‘Aren’t you going to answer that?’ she asked.
‘No, the chances are it’ll only be yet another man I don’t want to speak to.’
‘Really?’ She looked at me doubtfully I was back in my patchwork dungarees and rainbow-striped cardigan, so I don’t suppose I looked much like a man-magnet.
But if she thought I was mad as a hatter, she was still too impressed by the quality of my previous customers and my appearance in the terribly upmarket Country at Heart magazine, to take her order elsewhere. Eccentricity was clearly OK in that milieu.
Chapter Eighteen
Mixed Pickles
If you make your own spiced vinegar for pickling, you will find it tastes much better than the bought stuff. I pickle everything, from plain onions, to beetroot, to cauliflower and gherkins, but I cant say I am very partial to pickled eggs. The Artist used to be, but of course now that he has moved on I don’t need to bother making them for him, and Uncle prefers pickled red cabbage.
‘Cakes and Ale’
There was not so much to do in the garden in late November, but I kept myself busy with my cake making, baking several large square ones and stacking them to make a steep, curved ski-run. There was lots of pickling and preserving to be done, too, plus the next instalment of ‘Cakes and Ale’ to rough out, so it would need just a polish and a bit of an update before I sent it in.
Libby must have been having a blissful honeymoon, because she didn’t phone me until just before they flew back and then only, I think, because she had phoned Gina first. She has a naturally suspicious mind.
‘According to Gina, the reception carried on for hours after we left and the Mummers kept playing until almost one, when she and Maria went over to the barn and told everyone to go home. They were down to the younger guests by then and, since the caterers had long since cleared up and gone, they’d sent out for alcohol.’
‘Yes, Pia popped in the day after, before she and Maria went back to London, and said they had a great time.’
‘Gina also said she noticed that you went home soon after Tim and I left…with Noah.’ Libby paused meaningfully, but I didn’t fall into the trap and rush into speech. ‘And she didn’t see him again before she left herself, a couple of hours later.’
‘Oh, I expect she just didn’t spot him,’ I said, though my tummy was doing that hot churny thing it did whenever I thought of that night. ‘I had to leave early, because I caught your bouquet when you threw it and I went home to unwire it and put the flowers in water. Noah walked me there and then stayed to help. When he went back to the reception I didn’t feel like it any more. I think I’d already had too much champagne. I just wanted to go to bed.’
It was almost true, wasn’t it? I was just a little economical with the facts.
‘Hmm,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘You didn’t fall for Noah, did you? Only I warned you what he’s like.’
‘Oh, no,’ I said airily. ‘I do like him better now I’ve got to know him, but it wouldn’t bother me if I never saw him again.’
‘Really?’ She didn’t sound terribly convinced. ‘Well, you are pretty sure to see him again, since he’s an old friend and likely to visit.’
Not if I could help it, I wouldn’t! I was sort of grateful to Noah in a way because I’d seemed to turn a corner emotionally after our encounter, but I certainly didn’t ever want to meet my catharsis face to face again. I offered Libby a red herring before she could grill me some more. I hadn’t decided whether I was going to confess all when she returned or not, but I certainly wasn’t doing it over the phone. ‘Rob Rafferty asked Pia for my phone number!’
‘Oh my God! She didn’t give it to him, did she? You haven’t been out with him?’
‘No, she didn’t, and no, I haven’t…but it is sort of flattering, isn’t it, to have a gorgeous man like that show some interest?’
‘Men have probably been showing interest for years and you’ve been too wrapped up in Ben to notice—but I don’t think Rob Rafferty is what you need right now.’
‘I don’t need any men, full stop,’ I told her. ‘I’m fine on my own. By the way, Pia is really taken with Jasper Pharamond. He’s a sweetie, but terribly serious. I wouldn’t have thought he was her type at all! She says she’s coming back to Blessings for Christmas, because Jasper will be back home for the university hols by then and she hopes to see him.’
‘Oh, is she?’ Libby sounded pleased. ‘That will be lovely! We can have our first Christmas at Blessings as a family. And I’d much rather she fell for Jasper than any of the wasters she goes around with. He seems nice. I think she liked Tim once she got to know him a bit, don’t you?’
‘I don’t see how anyone could dislike him,’ I assured her. ‘I’m sure she’s already getting used to the idea, and Maria was a great help.’ Clamping the phone between shoulder and chin, I opened the dresser drawer and fished out a folded newspaper. ‘I kept you the cutting from the Sticklepond and District Courier about the wedding. Listen to this for excited and overblown local reporting!
‘The wedding of the year, between Mrs Elizabeth Cazzini and Mr Timothy Rowland-Knowles, took place on Friday at St Cuthbert’s church, Neatslake, and the reception was held in the Old Barn at Blessings, the bridegroom’s residence. Celebrity guests included well-known London portrait photographer Noah Sephton and soap star Rob Rafferty, who plays the part of Seth Steele in Cotton Common.
‘The happy couple are pictured cutting their very unusual cake (made by local cake designer and bridesmaid Josie Gray, second right in main picture), which was in the form of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Italian theme was carried on at the reception…
‘And it goes on and on, with three pictures. I look sozzled in the one I’m in. Just as well the Glorious Weddings photographer took only photos of you and the cake.’
‘You were sozzled, but not till later,’ Libby pointed out. ‘I’ll look forward to seeing that article. Tim and I have bought a lovely big album bound in white and gold leather for our official wedding photos, so I hope they’ve come out well. But I’ll have Noah’s pictures if not, I suppose—his always do come out, even when you wish they wouldn’t! He does tend to catch the oddest scenes and before you know where you are, your intimate moments are blown up in black and white for everyone else to see too.’
‘I think that’s terribly intrusive.’
‘Oh, not really. Most people are flattered that the great Noah Sephton thinks they’re worth photographing, even if later they aren’t keen on how they’re portrayed. It’s an honour.’
‘It’s an honour I don’t want.’
‘I’m afraid you’ll feature in them anyway, but he will have taken a couple of frameable wedding pictures too, he promised me,’ she said blithely. ‘And the wedding photographer will have got him in the line-up outside the church—the snapper snapped!’
‘I expect the pics are awaiting your return, Libs. You’ll be home in a couple of days. Have you had a great time?’
‘Yes. Tim had been to Pisa before, but only briefly, and that’s never like living in a place, is it? It’s so lucky we both love Italy! I already feel that it’s my second home and I’m sure Tim soon will too.’
I was pretty positive that Tim would feel like that about anywhere Libby took him to, since in his willingness to please he resembled nothing so much as a big, affectionate golden Labrador puppy, but I agreed that it was indeed lovely that they already had that connection.
‘We’ve been talking over that idea I had of creating a permanent wedding venue in the Old Barn and we’re really going to go for it, when we get back,’ she said.
‘You’ve definitely made your minds up?’
‘Yes, and I’ll be counting on you to help, Josie, because there will be lots to do if we want to be open for next year’s wedding season. I expect we’ll need planning permission because of making lots of alterations. There are so many things to sort out and I imagine it will all cost a lot of money.’
‘Yes, it will be a hu
ge effort to get it ready by then. When were you thinking of opening?’
‘Ideally, I’d like to open for business from the end of March to the start of October, just for the first season, to pack in as many receptions as possible to help pay for the alterations. If we make enough during the peak time for weddings to keep us going for the rest of the year, then we can go to Pisa, or ski, or do whatever else we like.’
‘You do seem to have it all worked out, and of course I’ll help, as much as I can,’ I assured her, though inwardly I was wondering where, in my already hectic schedule, I would find the time…
‘I thought you might be off the whole idea of romance and weddings at the moment?’
‘Well, they’re not for me, obviously, and nowadays most marriages seem to have a shelf life of about twelve months, but I’m more than happy to help you.’
‘You little cynic, you. Do you mean you and the Graces aren’t still racing over to the church every time the wedding bells peal out?’
‘No…but I’m fighting the addiction.’
‘Why bother? It’s quite harmless. When you’re helping me with Old Barn Receptions, you can indulge as much as you want. I’d like the number of your contact at Glorious Weddings, for a start, and I’ll certainly need you on reception days, as my second in command.’
‘I think you mean “gofer”’, I said resignedly.
‘Josie, we’ve had such fun working it all out! I’m sure it’ll be a real money-spinner and then Tim can give up work and concentrate on helping Dorrie with the gardening. And he can double up as a chauffeur, for those couples who want to marry at the church but not walk back across the Green, like I did—after all, it might not always be a dry day. But I expect a lot will marry elsewhere and just have the reception at Blessings. I’m definitely going to look into offering small wedding parties the option of a civil ceremony in the Great Chamber.’
‘Yes, but you’ll have to start by sorting out a lot of really basic stuff first, Libby, like toilets.’
‘Toilets?’
‘You may not have noticed, but the one toilet in the stable block was totally inadequate, and since it was so cold, not everyone wanted to trail across to the house to use the cloakroom there. And anyway, if it was strangers, you wouldn’t want them walking in and out of your house using the downstairs cloakroom, would you?’
‘No, I see what you mean, but luckily there’s plenty of space in the stable block to create a proper cloakroom, a swish one. And the tackroom will have to be totally revamped into a food storage and handling area. I mean, it will still be all cold buffet food brought in—I’ll have to find a local firm who can do that—but it will need finishing touches and refrigeration until it’s ready to serve.’
‘It would be cheaper to buy your own glasses, dishes, cutlery and tablecloths,’ I said, really starting to think about it, ‘rather than hire them.’
‘Yes, and the trestle tables and chairs—they’ll pay for themselves in the long run. And we need a glossy brochure of what’s on offer, which can feature some of your cakes, so you should get even more orders.’
‘I’m not sure I can handle that many more! I used to make one or two a month, just as a little sideline but, especially since that Country at Heart article, I’m getting constant enquiries. I don’t want to just make cakes all the time.’
‘Then double your prices and become more exclusive.’
‘I already tell them I won’t deliver the cakes out of the area, so that puts off most of the ones who live a long distance away. And I’m hardening my heart and turning down any I don’t fancy doing. I don’t know about doubling the prices, because I really don’t need any more money, Libby I can’t imagine what I would do with it.’
‘Buy some decent clothes?’ she suggested. ‘I’ll be paying you for helping me at the receptions too, so you’ll have no excuse.’
‘I’m not taking any money for that. I want to help you!’
‘Well…maybe at first, until we get a couple under our belts, but then you’ll have to accept wages.’
‘We’ll see,’ I said. ‘But maybe if I did double my prices, that would cut down the number of orders? Only I would still charge a lot less for local ones, if I really wanted to do them.’
‘There you are, you’re starting to think it through a bit more. You need to arrange things so you are doing what you want, not what everyone else wants.’
I thought that was pretty rich, considering she had just dragooned me into agreeing to help her run a wedding reception business!
‘So, what are you doing with yourself? Have you heard from Ben?’ she asked.
‘Yes, unfortunately. He keeps leaving messages on the phone and when he does get through to me he goes on and on about how he never meant this to happen, and that he misses me. He still seems to think I’m going to weaken and let him move right back in, as if nothing ever happened. I hadn’t realised he was quite that stupid, so it was a bit of a revelation.’
‘Big, friendly, affectionate, thick but devious—that’s Ben,’ she agreed. ‘But I have to admit he’s a brilliant artist even if I don’t like his stuff much. I suppose he’s living with this Olivia?’
‘Yes, according to Russell. And that’s another strange thing. Now he’s taken to phoning me up for late night chats. Don’t you think that’s a bit odd? It’s never Mary, but I think she’s still feeling guilty because she didn’t tell me about Olivia.’
‘He could just be being friendly and supportive?’ suggested Libby.
‘Maybe…The trouble is, I think he’s always fancied me a bit. Whenever we used to stay at their flat and he got tanked up, he’d be a bit too huggy and kissy with me. Ben used to think it was funny, but Mary always went tight-lipped, so it was a bit uncomfortable.’
‘Perhaps he thinks you’re fair game now, then?’
‘He’d better not! Not only is he married to Mary, but also I don’t fancy him in the least, though I always liked him—or I did when he wasn’t being drunk and silly. Anyway, I don’t want any more men in my life—I keep saying. I’m done with all that!’
‘You’ve left it a bit late to become a nun,’ Libby said tartly.
‘I’ll become the next best thing, then.’
‘So, are you already embracing the chaste life and not drinking too much, or sinking into depression?’
‘Yes, and I’m so busy I barely have time to think,’ I said brightly. ‘Harry gave me his car, which was lovely of him—did I tell you? Ben went off with the van and life would just be impossible without transport, because of delivering cakes and collecting the bulk co-op group deliveries.’
‘Yes, you can’t really heft sacks of rice and henfood on foot, or deliver fragile cakes on the bus.’
‘I haven’t got the time, either, because when I’m not making cakes I still have to look after the garden and Harry, walk the dog and keep an eye on the Graces. But Violet is a help. She’s getting so good at modelling things in icing that she’s practically an employee now.’
‘I bet you’re paying her way over the odds. They’ll be loaded with Acorns.’
I laughed. ‘Yes, more than a squirrel in winter!’
‘What are you doing with yourself? Have you had even a vestige of a social life since the wedding?’
‘No, to be honest, though we didn’t have much of a one before, really. We always enjoyed each other’s company best…’ I paused. ‘Of course, I’ve been out to Mark and Stella’s to pick up the coop order and drop off vegetables, and they always give me tea and cake. But even they haven’t invited me over for their Thursday evening gathering since Ben left. That’s a bit odd, isn’t it? It’s only just struck me. And we used to go and meet them in the pub, sometimes.’
‘Other women don’t want you around if you’re single. You become a threat,’ Libby said. ‘Never mind, I’ll be back soon and I know you don’t have any designs on Tim!’
‘He wouldn’t look at me if I had. He’s too madly in love with you.’
�
��I know,’ she said, and sighed luxuriantly.
‘Perhaps you should just enjoy that right now, rather than rush into a pregnancy?’ I suggested deviously, because I still needed to phone Gloria and try to get to the bottom of what she’d said at the reception, even though I was sure I’d misunderstood what she was implying.
Actually, we’ve come to much the same conclusion,’ Libby said, ‘though I daren’t leave it too long. But anyway, how else are you filling in your time, between gardening and good works?’
‘I made fourteen jars of mixed pickles, defrosted some organic lamb and cooked lots of individual Lancashire hotpots with shortcrust pastry lids. Harry is very partial to them and his freezer was looking a bit empty. Then I had a rush wedding cake job —a manga cake with a sort of grown-up cartoon on the top. There are still all the finishing touches to put on the Goth cake too, and now I have a ski cake order, which is quite a challenge.’
‘That does sound pretty busy,’ she conceded, so presumably she will now stop imagining I am drinking myself to death in her absence. I wouldn’t have time even if I had the inclination.
‘Yes, so busy I was really late with my last instalment of “Cakes and Ale”. I had to rush something out and I don’t think I was at my best. I had to say the Artist had decamped, but kept it light.’
‘I hadn’t thought about how you would handle that. I suppose you couldn’t very well just never mention him again, when he was in all the episodes that had gone before.’
‘No, but at least I have you and Gina to write about now, if only in guarded terms!’
‘How do you think Gina is settling in?’
‘As if she’s always lived in Neatslake. She comes to buy eggs and vegetables, though we don’t have many eggs just now—the hens aren’t laying—and stays for a chat and a cup of coffee. She says you should order a produce box weekly, until Tim and Dorrie can get going with your own hens and kitchen garden.’
‘Tim and I think Dorrie should have some kind of allowance for helping with the gardening, so she will be less poverty-stricken from now on.’
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