Secret Evenings in Pretty Beach

by Polly Babbington

  ‘I thought this might come up. You’d be surprised at the questions people ask when you think it’s so very clear. I’ve had all sorts with the dinners. Remember when that man called me and didn’t know why the lasagne hadn’t warmed up after he’d put it in the oven and turned the knob? Always helpful if an oven is actually connected to the electricity.’

  ‘Oh yeah, I do remember that. That was funny. Anyway, I’m in control of the customers and their logistics. How are you getting on with the food?’

  ‘The herb butter is done, the macaroons are tightly packed away, the shortbread will be the same in a few hours’ time, and then the rest of it I can’t really do a lot more until the night before.’

  ‘The fish is ordered?’

  ‘Yep. All done. I’ll get you to go and pick it up if you don’t mind.’ Lottie gestured over to the floor to ceiling shelves with the ladder. ‘The baking paper and string are all cut and ready to go for the parcels, so all I have to do once the fish arrives is put the things together,’ Lottie said as she measured flour into her cream KitchenAid, added knobs of cold butter and cheese and turned it on.

  ‘And the actual cheese course itself?’

  ‘Small and simple. My homemade cheese is in the fridge and then the stuff from Pretty Beach deli will be alongside it. The boards and cheese knives are all ready in the tubs by the front door. I’m going to have the boards and knives in the middle and just leave them to help themselves. No point in making more work and it presents much better like that too.’

  ‘Quince paste?’ Dimitri said running down his list on the tablet.

  ‘Done, dusted, and in the fridge.’

  ‘Wow. We are killing this. Tomato confit? Yes, I think I saw that in the utility room fridge,’ Dimitri asked.

  ‘Yup, done and melding nicely. Oh, I just remembered. I need to put the ironed napkins in the tubs by the door. Do you mind doing that now? I finished pressing them this morning and meant to do it right away but my phone went,’ Lottie said.

  Dimitri got up from his chair, opened the door to the utility room and stepped in. He came out with the pile of beautifully pressed white vintage napkins and opened the kitchen door to put them into the tubs of things to take to the cottage that were sitting by the front door.

  Two minutes later he came back into the kitchen holding an envelope in his left hand. ‘I just found this under the front doormat. I just saw it sticking out. It must have been slipped under the door. The postman never puts the post under the door, does he?’

  ‘Probably someone wanting something. Pop it over there on the bookshelves. My hands are covered in this,’ Lottie said as she rolled out the shortbread.

  Dimitri nodded and popped the thick white embossed envelope on the side. Lottie started to cut out the tiny rounds of shortbread and Dimitri continued to go through the checklist reiterating and double-checking what had and what had not been done.

  And the white envelope sat all by itself on the dresser with the small, neat black writing on the front, facing away from the kitchen and just waiting to be read.

  Chapter 36

  The next day and the morning of their first event, Lottie woke up to the sun streaming through the shutters in her bedroom. She reached over to her drawer, unplugged her phone, and opened the weather app. The forecast had not changed. There may be sunshine outside now, but it wasn’t going to last long. After a sunny morning, black clouds were forecast to come rolling in from the south and it was going to pour down with rain for hours. Good old British weather - at least we factored it in.

  Lottie swung her legs out of bed, nearly recoiling in horror at the state of her hair in the mirror on her dressing table, took off her pyjamas, and opened the door to her bathroom.

  It was a huge day for Secret Evenings and their professionalism and brand was on show for the first time, and Lottie knew that everything had to be spot on including how she looked. They were selling a lovely little Pretty Beach dream and even though she was back of house, she was still right at the centre of it.

  Lottie turned both taps on the beautiful vintage bathtub setting right in the middle of the bathroom, climbed in, and stood under the warm water revelling in its warmth. It was going to be the only part in the day where she was going to be able to relax until the end of the evening, when everyone had gone home and it had all hopefully gone well. Dimitri's tightly organised plan and her schedule stipulated every second of the day, from the moment she had finished her breakfast until the after-dinner coffee had been served, so that everything would go smoothly.

  ***

  Lottie’s car was neatly packed and ready with everything from the tablecloths and vintage vases, to the urn and coffee cups for after dinner. Lottie and Dimitri’s plans were in full swing and the entire event had been carefully thought through, from the decor to the menu and even to what they were wearing.

  At first, they’d entertained the idea of a polo shirt embroidered with the business name, but one morning, while they had been sitting talking about the whole secret feel and the exclusive nature of the event, they had decided that they wanted their outfits, how the food was served, and how everyone looked to also reflect that whole ethos of a clandestine event with the best food and best people. They didn’t want the food to feel as if it was served in a restaurant. Rather, they wanted the same relaxed coastal feel that they’d tried to create in the logo, the flyers, and on the website.

  Dimitri had researched uniforms, poured over hospitality outfits, and all sorts online with no luck at all, and in the end they had settled on thick, white linen shirts, simple chinos with turned-up bottoms, and boat shoes, hoping to evoke the unspoken uniform of Pretty Beach. They’d ordered beautiful cross-back aprons with tan leather straps with Secret Evenings stitched neatly at the top and the result had been just enough to make them look professional and together but something to distinguish them from the paying guests.

  Lottie stood in the utility room finishing off ironing the last of the shirts. One for her, one for Juliette, one for Dimitri, and one for Juliette’s partner Luke, who had put his hand up to help her in the kitchen.

  Lottie carefully covered the linen shirts and trousers in a plastic cover and hung them on the hooks in the hallway. She walked back into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and mentally went through the checklist. She didn’t think she’d forgotten anything. The fish was now all wrapped and in the parcels, the vegetables prepared and everything else packed away carefully in containers. All they actually had to do now was wait for Sallie’s cleaners to go in and then they could arrive, set up the tables, get it all decorated, start the set-up for the actual meal, and then wait.

  Lottie sighed. She was tired and nervous at the same time as feeling extremely pleased that the event had come close to selling out, and that people actually had faith in her that she could do it. She knew her ability but as the evening approached, she felt apprehensive that something might go wrong. From experience, she knew that there would be a mishap and that how she dealt with it would make Secret Evenings a success or not.

  Lottie walked over to the Aga, lifted the lid, and put the kettle on. A cup of tea, a sit down, one of Dimitri's Greek pastries, and then it would be all go, go, go.

  Just as she’d finished pouring her tea and had put it down in the middle of the table, the white envelope that Dimitri had picked up from underneath the doormat the day before caught her eye. She’d completely forgotten about it.

  Lottie picked up the thick, heavy envelope and turned it over. It didn’t feel like the usual rubbish that came through the door. As she turned it over she saw that her name was written on the front in small handwriting. Why hadn’t Dimitri told her that? She’d assumed it was just something from a door-to-door seller, not something personally addressed to her.

  Sliding her finger under the seal of the dense white envelope she pulled out a card. On a very thick white business card with a name and a phone number printed on the front was a note.

  Lottie, thanks fo
r last night. I enjoyed it immensely. Especially the stroking of the vegetables and the part at the end. Call me if you want to do it again sometime. C x

  Oh. My. God! How long had the card been on the mat? He’s even signed it with a kiss. Ahhhhhhh. What the heck!

  From the sounds of the note, Connor had come to the house the day after the housewarming. He must have swung by on the Sunday. Nearly two weeks ago! She’d not even seen it! He would now think that she didn’t want to know.

  And there was one thing Lottie was fantastically clear about. She very much wanted to know.

  Chapter 37

  Lottie took Dimitri's tin of Greek pastries down from the shelf and placed it next to their cups of tea as Dimitri sat down opposite her.

  ‘Right. So, we are all ready to go. Once we’re set up we’ll come back, freshen up and change and we’ll be set and prepared for the onslaught,’ Dimitri said.

  ‘Yes. Once the tables are up, the chairs in place and everything is styled all we then have to do is the actual food and that cannot be done right until the last minute. All timings for that are also on the list.’

  ‘Great,’ Dimitri said in Greek.

  ‘I’ve just had a text from Nicola the cleaner. She’s going through now so we are good to go once we’ve finished this,’ Lottie said, helping herself to another pastry.

  ‘Shame about the weather,’ Dimitri replied, scrolling through the weather app on his phone.

  ‘You never know. It might hold off or blow over. I’ve seen it before in this funny little microclimate of Pretty Beach. It’s not looking likely, though,’ Lottie replied.

  ‘True. Fingers crossed,’ Dimitri said, dipping his pastry in his tea and looking at the white envelope with Lottie written on the front which was sitting in front of him on the table. ‘Oh, by the way, what was the card?’

  ‘Oh, nothing. Just a note from one of the mums who I do dinner for.’

  ‘Really? Bit weird to hand-deliver a card under the door, isn't it? Wouldn’t they normally text?’

  ‘I don’t know, is it? Anyway, come on, we need to get going. No rest for the wicked. Especially the wicked with eighteen guests coming for a very exclusive, secret dinner.’

  Dimitri looked at the card where he could see Connor Bally’s surname printed on the top poking out of the bottom of the envelope. He picked up his mug to put it in the dishwasher, nodded his head, and smiled to himself. Just a note from a mum it was not.

  ***

  Lottie pulled up outside the Boat House, reversed the car onto the driveway, and turned off the ignition. The sun was still shining and little stars danced on the top of the sea behind the cottage.

  The day before, when they’d arrived to sort out a few extra things, she and Dimitri had placed the long trestle table in the tiny shed to the side and the additional fold-up timber tables were in the boot of the car. Once the tables were in the cottage and dressed, they would feel more ready for the guests to descend on them eager to experience a hidden pop-up restaurant in an old cottage right down by the sea.

  As Lottie and Dimitri struggled with the trestle tables carrying them over to the cottage, Lottie laughed. ‘Whose idea was a pop-up restaurant, again? This is a huge amount of work.’

  ‘Hmm. I guess I need to own up to that. It was me. You’re right. It’s definitely a race against the clock when you have to actually pop the restaurant up, as it were.’

  ‘Yeah, you’re not wrong. Once these are in place though and the food is set up it’s really just a case of the waiting and the entertaining. Hopefully we’ll feel less stressed then.’

  ‘Yep. When the tables are up and dressed I think we’ll feel calmer. I hope so, anyway,’ Dimitri stated as they struggled with the table and the tight turn from the door of the cottage into the main room.

  An hour or so later all the tables were in place, the mismatched vintage chairs were all neatly tucked underneath and one of the sofas had been carefully stashed in the shed to give them more room.

  Lottie carefully shook out the Battenburg tablecloths and smoothed them over the tables. Then she set up the crockery and place settings painstakingly layering up vintage French china and glassware, old silver candlesticks, and finished it all off with the beautifully pressed napkins she'd spent ages getting just so.

  Lottie stood back with Dimitri and observed their handiwork as the sun streamed in the tiny cottage windows. Dimitri scrolled down through the list just as Juliette pushed open the front door with a huge smile on her face.

  ‘Hello, all. Okay, I’m here reporting for duty. Ready to work my fingers to the bone,’ Juliette joked.

  ‘Hi! Great. Thank you, Jools. You’ll be pleased to know that we’re actually doing well. We are, in fact, ahead of time,’ Dimitri said as he kissed Juliette on the cheek.

  ‘Excellent. I needed to hear that. Gosh, this is more stressful than I thought,’ Lottie replied, almost to herself.

  ‘It is. Popping up a restaurant is clearly not for the faint of heart,’ Dimitri replied shaking his head.

  ‘What’s next?’ Lottie asked, pointing at the list.

  ‘You two are on flowers. I’m on fairy lights,’ Dimitri said in Greek, and Juliette laughed as Lottie translated.

  Lottie walked into the kitchen to the vast bundle of flowers and greenery she’d brought from the garden and looked down past the jetty marvelling at the gorgeous setting. She’d already stripped and prepared the greenery back in Strawberry Hill, leaving her and Juliette to arrange the vases and put them in the middle of the tables.

  As the clock ticked on, with Juliette’s help, Lottie quickly and efficiently filled the old vintage vases and smiled to herself. The driftwood idea hadn’t worked, it had in fact looked ridiculous but she’d loved the bit where she’d bumped into Connor down on the beach.

  As she methodically went around the vases polking in greenery, she thought about the card she’d opened from Connor that morning. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do about it yet. But her heart did a flip just thinking about him as she busied herself with popping the flowers onto each of the tables, whilst Dimitri stood on a small step ladder and strung layers of tiny cluster fairy lights from one side of the room to the other.

  ‘How have you been?’ Juliette said as she followed behind Lottie stuffing bundles of bay into the front of the vases.

  ‘Manic. So busy with all this and getting the outbuildings ready and then we have the next functions, and the bookshop to think about too.’

  ‘I can only imagine how busy you’ve been. It’ll be worth it. Look at all this already. You’re amazing. It really has come together exceedingly well. Considering that two hours ago this was a holiday cottage, now it looks like a cosy little secret restaurant of dreams.’

  ‘Thanks. I hope it’s going to go as well as it looks. We’re already well on the way to filling up the other dates so I guess it is taking off,’ Lottie said as she looked out of the little kitchen window to the seaplanes bobbing about on the water down by the jetty.

  ‘You couldn’t have asked for a better setting for the first one. Though I guess the lighthouse and the pier are close seconds,’ Juliette observed, following Lottie’s gaze out the window and down to the sea.

  As they all busied around with their various tasks, the envelope from Connor kept popping into Lottie’s mind and she wondered whether or not to mention it to Juliette. She hadn’t told a soul about the kiss and was nearly bursting with the fact that Connor had delivered the card and left his number - even if she hadn’t seen it right away.

  ‘I suppose you’ve not been up to much else then, have you?’ Juliette asked.

  ‘Nope. Not that I really have a social life anyway. You know that.’

  ‘You did enjoy Sallie’s housewarming though, didn’t you? From what I saw I believe you may have enjoyed it very much!’ Juliette said with a giggle.

  ‘I did,’ Lottie said and started to laugh.

  ‘What?’ What haven’t you told me? I knew it when we were on the
phone. I can tell by the sound of your voice and your laughing,’ Juliette replied.

  ‘There is something, actually,’ Lottie said, pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows.

  ‘I knew it! I knew there was something! I could tell by the way you were the day after when I spoke to you.’

  Lottie giggled as she wiped off the remainder of the leaves and petals that had gathered on the worktop. There was no way she was going to tell Juliette the very end bit, but she decided to tell her about the card. She wanted someone to share the excitement with.

  ‘Come on, spill the beans. I’m dying to know,’ Juliette said swiping her playfully with a tea towel.

  ‘Okay. This is the story. So, Connor walked me home that night. And then in the week, Dimitri found a card under the doormat at the front. It had slipped under the mat and we hadn’t seen it. Being so busy and everything, I didn’t even think that it might be from Connor, and so Dimitri placed it on the side and I forgot about it. It sat there unopened until this morning.’

  ‘Ooh, this sounds interesting,’ Juliette said and rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

  ‘Yep. When I turned it over it was addressed to me. From Connor. He’d put a card inside with his number. It said he enjoyed the night and he wondered if I wanted to do it again and if so to call him...’ Lottie said with a huge smile.

  ‘A date! Yahoo! The long-lasting Lottie date drought has finally ended! So pleased for you. So, when are you going to go out with him?’

  ‘I’m not.’

  ‘What do you mean, you’re not?’

  ‘I haven’t called him yet so there is no date, as such.’

  ‘What? Why not? I thought you liked him. Goodness, it was written all over your face at the housewarming. And his for that matter. Don’t tell me you’re not going to do it. Come on Lottie, you have to.’

  ‘Not at all. I will call him. It’s just that we didn’t see the card and I wasn’t going to do it today all in a rush with all this going on.’