don’t seem to use their own imaginations and play, like we used to.”
“They’re not allowed to climb trees or have conker matches, because it might be dangerous,” sighed Mary.
“They can’t ride their bikes without helmets, or roller-skate without kneepads,” added Ray.
“They can’t have secret dens or go out for the day with the kids next door, having no idea where they might go or what they’ll end up doing.”
Trevor chuckled. “I don’t know how we all managed to get through our childhood in one piece. Do you? Nowadays, it would be considered a Health and Safety nightmare!”
“Shall I clear some of these plates away for you, to give you all a bit more room?”
They looked up to see Shirley heading their way carrying a tray that was already half loaded with empty crockery.
“Shirley!” squealed Mary. “You must be exhausted. You’ve been working non-stop for weeks to get everything ready for the show. It was a triumph!”
Shirley grinned with pleasure at the compliment. “It wasn’t just me. There were lots of willing hands.”
“Yes, but you pulled it all together.”
“It’s been a wonderful afternoon,” agreed Trevor, “and we all know its success is largely due to you.”
“Actually, Shirley,” said Ray, rising from his seat, “I’ve been meaning to have a word with you. Have you a moment now?”
Shirley felt her stomach lurch at his suggestion. Was this it? Was he planning to tell her that now the fayre was over, and he was back to working at his former level of speed and efficiency, her services would no longer be required?
“Let me just put this tray down,” she managed to say, “and I’ll be right with you.”
When she came back out from the kitchen, she walked over to the corner where Ray was waiting, trying to gauge his expression. He wasn’t smiling. In fact, he looked quite stern. Perhaps she’d done something wrong, overstepped the mark in some way? Her mouth went dry.
“Shirley, you know that some people were quite reluctant to take you on at the start. You had such definite opinions on everything that we worried you might find it difficult to fit in with the way we like things done here at Hope Hall. That was why we only agreed to employ you on a trial basis, until I was able to take up the reins of the job properly again.”
Unusually for Shirley, she couldn’t think of a thing to say.
“And now I’m back, and ready to resume every aspect of my role as caretaker here.”
“Oh right. You won’t be needing me any more then.”
Suddenly, he smiled. “I think, my dear Shirley, that Hope Hall couldn’t possibly do without you. You have worked miracles in so many different ways. You galvanize people into action. You give them a conscience if they don’t care for the welfare of this hall as much as you do. You notice what’s happening around you – who’s in trouble, who’s celebrating, who’s unhappy or not feeling as well as they should. And you care – enough to anticipate people’s needs before they know they need anything. I’ve experienced it personally. Your thoughtfulness towards Sara and me was so unexpected, but exactly what was required. No fuss, no demands – just kindness. You are a very special woman, Shirley Wells!”
Shirley stared at him with eyes that were rapidly filling up with tears. “But the job? You don’t need me any more!”
“We took you on as a cleaner, but you’ve cleaned up so much more than dust and dirt! Kath, Trevor and I have had a talk about it, and we would like to offer you the role of Management Assistant. We thought that was a good way to describe how, whenever any of us need a helping hand, you’ll manage to do it brilliantly.”
Shirley threw her arms around Ray’s neck and planted a great big kiss on his cheek.
“Hold on,” he chuckled. “People will start talking!”
“Ah, but no one talks as loudly as me,” she retorted with a belly laugh that could be heard all over the hall.
After the mad stampede for tea, cakes and other dishes had calmed down a little, and the crowds were beginning to leave for home, Maggie looked around the kitchen with a sense of achievement that everything had gone so well. Her team of helpers, including her talented and much trusted friend Liz, had been magnificent. Even newcomers like Kevin – who was bursting with a love of cooking and a burning ambition to learn, in spite of the difficulties of his home life – made her smile with affection and pride. There was so much in her life to warm and cheer her, so much she wanted to accomplish, so much to look forward to.
I’ve been concentrating too much on what I feel I’m losing, she thought, as she reached up absent-mindedly to put a row of glasses back in the cupboard. I couldn’t imagine my life without Dave, but I have no wish to have that man in my life any more, after all that’s happened. I didn’t deserve to be treated like that, and I won’t be again. She smiled as she thought of the letter that had arrived only two days earlier confirming that her offer on number 17 Linden Avenue had been accepted. It was so long since she’d bought a house that she had no idea how long it would take to process the purchase of the apartment, and how much more time would be needed to finalize the details of the divorce settlement. All she knew was that both were going through without any obvious problems. She just had a good feeling about it all. She’d been through so much upheaval and upset. What lay ahead was a new home that she already loved, and a new life that was hers, and hers alone.
She placed the last glass in the cupboard and shut the door with a decisive bang. Life was good – not brilliant, not settled – but good.
***
Kath was the last person to leave that evening. It was a measure of the kind-hearted people who used Hope Hall that so many of them stayed for quite a while to help with the clearing up. Ray and Shirley had done a general tidy, but they had arranged to come in first thing the next morning to complete the job and give Hope Hall a proper spring-clean.
As she walked through the empty hall with the light beginning to fade, she felt a wave of affection waft through her – a fondness for this old hall that had seen so much, known so many, kept their secrets, sheltered them from harm, nurtured the young, ached with the old. Year after
year, within these walls local people had cried, laughed, worried, talked, hugged, mourned, and cared for one another.
Jack had come here and been too exhausted by the demands of his own work to understand the true glory of a place like Hope Hall. She knew she wasn’t ready to give up on him. She also knew that she wasn’t prepared to put her own life on hold in favour of his. That wouldn’t be right for either of them.
Making her way towards the main door, she fancied that she heard a sigh of contentment, deep, warm and reassuring, from the heart of the hall itself. She listened again. Nothing. There was nothing to hear but the whine of the wind outside and the creaking of old joints within.
Smiling at her foolishness, she stepped out and pulled the main door of Hope Hall shut, turning the key in the lock before she walked away.
Who’s Who at Hope Hall
Hope Hall staff and their families:
Kath Sutton – Manager of Hope Hall
Dr Jack Sawyer – Kath’s former partner when they both worked in a London hospital, now based at a hospital in Southampton
Maggie Stapleton – Catering Manager at the Call-in Café
Dave Stapleton – Maggie’s ex-husband
Mandy, Marlin and Belle – Dave’s new partner and her children
Steph, Dale, and Bobbie (aged 2) – Maggie’s daughter and her family
Darren and Sonia – Maggie’s son and his girlfriend
Liz – Assistant Catering Manager at the Call-in Café
Ray and Sara – Hope Hall Caretaker and his wife who is ill with cancer
Shirley and Mick Wells – temporary assistant to Ray during his wife’s illness and her husband
Trevor and Mary Barrett – Accountant at Hope Hall and his wife
Work experience pupils at the Call-in Café:
Jess
Gemma
Kevin Marley – wants to be the next Jamie Oliver; his family are
Deirdre (Mum) and Lily (Nan)
Dance classes:
Della Lucas – recently back from working on cruise ships, and planning to start taking a variety of dance classes at Hope Hall
Barbara Lucas – Della’s mother, recently retired as the dance schoolteacher in the town; sister of Shirley Wells
Ronnie Andrews – former variety professional pianist who plays both for Della’s dancing classes and for the Can’t Sing Singers
Grown-ups’ Lunch Club members:
Percy Wilson – cheeky character, great storyteller
Connie – sits on Percy’s table, leaving husband Eric at home in his beloved potting shed
John – widower on Percy’s table
Robert – also on Percy’s table, keen on indoor bowls
Ida – heads another table, bossy and organizing
Betty – sits on Ida’s table, nervous about dancing
Doris – sits on Ida’s table, married to Bert
Flora – sits on Ida’s table, also in the Can’t Sing Singers
Gerald – church member whose wife has recently gone into care, brought along to the Club by the vicar’s wife, Ellie
Can’t Sing Singers:
(all previous members of the St Marks’ Church choir, thrown out when new musical director, Gregory Palmer, is appointed)
Pauline Owen – organizer
Peter and Olive Spencer – couple in their eighties
Mary and Elizabeth Brownlow – spinster sisters in choir since their Sunday school days
Bruce Edison – former rock group singer
Keith Turner – still in the St Mark’s Church choir, but comes along to the Can’t Sing Singers too
St Mark’s Church:
James – vicar at the church for two years
Ellie – vicar’s wife; knows Kath, Manager of Hope Hall, because they both run in the park
Gregory and Fiona Palmer – new Musical Director at the church and his wife
Playgroup:
Jen and Rob – organizer and her garage mechanic husband
Carol, Phil and Little Joe – senior helper and her husband and toddler; childhood friend of Jen
Beavers:
Andy – “Bear”
Gary, Karen, Toby and Max Knights – Toby and Max have just joined Beavers; Gary is their main caregiver in the day and works from home as a graphic designer
Claire, Nigel, son Josh Hughes – Josh attends Beavers. Claire’s parents, Bernard and Ruth, don’t get on with her husband, Nigel
Knit and Natter Club:
Elaine Clarke – organizer
Down Memory Lane Club:
Jean – dementia care therapist
Bill Cartwright, Ruby and Celia – members
Women’s Institute:
Barbara Longstone – formidable Chair of the WI
COMING APRIL 2021
Catch up with Kath and the rest of her Hope Hall friends as summer comes to Hope Hall!