Chapter 21 #2
‘Yeah, I used to come to this hall for Lily’s playgroup, many moons ago,’ added Anna, with a touch of nostalgia.
‘And now look at her, nearly an adult. Doing all sorts. Been finding herself a job in a restaurant and everything.’ She sounded proud, if perhaps a little reticent to let go.
Cath recognised that empty-nest feeling.
It was so lovely that they were here, together as a family.
‘Well, it must be time to set to work.’ Cath’s mood was lifting by the second.
And right on cue, local painter and decorator Allan, who lived in a hamlet not far from the village, arrived and he told them he had been a pupil at the school.
He stepped into gear and took the reins from Cath, organising the DIY decorating troops, advising they’d used the Calico on two walls and the Magnolia, which he had also had spares of in his van parked outside, on the other two.
‘You’d hardly know the difference, but best not to mix.
’ Volunteers and paintbrushes and rollers at the ready, and they were off.
Cath’s heart was in her mouth as she watched the first brushstrokes go on, freshening the dull grey walls immediately, and Nikki, with roller to hand, gave a cheer.
With the music on, coffee, stacks of biscuits – Lily had also brought tubs of rocky-road bites and some brownies that she’d made earlier that morning – and with a huge brushstroke of camaraderie, the workers got stuck in, and the old hall began to yawn and stretch itself back to life.
It was great to see the whole supper club there getting all paint-spattered, and chatting away with the others.
Her glance was drawn to Will every now and again, to check if he seemed okay.
His emotions, as seemed so often in a public arena, were kept under lock and key.
Lunchtime was soon upon them, and apart from Mary and John who were no doubt shattered and ready for a sit-down, everyone else had agreed to continue.
With two of the four hall walls completed in the Calico colour, and a small section of the Magnolia started, Cath nipped home and brought across a huge pan of homemade leek and potato soup to warm on the hob.
At least that part of the industrial-sized cooker was working.
She was soon carrying through a tray of filled mugs and a stack of bread buns halved and buttered, announcing there was ‘soup for the troops’.
Whilst the act of painting had warmed the helpers somewhat, the hall was still rather chilly, having been so infrequently used. It’d take a while to warm the high-ceilinged room through, even with the radiators back in action. A mug of hearty soup would go down well for sure.
After passing out the lunch supplies, Cath realised she hadn’t seen Will in the hall for a while. She asked Nikki if she knew where he was.
‘Oh, he had to dash off just before, saying his daughter was up for the weekend, and that he needed to get home to see her for a couple of hours. I think he’s coming back though.’
That sounded reasonable enough, but his muted manner before had left her concerned. He just hadn’t seemed himself. And of course, with so many people buzzing about and jobs to do, it hadn’t been the time or place to talk.
The next tradesperson to turn up was a thirty-something plumber, toolbox to hand, who introduced herself as Gemma.
She was chatty and friendly, saying she was more than happy to look at the kitchen tap, and she’d check out the general pipework plus the toilet facilities, too.
Cath had warned her about the leaky loo pan in the gents’.
Oh, it’d be fantastic if she could sort those issues, then Cath could then tick several jobs off her list in one fell swoop.
Her Pilates teacher and a couple from her exercise group had rocked up, happy to lend a hand; mentioning they were keen on getting a class set up here in Tilldale, if the hall revival worked out.
And a tall, rather good-looking joiner in his forties called Mick arrived; he was able to help with the dodgy door handle, and thereafter more than happy to turn his hand to painting.
It had been a heartwarming day after all, and so good to see the community coming together.
At the next tea-break time, Andreas whispered to Cath naughtily, ‘Ooh, I haven’t seen such a hunky gathering in a long while,’ as he helped himself to a chocolate brownie.
Other than Gemma, the majority of the tradespeople who had turned up seemed to be canvas-trousered males, with rather muscular arms and torsos.
‘Behave,’ Dan whispered back at him, having overheard the comment, as Cath gave a giggle.
That fact hadn’t passed her by either, actually.
They were indeed a good-looking bunch, perhaps it was the tool belts and the air of practical authority they brought with them.
But there he was, back again and over the way, her own chunk of hunk – well, one fine day she might get another chance to find out – holding the stepladder for Allan to reach a tricky part with his roller above the stage.
She gave Will what she hoped was a foxy smile.
She was a bit out of practice with such things, to be honest. He managed a small, somewhat cautious smile back.
So close and yet so far – both with Will and the organising of the event.
There was still a mountain to climb to pull this Christmas lunch event together.
As the afternoon drew to a close, with the sky already darkening outside, some of the helpers drifted away, to huge thanks from the gang, armed with takeaway portions of rocky road, baklava and chocolate brownies. These guys really were local heroes.
*
The painting of the main hall walls was now complete, looking great in that fresh calico-cream shade, with the final detail, suggested by Allan, being the old dado rails touched up with a classic navy.
In the end, everything had gone far better than Cath could have hoped for, that was other than with Will.
He hadn’t seemed himself at all. And he’d only gone and nipped away again before they’d had chance to catch up. Him disappearing like that had left her even more concerned.
A while later, Lily filled her in further saying that before he’d left, Will had asked if he could take a couple of chocolate brownies for Sophie, muttering something about them being her favourites and a ‘peace offering’.
Cath couldn’t help but wonder what had gone on between father and daughter, but was all too soon caught up in the melee of thanking and helping the various tradespeople and helpers to pack up.
Dan must have spotted something was amiss too, and before he and Andreas left, came over to put an arm gently around Cath. ‘You okay, lovely? The day’s gone off brilliantly in the end, hasn’t it?’
‘Yeah, it has. Everyone’s been great.’ But her wistful tone gave her concerns away.
They’d definitely been aware of a situation, with Dan adding, ‘Uhm, we couldn’t help but notice that Will wasn’t quite himself. And then dashing off like that …’
‘I know. I’m a bit worried about him. He wasn’t right, was he? It’s annoying that we never got chance to talk …’
‘Lily mentioned about the chocolate “peace offering”,’ he shared. ‘And in my limited experience, chocolate is one way to a woman’s heart, so perhaps it’s all sorted by now.’
‘Yes, I hope so.’
Whatever was wrong, Will seemed to be trying to patch it back up with Sophie, one small gesture at a time. Cath so hoped they’d get the chance to talk about it together at some point. Will might well need a shoulder to lean on.
*
Cath left Veronica, the very last of the lot, and as it turned out a real trooper, buffering the hall’s parquet flooring. The committee had pulled a few strings, apparently, and managed to get the floor-polishing machine on loan for the weekend from the primary school in Kirkton.
Wow, what a day! Cath hadn’t stopped and now she suddenly realised how knackered she was.
‘You get away, Cath,’ called a smiling Veronica. ‘I’ll finish here and lock up.’
‘You sure?’
‘Absolutely.’ She switched off the machine for a second to be heard.
‘And I can’t thank you all enough.’ There was a glint of tears in the eyes of the very upright and upstanding Veronica.
‘It was so lovely to see it filled with people, and bustle and chatter again. You’ve absolutely brought this old hall back to life. ’
And they had. They’d only gone and done it – other than the two dodgy ovens, anyhow. And Cath felt a swell of pride, and the glisten of a tear in her own eye. She might pull this off, after all.