It was at times like this when she really loved her job, when she felt relaxed and creative, and could just concentrate on the task in hand. She was so glad she’d taken the plunge those few years ago, to go and do something she loved, setting up her teashop in the castle.
‘Someone’s happy.’ Doris walked in through the swing door of the kitchen. ‘Hmm, I can see why, they’re looking good.’
Wow, praise indeed from Mrs Super-Critical. Ellie smiled, ‘Thanks.’
‘Now then, what do you want me to start on?’
‘Well, we need to make up all the hampers for delivery over the next few days. I’ve bought in some wicker crates. I’ve stacked them just over there. And, there’s some red shredded packing paper to line them with. If you could start by filling the bases of those with the paper, that’d be great. Then we need a little production line of the following: a pack of shortbread, the Christmas ginger stars, a fudge pack, meringues, chocolate truffles, a lemon drizzle and one of these Christmas cakes. Of course, the icing on the Christmas cakes still need to set, so we’ll leave a space for those and pop them in tomorrow.’
‘Right-o.’ Doris started lining up the baskets.
Within a few minutes, it was all looking very festive in the kitchen, with the goody bags of biscuits and sweets lined up in rows, all tied prettily with green and red Christmas string.
‘I’m feeling like we should have some elves as helpers,’ Doris smiled.
‘Well, we do have Malcolm and Derek lined up for deliveries, so that’s as near as.’
They both chuckled.
By the end of the day, all twelve Christmas cakes were iced and decorated. Ellie was so pleased with the end result. She just had to wait for the icing to totally set by the morning, and then she’d tie a red tartan ribbon around the side of each. The cakes would then be ready to be placed as the centrepiece in each of the Teashop in the Castle Christmas Hampers.
Doris had made a fabulous job of displaying all the other items in the wicker baskets. Her assistant had set off home about an hour ago, after helping to organize some of the crockery and cutlery they’d need for Dan and Lucy’s wedding, and ironing a pile of ivory-cotton napkins and table runners. The wedding was in a less than two weeks’ time, now.
So that was it, Ellie’s Christmas cake orders were met and the first ever hamper delivery was ready for the off tomorrow morning. Ellie gave a sigh of relief and stretched. She’d had to contort in to some weird and wonderful positions to put the finishing touches to the cake decorations, and she was now feeling it in her joints.
The kitchen door swung open.
‘Right then, Mrs Ward. Oh wow … cakemaker extraordinaire. You have cook and iced all day by the looks of it, so may I suggest a Chinese takeaway this evening. My treat.’
‘Perfect.’
‘You all done here?’
‘Nearly, just a couple of bowls and spoons to put through the dishwasher. And I need to wipe over the surfaces.’ She couldn’t stop the yawn that escaped her lips.
‘Hand me the cloth and disinfectant. I can do that.’
‘Thanks.’
‘I do have an ulterior motive, mind. My tummy’s rumbling, and it means we can get to the takeaway faster.’ He flashed a grin at her.
Ellie smiled, shaking her head. Things felt a little easier between them in the past few days, thank goodness. She’d hated that feeling of distance that had crept between them. Thankfully, something seemed to have changed since their evening at the Dickensian market.
Later, after enjoying their takeaway supper and watching a comedy film from the comfort of their sofa, they headed off to bed. Ellie felt more relaxed than she had in ages, and snuggled up against Joe in their king-size bed. She reached up to touch his shoulder, traced her fingers down to feel the rounded firmness of his bicep, then reached across to slowly stroke his chest. He sighed, long and slow, but the sigh soon altered, sounding more sensual. He turned to face her. Ellie felt a tear of relief roll down on her cheek.
‘I’ve missed you,’ she whispered.
‘Me too.’ And he took her into his arms, and kissed her, tenderly yet oh so passionately.
‘We’re going to be all right, aren’t we?’ She still felt vulnerable, after all that had happened in the past few weeks.
‘Yeah, of course we are.’
It was the first time they had made love in weeks. It was tender and beautiful. It felt like they were coming home.
32
Wednesday, only two days away from Daniel and Lucy’s big day, and Ellie’s stomach was starting to do somersault flips. She so wanted everything to go well for her friends, for it to be as perfect a day as they might hope for. No one deserved this more. Ellie had been doing as much prep as she could, but there was only so much you were able to in advance. As always, the fresh food would have to be left until later.
She was planning on icing and decorating the wedding cake today. She already had the two fruit cakes she had made earlier; circular cakes, one slightly larger than the other. The top tier was to be a Victoria sponge, which she had yet to bake, so it would be nice and fresh. She thought it would be nice to have an alternative layer for those guests who didn’t like fruit cake. She had a design in mind, three tiers, covered in white royal icing, with a delicate trail of sugar paste flowers and ivy that wound around the cake, and cascaded between the tiers. She was going to make icing roses and the ‘Scottish thistles’ that matched those in the real wedding flowers. It would no doubt take a few hours to create.
Ellie could imagine the colours of the flower trail: soft greens, silver shades, ivory and a touch of purple-blue, with a suggestion of frost-touched sparkle. It would echo the floral theme that Wendy had designed for the Great Hall and Lucy’s bouquet (that the bride-to-be had loved). Hopefully, the hall and the cake would look every bit as festive and magical as Ellie imagined.
‘We have over sixty guests coming for the meal, Doris, so I need you to check that there are enough plates, and bowls for all three courses. That the dinner service is tip-top clean, and the cutlery, with no streaks or marks left from the dishwasher, and that the glasses are sparkling.’ She realized she was sounding a little bossy. She was probably slightly tense trying to make sure that everything would go off perfectly; she so wanted to do her best for them. ‘Thank you.’
‘Tomorrow, we can then take it all up to the hall and start setting the tables, so we’ll be one step ahead. Wendy’s coming in first thing Friday morning, the day of the wedding, to do the table decorations and make her floral displays on the window ledges and the stone mantelpieces of the fireplaces. I think it’s all go up in the Great Hall at the moment, so we’ll keep the crockery and glasses ready, down here for now.’
Irene was coming in tomorrow, the Thursday, as well, to help make some of the desserts that they had planned. She was a whizz at choux pastry and was going to make several batches of profiteroles, ready for the French-style wedding tower, which could be kept and then filled with fresh cream on the morning of the wedding. Ellie was going to bake two large chocolate fudge cakes, some homemade meringues, and three white chocolate and passion fruit cheesecakes. Although Lucy had only requested the profiteroles, Ellie found she couldn’t settle on just one dessert and decided a medley would be perfect. The guests could then go and help themselves, and take a variety of what they fancied.
Lucy wasn’t aware, but for a cheese option, that would see them all through into the evening, Ellie was going to make a wedding-cake style stack of large cheese circles, decorated with a trail of fruit, and real ivy leaves. She’d seen it done online and it looked amazing. She’d ordered in the four cheeses from the delicatessen in Kirkton; a cheddar, Stilton, Northumbrian nettle and herb, and a softer goat’s cheese for the top. It would be a lovely surprise for the couple, and would hopefully look rather special too.
‘Heave. Go on, that’s it … Left a bit. Bit more. No hang on, drop it back down a bit.’ Lord Henry was shouting instructions at Malcolm, De
rek and Colin, who were hanging on to ropes and some kind of pulley system, trying to manoeuvre the biggest Christmas tree that Colin could possibly find on the estate, into place in one corner of The Great Hall.
‘Who do you think we are, World’s Strongest Man or something?’ Malcolm shouted through gritted teeth.
The tree from the Christmas Fayre had been looking decidedly ropey, so they had taken that away yesterday, and sent Colin to find another one. He’d deemed it as his mission to find one bigger and better than the last. It seemed everybody wanted to make this wedding something special.
Sue, Joe’s Mum, had come up especially to freshen up all the guest rooms and the main reception areas. She had just cleaned the Great Hall right through early that morning. She watched in despair as the room started to fill with pine needles galore. She stood watching the four men and a Christmas tree, shaking her head. The vacuum cleaner was definitely going to have to come back out, but she may as well wait for them to finish now. Lord knows how they were going to decorate the enormous thing; they’d need a cherry picker or scaffolding to reach the top!
Four p.m., Doris had gone home, it was already dark outside. The winter evening stealing the light early.
Ellie was putting the finishing touches to the wedding cake. It had taken her longer than planned to make all the sugar flowers and to paint them the right shades, but she was really happy with the end result. Three circular, white iced cakes were placed on a delicate chrome stand that set them apart in a soft twirl. Then the trail of ivy, and sugar paste flowers, linked them so prettily. She stood back admiring her work, hoping that Lucy would love it.
She hadn’t heard Joe come in behind her. Just felt the warmth of his palms as they traced her hips, one hand on each.
‘Wow – that’s amazing.’
‘Do you think Lucy will like it?’
‘It’s beautiful. She’ll love it. Are they made of icing too?’ He pointed at the delicate flowers, the trail of sugar-paste ivy linking them all.
‘Yes, it’s taken a while. Had a few flower rejects along the way.’
‘I bet it took you ages. It’s stunning, honestly. You need to get yourself on the Bake Off. That’s definitely a showstopper of a cake.’
‘Aw, thank you. How did everything go upstairs?’
‘Well, we finally have a Christmas tree to match Trafalgar Square’s set up in the Great Hall. Mum’s had to reclean the whole room for pine needles. And I think Malcolm and Derek are exhausted. Henry seemed to enjoy orchestrating the whole thing, anyhow.’
‘Hah, at least he seems to be on board with it all now. He must have warmed to the Winter Wedding idea.’
‘Yes, finally. I think he’s finally mellowing a bit in his old age.’
‘Hah, we might even get him back in the Santa suit, entertaining the children at the reception, at this rate.’
‘I don’t think so. That’s taking it too far.’
They grinned.
‘Well then, we’ve set out the tables in the right places now, so you can carry on tomorrow unhindered.’
‘Good. Did you mention to your mum about having supper with us tonight, as she’s here setting up the guest rooms? I suppose we ought to ask Henry too. What do you think?’
‘Yeah, why not.’
It seemed a little unusual having Joe’s parents, who’d been estranged for many years, sitting together eating supper with them, in the apartment. It wasn’t your usual family set up, by any stretch of the imagination. But, the awkwardness between Sue and Lord Henry, when Joe had found out the truth of his past, had diminished since Sue had been back working at the castle recently. So many years had passed since their early relationship. There was no longer regret, as they were both so fond of Joe.
Ellie looked around the table; Joe, his father, his mother, chatting about the castle and the up-and-coming wedding. The world was made up of incongruous, happy families. And time could alter so much; heal hurts and hearts, take you to a whole new situation that you could hardly have imagined, take you past your fears.
‘You have really done a splendid job with those guest rooms, Sue,’ Henry praised. ‘Both in setting them up and keeping them in order. I took a look in some of them the other day. Marvellous.’
‘Thank you.’ Sue was obviously proud of her work there at the castle.
Sue’s bubbly personality kept the conversation flowing over their simple supper of griddled chicken and salad – it had been a busy day cooking for Ellie already. Ellie had also brought up some of her meringues and cream for dessert.
Yes, castle life found a way of moving forward, and this incongruous family were finding their feet once again, with Ellie and Joe’s relationship at its core. Ellie found herself instinctively placing her hand across her belly. A twist of sadness hit her. One day, hopefully, there might be a new member of the Ward family to come. A new journey. But for now, she’d have to just wait and see. Joe saw her action, smiled softly, understandingly, and took her hand in his under the table.
33
The castle was a hive of activity.
One day left to prepare for the Christmas wedding in the castle – their first ever festive wedding, and one that was extremely special to all involved.
Doris was up in the Great Hall with Joe, setting out all the tables with white linen tablecloths overlaid with a silver-grey shot-silk table runner. Then, she was going to lay out all the cutlery, side plates and glasses. The two large fires of the hall were set with logs and kindling, ready to be lit tomorrow.
Lucy, was coming through late afternoon, for her pre-wedding night with her four bridesmaids. That way, she could see how the reception hall had been prepared so far. She was going to bring up the table plans, the place-names and wedding favour gifts, for Ellie to set out for her. Only one couple couldn’t make it from the original guest list apparently, due to a foreign holiday that had already been booked.
Sue had got the bride and bridesmaids guest rooms ready, making sure there was a selection of luxurious bubble baths and body lotions in their bathrooms. Ellie had organized a couple of bottles of prosecco to send up in an ice bucket once the girls got there, as a welcome gift. She had also made mini bags of chocolate truffles and fudge to pop on to the bedside tables.
In the kitchens, Ellie and Irene had been busy making the desserts for tomorrow most of which were now chilling in the fridge, bar the chocolate fudge cakes which were smelling delicious as they cooled on the side, ready to be covered in their rich-chocolate frosting. Next, they had to peel and prepare the vegetables to accompany the main meal; roast potatoes, leeks in a cheese sauce, carrot batons, and broccoli – peeling potatoes and carrots for sixty-plus people was no mean feat. But they chatted away and listened to the radio as they worked.
The windows to the kitchen were small, so it was hard to tell what the weather was doing, especially when they were so busy. It had got chillier over the past two days. The cobbles in the courtyard had been a little icy, slippy under Ellie’s feet this morning. But with all the activity in the kitchen and the ovens having been on, it felt pretty warm in there. Ellie would need to get Colin to help stoke up the fire in the teashop tomorrow morning, as they would be in and out and up the stairs to the Great Hall many times; they didn’t want to freeze every time they came back down through. The design of the castle meant that food had to be carried up the stone stairwell to be served, or at least kept warm in the hostess-style trolleys they kept for functions out in the castle corridor on the way to the hall – a bit of a nightmare for the waitressing staff.
It was nearly lunchtime before Ellie headed back upstairs to see if Joe, Lord Henry, or anyone else in the team, wanted a bite to eat in the teashop with them. Irene had brought in one of her famous quiches, a large leek, cheese and bacon, what a star – thought they might be glad of it. Doris offered to make a pot of tea, whilst Ellie went to rally the troops.
Through the leaded windows of the teashop, Ellie could see it had turned awfully dark out there, a
nd then yes, little flutters of white were sifting down, settling on the outer window panes. Wow – snow. Maybe Lucy was going to get her wish of a ‘white’ wedding after all. It would look so pretty if the grounds were covered with a dusting of snow. Ellie wondered if it would last until the wedding day tomorrow. Often they had a few snowy flakes, but then it just melted away as quick as it came.
The castle was often lovely in the winter. If you had a smattering of snow, and then it went all frosty, the shrubs and hedges would be laced with sparkle. It looked magical, when your breath misted the air, you could hear the crunch of frost beneath your feet, and the sky above was a cool bright azure.
After lunch and the rinsing and slicing of thirty leeks, Ellie glanced out of the kitchen window again. It was still snowing. She went through to the teashop to get a better look. The snow was quite heavy now, large flakes falling in a soft steady patter. That sense of hush, as it layered the ground and the window ledges outside. She was aware of the bridesmaids and Lucy having to travel this afternoon, and began to feel a little uneasy.
She went up to see how Joe and the others were getting on in the hall.
Malcolm came in flustered at the same time. ‘I can’t get Millie down the driveway.’ Millie was his much-loved relic of a car, an old Mercedes. ‘I’m meant to be getting some extra tree lights and tinsel from the DIY place, but it’s getting lethal out there. I’m not going to get through to Kirkton at this rate.’
‘I’ll go,’ Joe offered. ‘I can take the Jeep from the estate, it’s a four-wheeled drive, so it should be fine. Anything else anybody needs while I’m out?’
‘You could maybe pick up a couple of pizzas and some salad for us,’ Ellie asked. ‘I’ve no idea what’s for tea, and I can’t remember what’s in our freezer.’
‘Yep, I’ll fetch those too, then. Tree lights, tinsel and pizza, your wish is my command.’
‘And go steady,’ Ellie warned.
‘Will do.’
He was a good, confident driver, had managed fine on the snow before.
The Cosy Christmas Teashop Page 20