Summer Season

by Julia Williams

  ‘What’s been going on in here?’ Joel laughed, as he walked into Lauren’s normally pristine kitchen and found it looking as though a bomb had exploded in it. Izzie and Immie were sitting up at the work counter, licking cake mixture out of a bowl. There was flour everywhere, and Sam appeared to have sat on an egg.

  ‘I’m trying to make cakes for the Summer Fest,’ said Lauren. ‘And I’m getting a little too much help.’

  ‘I can see you are,’ said Joel. ‘Right, why don’t I get my little monster out of your hair and then I’ll ask Christine to pop round to babysit for a couple of hours and come and help you bake some cakes.’

  ‘You? Bake cakes?’ snorted Lauren. ‘Now I’ve heard everything.’

  ‘I’ll have you know my son and I do a fine line in cookies,’ Joel said, mock seriously. ‘It’s a really good way to waste a boring Sunday afternoon. So what do you say?’

  ‘I say, that sounds rather brilliant,’ said Lauren. ‘Only I’d better just clean Sam up before you take him home, or your car seat will end up covered in egg and flour.’

  By the time Joel returned a couple of hours later, Lauren had regained control of her kitchen and the twins were in bed.

  ‘Thanks so much for doing this,’ she said. ‘Only like an idiot I promised to make lots of cakes, and I just forgot how difficult it was going to be with the kids around. I’m going to be up all night tomorrow at this rate.’

  ‘Well, let’s see what we can do,’ said Joel. ‘I am here to follow your orders.’

  ‘I thought you were the cupcake king,’ teased Lauren.

  ‘I do cookies,’ said Joel, ‘cupcakes are a whole new territory.’

  ‘Watch and learn,’ said Lauren.

  With Joel helping not only did the time go by fast, but it was much quicker, as Lauren could double up the quantities she was making. There was a slight problem in terms of how many cakes she could actually get in her oven, but luckily Kezzie came to the rescue and offered hers as a back-up. Once they got a system going of making up the mixture, putting it in cases, cooking them for twenty minutes and then leaving them to cool while the next batch went in, things moved along very smoothly. Lauren found to her surprise she was enjoying herself, and felt more relaxed with both Kezzie and Joel than she had done in months. By 10 p.m. they had made one hundred and fifty cakes. Lauren was running out of boxes to put them in, but again, Kezzie helped, producing tons of Tupperware.

  ‘I guess Aunt Jo goes to a lot of Tupperware parties,’ she said. ‘I found stacks of these in the cupboard.’

  ‘Ah, I know what that is,’ said Lauren. ‘She ran the cake stall last year.’

  ‘What are you going to do with this lot now?’ said Joel.

  ‘Tomorrow, I decorate,’ said Lauren, ‘and hope I can get it done before the girls get home. Thanks, guys, I couldn’t have done it without you.’

  ‘No worries,’ said Joel, getting up to leave, as Kezzie headed back next door. Lauren felt an unexpected stab of jealousy. She had a sneaky feeling something was going on.

  Joel spent the Friday night before the Summer Fest clearing the house, making sure it was suitable for the visitors they were hoping for. He looked at Lovelace Cottage with fresh eyes, taking in the brightness of the hallway, now decorated in airy light colours as he’d always intended, the friendliness of the lounge, which felt more like a cosy family room than a barren place to watch TV, and the comforting solidity of the dining room, now about to play host to part of the exhibition. With a jolt of pleasure, he realized that in the past few months his house had finally become a home.

  Kezzie and Eileen came over in the early evening to sort out the exhibition. They had decided to use the study, and Edward’s newly restored desk to show where he’d worked on his designs. They were going to use the dining room for the rest of the exhibition, as it had space for the impressive-looking displays that Eileen had created. On the centre of the dining room table they carefully laid out Edward’s original designs.

  ‘It looks brilliant,’ said Joel, when he’d seen their hard work. ‘I think people are going to be really fascinated.’

  After Eileen had gone, Kezzie went into the garden to sort out a floral display of pots on the patio; Joel mowed the lawn while she worked. The sun was setting as he mowed, and swallows weaved their way in and out of the sky above the garden. The sheep in the field at the bottom of the garden were baaing happily in the distance, lambs gambolling at their mothers’ feet, and he could hear faint music coming from a house, where someone was clearly having a party. The smell of barbecues being stoked wafted up from the valley. It was a sweltering evening, so Joel took his shirt off and wiped the sweat off his brow.

  ‘Oi, put it away,’ joked Kezzie.

  Joel laughed, ‘It’s really hot work this. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a thunderstorm tonight.’

  ‘Oh God, I hope not,’ said Kezzie. ‘They did say the weather was about to turn, but it would be a real pity if it changed overnight. That marquee in the field will probably blow away.’

  ‘Yes it would be a shame,’ said Joel, ‘after everyone’s hard work. And I would like to be able to show off Edward’s garden at its best.’

  He finished what he was doing and went to get a clean shirt.

  ‘Drink?’ he said, walking back into the garden with a bottle of champagne and two glasses.

  ‘What’s that in aid of?’ said Kezzie.

  ‘It’s to say thank you,’ said Joel. ‘You came along and shook me out of my stupor. You made me see that the garden and house were still worth restoring. You’ve reminded me that life still goes on. I couldn’t have got through the last few months without you.’

  ‘Oh, stop it,’ said Kezzie, blushing. ‘I’ve been a pain in the arse, mainly.’

  ‘I mean it,’ said Joel. He popped the champagne cork, and poured them both a glass. ‘You’ve made such a great difference to my life. I’ll always be indebted to you.’

  ‘To the garden and Edward Handford,’ said Kezzie, raising her glass.

  ‘And to us,’ said Joel, ‘survivors of the storm.’

  ‘To us,’ said Kezzie, clinking her glass against his, and taking a sip of champagne.

  A door slammed shut in the house. Damn, Joel thought. He had been in and out of the front door and must have left it open.

  ‘Better just check I haven’t had burglars,’ he said.

  He went into the kitchen and there on the kitchen table were two little bags full of beautifully decorated cupcakes. There was a note from Lauren, saying Thanks for your help last night, one’s for you and one’s for Sam xx, but no sign of Lauren.

  How odd. Why hadn’t she come to say hello?

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  ‘Right, how are we doing?’ Eileen asked, as she arrived at the cake stall, which Lauren was setting up with the girls. Lauren had been up late the night before, tying the cakes and cookies she’d made up in packets of cellophane wrapped up in ribbon. The effect was very impressive. And then she’d woken up early, the image of what she’d seen at Joel’s house going over and over in her mind.

  The twins had been too hot to sleep, so she decided to take them out for a walk to Joel’s, to give him some cakes to say thank you, and to have a look at the garden. She hadn’t expected Kezzie to be there – but of course she would be, given that the garden was her project. Joel didn’t hear her ring on the doorbell, and so she tentatively pushed the door open and walked through into the kitchen. She was about to go and say hi to Joel when she heard him raise a glass with Kezzie, and say: ‘To us.’ With that she had simply left the cakes on the kitchen table and fled with the girls, telling them Joel was too busy to see them, and gone home feeling like a fool. She had suspected it before, of course, but it was a whole other thing to be presented with the reality of Joel and Kezzie together. She couldn’t face either of them today.

  ‘Not too bad,’ said Lauren. ‘I’m expecting Rose Carmichael and Mary Stevens to provide Victoria sponges, and Cynthia’s even b
ringing a Dundee cake.’

  ‘You’ve certainly worked some magic here,’ said Eileen. ‘I don’t think we’ve ever had such an enticing cake stand. You should go into business selling cakes.’

  ‘Do you know, I think I might,’ said Lauren.

  The fete was officially opening at ten, but Lauren had got there at eight to get ready. She looked nervously at the sky. After days of unbroken sunshine, it looked as though the weather might finally break.

  ‘You don’t think it’s going to rain, do you?’ she said.

  ‘Perish the thought, I simply won’t entertain it,’ said Eileen, before busying on her way.

  The High Street was filling up with people setting up stalls, and there was much camaraderie and joking going on.

  Lauren was looking forward to the day. After all their hard work, it should be fun. She wondered how Joel and Kezzie were getting on at the house. The gardens of Heartsease were being opened for the afternoon, and Lovelace Cottage, with its Edward Handford exhibition, was going to be the prime attraction. Lauren knew Joel was going to be there most of the afternoon, while Kezzie was planning to flit between there and the Memorial Gardens. Lauren intended to keep her distance from both of them as much as she could. Not that she wanted to; Kezzie had become a good friend to her over the last few months. She had been a breath of fresh air, and Lauren had been reminded that although she was a mother, she was still young and alive. She felt bad about avoiding her, but Lauren wasn’t quite ready to deal with the new reality of Kezzie and Joel.

  ‘Ooh, those look good,’ said a voice. Talk of the devil. Damn, that was all she needed. Kezzie came up to the stall. ‘I can see you’ve been busy.’

  ‘Well, I’ve had some help.’ Izzie and Immie popped their heads out from under the table, and Lauren had to stop them dragging the tablecloth off. ‘Though it’s a moot point how helpful they’ve actually been. Come on, girls, out of there, you’ll ruin the display.’

  ‘How about you? What are you up to?’ Lauren was trying to be polite, but Kezzie really was the last person she wanted to see at that moment.

  ‘I’m finishing off the Edward Handford display at Joel’s and doing some last minute adjustments in the garden, and then I’m waiting up at the house while he fetches his mum, just in case anyone turns up. She really likes what I’ve done, I’m so pleased.’

  ‘And I’m sure she’s very happy for you,’ said Lauren.

  ‘I suppose she is,’ said Kezzie, looking a bit puzzled. ‘I haven’t given it much thought.’

  This struck Lauren as slightly odd, but her heart had sunk at the mention of Joel’s mum. Kezzie was obviously a regular at Joel’s Sunday lunches. That said it all.

  ‘I’m happy for you both, too,’ said Lauren. ‘Come on, girls, we’re going to leave the stall for later and go and have breakfast.’

  ‘Happy for who?’ said Kezzie, looking bemused.

  ‘You and Joel,’ said Lauren, with dogged determination. Might as well get it out of the way sooner rather than later, so they didn’t feel they had to pussyfoot around her. ‘I think you’ll make an excellent couple. See you later.’

  Kezzie stood open mouthed, watching Lauren leave.

  Oh God, what a mess! That was all she needed to help her jangling nerves. Kezzie had been so worried about Richard turning up today she’d given no thought to anyone else. Joel had thought it odd last night, when Lauren had left the cakes in his kitchen and not said anything. It all made sense now. Somehow she’d got the wrong end of the stick and thought she and Joel were an item.

  Kezzie didn’t have time to deal with any of this right now though, she had too much to do. She’d have to go and explain to Lauren later. What’s more she’d have to point Joel back in the right direction. He hadn’t wanted to crowd Lauren since Troy had left, and had been deliberately giving her space. He, too, had totally misread the situation.

  Kezzie went to Joel’s, where it was clear that Eileen was more than capably dealing with the exhibition, leaving a very enthusiastic Tony (who it transpired had a passion for local history) in charge. A reporter from the local paper had arrived with a photographer who after photographing Joel in the garden, insisted on Kezzie and Eileen having their picture taken in front of the display. After which she did an interview with Anthony Grantham on Joel’s newly restored patio. He promised the knot garden would feature heavily on the next episode of Dig It! Escaping from the house into the garden, she spent a busy couple of hours weeding and tidying things up, and replacing the odd plant that looked feeble. There was still no sign of Richard. Good. Perhaps he wasn’t coming.

  ‘It looks great,’ said Joel, as he came down the garden to let her know he was back. ‘I think Edward would have been delighted.’

  ‘I hope so,’ said Kezzie.

  ‘I’m glad you’ve spruced up that old bench,’ said Joel’s mum, who’d limped down with her stick. ‘I’m sure if it could speak, that bench could tell us a story. It’s where George proposed to Connie, and my grandfather to my grandmother. I always thought that was fearfully romantic.’

  Kezzie smiled slyly. Who knows, maybe it was time to inspire some more romance. She nudged Joel. ‘Perhaps you should bring Lauren down here.’

  Joel blushed. ‘She’s not interested in me.’

  ‘Oh yes, she is,’ said Kezzie. ‘The trouble is, she thinks you’re not interested in her. In fact she seems to be suffering from the delusion that you’re in love with me.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You heard,’ said Kezzie. ‘Now’s your chance. Go get her!’

  Joel was staggered by Kezzie’s revelation. He’d been so sure that Lauren wasn’t interested in him in that way, and had been keeping his distance to allow her time to get over Troy. It was true, the other night when they were making cakes she’d warmed up a bit and been more like her old self, but he’d put that down to her being grateful. To be honest, he’d been slightly hurt that she’d simply left the cakes last night without saying hello. He’d been certain that she was still getting over Troy, it hadn’t occurred to Joel that she might now be interested in him. His heart beat with added excitement. Maybe today was the day when everything could change.

  ‘Come on, time to get ready for the grand opening,’ said Joel. ‘Let’s go down and see New Horizons do their stuff.’

  They made it down the hill just in time.

  A crowd had gathered in the market square, which had been transformed with a huge stage and bunting. New Horizons were greeted by the Mayor of Chiverton, who looked slightly bemused by proceedings, and even more so when the boys sang their latest hit, much to the excitement of all the girls in the audience. There was even more excitement when one of them took his top off and threw it into the crowd of adoring fans, who had pushed their way up to the front of the stage.

  ‘Be still, my beating heart,’ said Kezzie, grinning.

  ‘Well, really,’ Cynthia snorted behind them, ‘I’ve never seen such a thing. I shall certainly be complaining to the Parish Council about this.’

  Kezzie scanned the crowd, searching for Lauren. She spotted her on the other side of the market square.

  ‘Look, Joel. Lauren’s over there. Why don’t you go and grab her?’

  Joel tried to move over towards where Lauren and the girls had been standing, but they were swept away by the crowds and he lost sight of them.

  By now the sun was shining and the Summer Fest was in full flow. Kezzie went off to do her stint at the Memorial Gardens, while Joel, his mum and Sam found the games area suitable for toddlers, where they spent a happy half hour playing Hook the Duck and having a go at the Lucky Dip. Eileen, it seemed, had thought of everything. Heartsease’s Summer Fest had something for everybody.

  He tried to catch a glimpse of Lauren on the cake stall, but she was doing such a roaring trade he couldn’t find a moment; then he had to go and get ready for the garden opening, and suddenly he had run out of time.

  ‘Will I see you later?’ he mouthed in her direction, but s
he didn’t appear to have heard him.

  Damn, and double damn. Maybe they’d be able to catch up in the afternoon. He certainly hoped so.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Joel was astonished to get back at 11.30 to find several people patiently waiting to see the garden, even though the official opening wasn’t until 12. The first in the queue was the RHS judge, who expressed a passion for knot gardens. ‘I can’t wait to see what you’ve done,’ she said, ‘I’d read about Edward Handford’s garden, and am thrilled it’s been restored.’ The rest were a motley crew: there were the obvious elderly RHS members who were clearly obsessed with gardens and started asking him awkward questions about plant names, but there was also a young couple with a baby, who professed to just love plants, and a middle-aged mum who told him she was doing a course in gardening history and her tutor had told her to come. He let them all in and took them down to the garden and started his spiel about Edward and Lily, and explained how Kezzie had restored the garden to its former glory, the film crew following him all the while. It was going to be strange seeing his house and gardens on TV. Joel’s mum, in the meantime, stayed at the top of the house, keeping an eye on Sam and directing people to the knot garden.

  The threatened storm held off, but it was a hot and sultry day, so Joel’s mum was also doing a roaring trade with the drinks Joel was selling for a small fee. The visitors seemed to enjoy sitting around on the patio admiring the view and talking about what they had seen in the garden.