“Don’t worry,” Jack said. “Your mum, popped in to see her this morning for a chat. Betty was a little tired and so I said Claire and I would bring her here tomorrow morning briefly, so she’s been.”
“That’s kind of you,” Bella said, embarrassed not to have asked her mum if she wanted to go with her and the girls that evening. “I’m glad Betty won’t miss out completely.” She was also relieved her mum would be going at some point.
Moments later they arrived at Lexi’s cottage and waited as she got into the car. “It’s very good of you to be our designated driver, Jack,” she said, ruffling his hair and getting in the back seat next to Sacha and Jools.
“It’s good of you to lend out your car, yet again.”
She sighed theatrically. “Yes, well I was thinking that, too.”
They drove through the country lanes and St Peter’s Valley towards the historical farm in St Mary where the annual event took place.
“Just drop us here,” Lexi suggested.
Jack slowed to a stop inside the entrance. A man sauntered over to the car and bent to look inside. “More helpers for the apple peeling, I hope?”
They confirmed that they were. “Good. You park up there, mate,” he said to Jack, “and come and join us as soon as you can. We’re a bit short-handed this evening, so you’ll be very welcome to help with the stirring.”
“I…” Jack began, then seeming to change his mind, added, “No problem. You four get out and I’ll park and come straight back.”
Bella followed Lexi, Jools and Sacha into the farm where mostly women were peeling countless apples. This was the second day of the event and the peeled fruit was now being stirred in a nearby smoky room with an open fire, and a large copper cauldron-like pot she knew to call a bachin resting above it. Several men, some of whom she recognized, were chatting and taking it in turns to stir the contents with a long wooden handled utensil Nan had referred to as a rabot. Jack arrived and was immediately called in to join them.
Bella smiled, immediately content to be among people she had known all her life. The women were shown where they could sit and immediately began taking part. As Bella sat on her wooden chair, she thought back to the first time she could recall being brought to the farm by her nan to watch the black butter – or nier beurre as her nan had called it – being made. Everyone had known her nan, and the sense of community and love for what they were creating always gave Bella’s spirits a boost.
“Can you come and help hand out some tea and cake, ma love?” one of her nan’s older friends asked.
As the afternoon merged into early evening, volunteers were offered a glass of Jersey cider. Bella was grateful to Jack for driving so that the rest of them could enjoy the delicious drink, but couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for him. A bellow of deep laughter filled the room, making her smile. Hearing Jack’s voice, joking with the others as they kept the stirring going, reminded her that he seemed to fit in wherever he was. It made her wonder how he’d ended up with someone like Nicki, who was nothing like the people who lived in their village. Maybe it was the fact that she was so different to anyone he knew, or simply that she was the type of woman he was attracted to.
A man with an accordion arrived and began playing songs she vaguely knew from her childhood. She sang along with everyone else, noticing Jack standing at the doorway, singing along too. As the evening wore on, more apples were peeled, and as some volunteers had to leave to return home to their families, others arrived to take their place.
Pots of bean crock were brought out. Bella and Jack stood together with Jools, eating bowls full of the wholesome traditional winter food they had all been used to eating, growing up.
“I’m glad Sacha serves this at the café in the winter now,” Jack said. “She wasn’t sure how well it would go down initially, but people love it, especially the older locals and those who used to live on the island.”
Jack took their bowls from them when they had finished. Stretching before sitting down to carry on peeling apples, Bella wished she had the time to stay for the entire night. She usually liked to return for the final day, to witness the cooked spices, liquorice and lemons being added to the mixture. Nan’s favourite part, she remembered, was helping put the spread into jars for selling.
She would need to be sure to buy some when it was ready. Bella never failed to have a jar in her kitchen cupboard, and loved it spread on toast with a little cheese. It reminded her of winters growing up, and the Christmassy smell from the mixture made her wish that she could share this with Nan, just one more time.
She yawned.
“You’re looking tired,” Jack whispered, his deep voice making her smile and cheering her up. “It’s after one and I think that maybe you four should be thinking about getting home.”
He was right. They had a busy day ahead and now that she’d stopped, she noticed how tired her neck and shoulders were from looking down for hours as she peeled the apples. “Good point,” she said. “I’ll pass this on to someone else and wash my hands. I won’t be long.”
As the women waited for Jack by the front door, Sacha grinned. “I can hear him chatting to someone again,” she said. “My brother has to be the most sociable person I know.”
Bella rubbed the back of her neck, relieved to hear Jack chatting as he came to join them. “You’re going to be back here again in a few hours,” she teased. “You can talk to everyone then. Now, come along before we all pass out where we’re standing.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
The sound of children screeching with excitement woke Bella from a deep sleep. She stretched slowly and sighed. Her back still ached from the night before.
She had enjoyed a couple of glasses of cider, too, and smiled at the thought of how Betty had been the last one ready to go home the previous year. The older lady never failed to be amused by Bella and her friends, yawning and needing to get home to their beds hours before she wanted to leave.
Bella raked her hands through her bed-hair and rubbed her eyes as a nagging thought seeped slowly in to her consciousness. She tried to recall if she had forgotten something and turned to look at her alarm clock.
“Seven forty-five,” she murmured, closing her eyes, relieved that she still had half an hour before having to get up, shower and open the shop. She was grateful to the noisy children outside because she had forgotten to set her alarm. The same nagging doubt disturbed her. She sat up, pushing her fingers through her tangled hair once more. She mentally ticked off all that she needed to do for today, then looked at the clock again. What the hell was she missing?
She got up, pushed her feet into her fluffy slippers and pulled on her dressing gown. She would go and make a quick cup of tea. Reaching the bottom of the stairs she saw Claire, sitting by the fire, reading a book.
“You’re up then?” Claire said, stating the obvious. “I was going to bring you a cup of tea once I’d finished this chapter.”
“No need,” Bella said. “Do you want a fresh one?”
“Thank you.” Claire placed one of Bella’s business cards into the book and closed it. “What time do you need to be at the market?”
“Oh no, the market! I forgot it was today.” Bella’s mouth fell open in horror. She stared at her boxes, relieved that she’d at least finished packing the night before. “I’m going to be so late.”
Her mum got up and pushed a stray strand of hair off Bella’s face. “Calm down. Go and shower, I’ll wake Jack and get him to run up to Lexi’s and fetch her car. You should be ready by the time he gets back. We can all load everything up. Don’t panic. Now, go.”
Relieved that her mother had sprung into action, Bella did as she was told and ran up the stairs to the bathroom.
With no time to wait for the water to heat up, she leapt under the shower, gasping as the cold water hit her skin, and once she’d finished, wrapped a towel around herself, prepared to rush to her room. The towel dropped, just as Jack came out of his room. She wasn’t sure which of
them was more shocked and gripped the towel over her front to protect her modesty, aware he could probably see her bottom as she ran down the corridor.
“Bloody hell,” she shrieked, mortified. Could this day get any more disastrous?
“I’m not looking,” he shouted.
She glanced over her shoulder to see he had covered his eyes with his hands. The vision almost made her smile.
“Your mum has phoned Lexi. I’m off to get the car,” he said, not looking at her. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Thanks!” she shouted as she closed her bedroom door. The heat in her face warmed her up, which was something. With no time to think, she quickly dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, almost falling sideways onto the bed when her foot caught on the hem. Grabbing a jumper and pulling it on, she pushed her sockless feet into her trainer, finally locating the other under the bed before running downstairs to help her mother.
“I’m back,” Jack shouted, moments later.
“Thank you so much,” she said, pointing to the heap of boxes when he raised his hands in question.
“Don’t worry about what order to put them in, just let’s get them in the car and up to the farm. I hope the farmer bends his rule about timing, just this once.”
She picked up a box, loaded it onto another and hurried out to the car. Claire was pushing in the first two boxes, and Bella was relieved her mother wasn’t the type to worry about breaking a nail and just got on with whatever needed doing.
“Thanks, Mum,” she said panting from panic. “Just shove them in as far as possible, please.” She practically threw the boxes into the back of the car before running back to fetch more.
She reached the door and had to jump sideways to avoid crashing into Jack, who was laden with boxes. “You’re a superstar,” she said, running inside.
Finally, the car was loaded in record time. She waved to her mother, who looked extremely relieved to see them back of them, and Jack sped the car up as soon as they’d left the boardwalk and reached the hill.
“There’s a speed limit here, you know,” she said, watching out for anyone who might not see them coming.
“I’m doing fifteen, so we’re still going pretty slowly,” he said, shaking his head and smiling at her. “Relax, you’ll be fine.”
“But the farmer’s very strict about market rules.”
“Well, we’re not there yet.” Jack stopped at a yellow line, waiting for a tractor pulling a small boat to pass them before putting his foot down on the accelerator and racing up the road. “You leave him to me,” he said winking at her. “I’ve known him since school and he’s a good bloke. Once we’ve explained that you overslept after last night’s black butter making session, I’m sure he’ll take pity on you.”
She took a deep breath to calm down a little and sighed. “I hope you’re right. I don’t fancy taking this lot home again, and having to do the same with the bedroom suite we took up last night.”
“It’ll be fine, you mark my words,” Jack said, reducing his speed and indicating to turn into the farm driveway.
The farmer wasn’t as easy to convince as Jack had expected. Bella watched Jack first trying to charm the angry looking man and then being a little sterner, finally lowering his voice and saying something to him that Bella couldn’t make out. He pointed over in her direction. She smiled at him, willing him to soften.
“Fine, but just this once,” he said loudly, shaking his head. “Hurry up and unload and park the car in the field with the other vehicles. People have started to arrive, and I don’t need the market to look as if we don’t know what we’re doing.”
“Thanks,” Bella shouted. “I really appreciate this.”
His face relaxed, and he smiled. He was probably tired from keeping the farm going, she reasoned. The market was his latest venture and it was becoming more and more popular and probably harder to keep organized.
“Why are you gawping at each other?” Jack whispered. “I thought he wanted us to get a move on and unload the car.”
“I was returning his smile,” she said. “Being nice.”
Jack grinned. “Right. We should get on with this lot now though, if you’ve finished?”
She nudged him in his ribs.
“Ouch,” he laughed, wincing. “What was that for?”
“Being mean.”
The stock unloaded, Bella thanked Jack and began moving her antiques to create a presentable display.
“Damn,” she said, touching her stomach. “I forgot to bring my bum bag.”
Jack raised his eyebrows. “Your what?”
Amused at the shocked expression on his still-tanned face, Bella giggled. “My bum bag. It’s like a belt with a small bag attached that I keep my float in. I’ve stupidly left it at home. I don’t have any money on me for change.”
Jack pushed his hands into each of his pockets and handed her a small amount of change with a few notes. “Here, take these,” he said without bothering to count them. “It’s all I have, but it might tide you over for a bit. I’ll go and get your… bum bag?”
“Thanks, Jack,” she said, wondering how many times she would end up having to thank him by the end of the day. “It’s hanging from the handle on my wardrobe.”
“Right, I won’t be long.”
She watched him running out of the barn and her heart swelled with love for the untidy, wild-haired man who drove her best friend nuts. People often found it hard to believe that Sacha and Jack were siblings. They were very different, although both tall and blonde. Sacha was more focused on business and had to work hard not to take things too seriously, while Jack seemed to think he had all the time in the world to do whatever he felt like doing. She loved that side of him and wished she could be a little more carefree at times.
“Miss? Miss, I say, are you going to serve me or not?”
Bella snapped out of her daydream about Jack and stared wide-eyed at the little lady in front of her. The steel grey eyes narrowed in irritation as she waited for Bella to answer. “Well?”
“I’m so sorry,” Bella apologized. “It’s been a bit of a hectic morning, with one thing and another.”
“Yes, well, I have to get back to a sick husband, so if you don’t mind can we cut the chit-chat and get on?”
Bella cleared her throat. “Yes, of course. Is there something in particular you’re interested in?” She spotted the wrinkled hands were holding a string of opera pearls. “They’re lovely. Are they for you?”
The woman looked at her as if she was insane. “No. It’s my granddaughter’s thirtieth and I’m looking for something special to give her for a gift. These look real, are they?”
“They are,” Bella said proudly. She would love to have kept the pearls and it had been a difficult decision to sell them, but where would she ever wear them? She pointed to the price tag. “I think the price is reasonable.”
“How much can you take off?”
Bella was more interested in getting a sale than arguing. There wasn’t much call for a set of opera pearls, she reasoned, so calculated the amount in her head that would afford her a little profit, but keep the buyer interested. “I’ll give you eleven pounds off,” she said. “How about that?”
“Fifteen?”
“Twelve.”
“Fourteen.”
This frail little lady was tougher than she looked, which Bella knew from experience, happened often. “Thirteen, but that’s my final offer.”
The scowl from the lady’s face vanished and she gave Bella the friendliest smile. “Spectacular, thank you.” She rummaged in her bag while Bella put the pearls in a little black box with The Bee Hive printed on top in gold. The smell of cooked bacon wafted in through the barn’s open doors, making Bella’s mouth water. She could have kicked herself for getting up so late and not having time to eat anything before leaving the cottage.
“Here you go,” the lady said, taking out a wad of notes and counting off the right amount for Bella. They exchanged the pea
rls for the money and the lady nodded. “It was good doing business with you, young lady,” she said before looking down at the name on the box. “The Bee Hive. I’ll have to come and visit your shop sometime. There are a few things I’ve spotted here, but I don’t have time to buy them now.” She dropped the box into her bag and took out a set of car keys. “Where are you based?”
“On the boardwalk,” Bella said, intrigued by this woman, hoping she really would come and visit her. “It’s the blue cottage at the end.”
“Good. I might see you soon then.”
“I hope so,” Bella said, about to say something else, when a couple stopped in front of her stall. They asked about the bedroom suite but walked away after a few minutes of trying to haggle the price down far more than Bella was happy with.
“Sorry it took so long.” Jack arrived as the couple walked away from the stall. “Is this it?” He held up her bum bag.
“Yes. Thanks so much.” She quickly secured the belt around her waist.
“Do you need any help?”
Bella liked the idea of having someone to chat to if the day passed slowly. “That would be great.”
“You must be starving,” Jack said, after a few moments. “There’s a barbeque outside the barn, do you want me to get you a sausage or bacon roll, or something?”
She closed her eyes for a second. “I’ve been tormented by the smell coming from that barbeque since it started up. Yes, please. Bring me whatever you’re having.”
“Tea, or hot chocolate?” Jack asked. “There’s a yurt, selling various drinks.”
“Hot chocolate, please,” she said, her mouth watering from the expectation of the treats he would soon be bringing her.
By the time Jack returned, carrying their delicious late breakfast, she had served two more people.
“It’s going well so far,” she said, taking the drinks from him and placing them at the back of her table. “This lot smells heavenly.” She breathed in the bacon roll he handed to her. “You have been a complete superstar today.”
Autumn Antics: Escape to the seaside with the perfect autumn read! (The Boardwalk by the Sea Book 2) Page 7