Chapter 26
The day of the first book club had finally arrived, and, in typically English fashion, the weather forecast was for sunshine and showers. Bea was tracking the clouds on her weather app with a dedication that bordered on obsession.
‘What do you think, Arch? Will it stay dry until ten?’ Bea asked, pacing the living room.
‘Seriously, if you ask me about the weather one more time, I swear I’ll—’
‘Okay, okay,’ said Bea, chewing her thumbnail, ‘point taken. But the Met Office is saying rain at eight, and the BBC is showing nothing until ten, see?’ she said, shoving her phone under his nose.
‘I don’t know what to tell you,’ said Archie, stifling a yawn. ‘Now, can I please just eat my dinner in peace?’ he said, winding spaghetti around his fork and shoving it into his mouth.
‘Yeah. Sorry,’ said Bea, apologetically. ‘I guess there’s nothing I can do about it anyway; it’ll either rain or it won’t.’
‘Exactly!’ Archie agreed. ‘Oh, did I tell you? Josh and Claire are going on another date. Can you believe it?’
‘Wow, that’s great!’ Bea was pleased her book speed-dating had brought them together.
‘He said he’s planning on taking her to Comic Con in the autumn, so he must be serious. I don’t think he can believe his luck,’ Archie chuckled.
‘I bet! Right, I’m going, I want to set up before Phoebe and Nathan arrive,’ she said, checking the weather apps one more time.
‘Okay, well, good luck. I hope it goes well,’ said Archie, his mouth full of spag bol.
‘Thanks.’
‘Oh, and if there’s any cheese left, make sure you bring it home,’ he said, wiping tomato sauce from the corner of his mouth.
Bea had done everything she could to prepare for tonight: she’d made sure the books in the wagon looked their best, set up the bean bags and deckchairs outside, lit some citronella candles and turned on all the fairy lights.
Even though Nathan was supplying the food, she’d filled some pretty glass bowls with crisps and nuts, set out the chilled wine Phoebe had delivered the previous day with elegant plastic recycled picnic glasses, and Tori had given her a plate of cupcakes from the café to wish her luck.
She had a few moments to herself before Nathan and Phoebe were due to arrive, so she sat in one of the deckchairs and took a deep breath.
A lot was riding on tonight being a success. The tickets weren’t cheap, so she hoped everyone coming would think it was worth it and come again.
She turned her head when she heard the hum of a van crossing the green. Nathan was first to arrive, and as he climbed out of his truck he said, ‘Looks like the rain’s holding off.’
‘Ssssh!’ Bea hissed, ‘don’t jinx it.’
‘Where do you want this?’ he laughed, lifting a pile of foil-covered trays from the back of the van.
‘Over there, please, next to the wine,’ she said, pointing at a trestle table she’d laid with a pretty vintage lace curtain to hide the legs.
‘Sure,’ Nathan replied, uncovering the platters one by one.
‘Ooooh, these look good,’ said Bea, reaching to grab a small chunk of his famous blue cheese.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ he said, batting her hand away. ‘These are for paying guests.’
‘Uh, but I’m starving,’ she complained.
‘Knew you would be,’ he said, pulling a bag of walnuts from his back pocket and tossing them towards her. ‘That’s why I brought you these,’ he said, winking.
‘Yes! Thanks, Nate,’ said Bea, tearing open the bag and shoving one into her mouth. ‘Here’s Phoebe!’ she spluttered, trying not to choke as Phoebe struggled towards them, a heavy box in her arms.
‘Hello, you two,’ said Phoebe. ‘Did someone order more wine?’
‘Yes! And lots of it,’ said Bea, taking the box from her and carefully stashing it under the table. ‘Thanks so much for this.’
‘No worries, I’ve been looking forward to it. Although, I have to admit, I haven’t actually read the book,’ said Phoebe, looking mortified.
‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ Bea replied. ‘There won’t be a test!’
‘I meant to, but then, life,’ Phoebe said with a grimace, ‘and by that, I mean mum duties got in the way.’
‘It’s not a problem, it’s just great to have you here,’ said Bea.
‘And even better to have the wine,’ Nathan teased.
‘Oi!’ Phoebe chastised him. ‘How long have we got to set up?’
‘Thirty minutes until everyone should start arriving,’ said Bea, looking at her watch again.
‘Plenty of time,’ said Phoebe. ‘I’ll get a few of these chilled bottles opened, and we’ll be good to go.’
Bea had almost forgotten how nervous she was until she saw Tori and Joyce walking across the green towards the wagon, fold-up chairs under their arms.
‘Here we go,’ Bea said to Nathan and Phoebe. ‘Tori! Joyce! Hello, thank you so much for coming.’
‘Wow, this all looks gorgeous,’ said Joyce, admiring the twinkling fairy lights and candles. ‘Very cute.’
‘Thanks,’ said Bea, proudly.
‘Let me get you both something to drink,’ said Phoebe, springing into action. ‘Red or white?’
‘Oooh, white, please,’ said Tori, setting up their chairs next to one of the beanbags.
‘Me too,’ said Joyce.
‘Arthur!’ called Bea, rushing to relieve him of the chair he was carrying. ‘You made it!’
‘I wouldn’t miss it, my dear,’ he said.
‘Wine?’ Phoebe asked, as Bea flipped open his heavy-duty camping chair.
‘Yes, please. I’m staying at my son’s, so I can have a glass or two, and he can drive me home in the morning,’ said Arthur, a mischievous glint in his eye.
‘Good plan,’ said Nathan, approvingly.
‘You must be the cheese man?’ asked Arthur, with a nod of recognition.
‘I am, but I also go by Nate,’ chuckled Nathan, offering out a hand to Arthur. ‘Although “The Farmer” is fine, too.’
‘Good to meet you. Bea has been telling me all about this cheese of yours. I can’t wait to try it,’ said Arthur, shaking Nathan’s hand firmly.
‘It’s delicious, believe me,’ whispered Bea.
Beth, Maggie and Jess were the next to arrive, followed by Violet, Simon and Anya, Matt and Harry, Rose, Jake and Jean, as well as a few faces Bea couldn’t put names to, but she thought she recognized from the WI meeting, the school or the Cosy Cat.
When everyone was settled in with a glass of wine or elderflower cordial, Bea took a deep breath.
‘Hello, everyone!’ she said. ‘Thank you so much for coming to the first meeting of Bea’s Book Club.’
A small round of applause reverberated around the circle.
‘I’m hoping the weather holds out for us tonight, but, if it doesn’t, Violet has kindly allowed us to use the village hall. So, if it does start raining, grab whatever you don’t want getting wet and make a dash for it.’
‘Fingers crossed it stays dry,’ said Jess.
‘So,’ Bea continued. ‘First of all, I hope you all received your copy of the book in the post?’
Everyone nodded.
‘Perfect! And now you’ve had a chance to read it, I hope you enjoyed it, but if you didn’t, that’s okay.
We’re not all going to love the same books, and this club is all about trying things we might not usually read and sharing our thoughts.
There’s only one rule: be open and listen to everyone’s opinions, even if you don’t agree with them. ’
‘Isn’t that two rules?’ Harry pointed out.
‘I suppose it is,’ said Bea, laughing. ‘Okay, so Book Club only has two rules! We’re going to start by talking about what we thought about The House by the Bay.
Then we can have a break to eat, and we’ll finish off with some questions I’ve put together for us to discuss.
How does that sound?’ Everyone murmured their agreement.
‘Oh, and I’ll be coming round to top up your drinks, so just give me a nod if you’d like a refill,’ Phoebe added.
‘Perfect, thanks, Phoebe. Does anyone have any questions before we get started?’ Bea asked.
‘Nope? Okay, then, let’s start! Violet inspired the pick of our first book: Kate Fisher’s The House by the Bay.
I’ve always loved Kate’s books; she’s such a phenomenal writer and this one didn’t disappoint.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, couldn’t put it down in fact, so I really hope you all felt the same. ’
There were a few murmurs of ‘Absolutely’ and ‘Loved it!’ from the group.
‘I loved the love story between Jane and Damian; it was heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time, and that secret he was keeping, well… I didn’t see it coming at all,’ said Bea. ‘Tori, what did you make of it?’
‘I was exactly the same, I couldn’t put it down. I haven’t read anything by her before, but I’ll definitely be reading her other books if this one’s anything to go by,’ said Tori.
‘You’re in for a treat,’ said Violet, ‘they’re all just as good, if not better. My favourite’s The Garden of Dreams. That was her debut.’
‘I loved the setting. Portofino almost seemed like a character in its own right, if that makes sense? I fell in love with it,’ said Rose.
‘I hate to say it, but I didn’t really like it,’ said Harry, apologetically.
‘That’s okay, Harry. What was it you didn’t like?’ Bea asked.
‘I just found it a little slow, and there was way too much historical detail for me. It just didn’t hold my interest nearly as much as I hoped it would,’ Harry explained.
Bea heard a tiny huff of annoyance from Violet.
‘I can understand that,’ said Bea. ‘If you’re not a fan of historical fiction, it might not be for you.’
‘I think that’s all it was, just not my bag really,’ said Harry, casting Violet an apologetic look.
After a healthy debate, the consensus seemed to be that the majority of members had enjoyed the book, with a couple of exceptions, but no one completely hated it, so Bea was pleased.
‘How do you think it’s going?’ Phoebe asked Bea, as she topped up everyone’s glasses while they grabbed a cheese board and sat down to eat.
‘Good, I think,’ said Bea, watching Nathan chatting to Arthur, his eyes glinting with amusement in the light cast upon him by the flickering candles. Violet was deep in conversation with Tori, her face relaxed and happy.