Chapter 21
Nicola tapped the return button on the keyboard.
That was another batch of photographs of Pennycress up and loaded onto social media.
She flicked through them and smiled. The photographs made the inn look idyllic: guests lounging in the garden, Jill’s new plant pots brimming with colourful flowers by the front door, a slice of the fruitcake Laura had been painstakingly learning how to bake and perfecting for the last month or so before allowing their guests to be eager guinea pigs.
Nicola looked up as Laura came through carrying a tray full of used crockery.
‘I think we’ll have to build another cloakroom down here.
This is their third pot of tea and they’re already onto their fourth.
’ Resting the tray on top of the desk, Laura laughed.
‘And just to warn you, they’ve been trying, and failing, to teach me bridge, so if you do venture into the sitting room, they’ll likely try to accost you, too. ’
‘Thanks for the warning.’ Nicola grinned. She loved the bridge club members, her mum being one of them, and the others all being people she’d grown up with around Meadowfield. ‘My mum gave up on trying to teach me years ago, so hopefully I’ll be safe.’
‘Oh, you might be lucky then.’ Laura smiled as she rearranged the empty cups and saucers on the tray. ‘I can’t believe it’s almost the Landownes’ wedding.’
‘I know. When they booked it, I thought it was so far in the future we didn’t really have to worry about it, but it’s come round so quickly.’
‘It has, hasn’t it? I just hope we can pull it off.’
‘We will.’ Nicola smiled. She knew how worried Laura was about hosting the wedding reception, but everything was prepared, and they were ready for the big day. ‘It’ll be fine. Everything is under control.’
‘Oh, I don’t doubt that. I’ve seen how you work, remember? I’m more worried about something going wrong on the day. The range breaking so Jackson can’t cook the wedding breakfast or the roof caving in. Or me tripping and spilling red wine on Suzy’s wedding dress.’ She began chewing her nails.
Reaching out, Nicola laid her hand on Laura’s forearm.
‘If the range breaks, Jackson will cook the food at the pub. If the roof caves in, well, the wedding party will be out in the garden, anyway. And if you spill red wine on the bride’s dress, then we’ll just test out the whole throw white wine over the stain to get rid of it theory. We’ve got this.’
Laura pulled her hand away from her mouth and relaxed her shoulders. ‘Thank you. I knew you’d have a solution to everything.’
‘Honestly, let’s just roll with it and enjoy it. You never know, this might be the start of a whole lot of people choosing to have their wedding reception here at Pennycress Inn.’
‘Now that would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? For us to be such an integral part of a couple’s special day. Although I’m not sure my stress levels could cope.’
‘Stop.’ Nicola grinned. ‘Suzy and Owen’s big day is going to be perfect.’
‘Yes, you’re right. You know what, I think I’m just going to try to put it out of my mind for now. Like you say, everything is prepared and ready to go, so there’s no point worrying.’
‘Exactly.’ Nicola nodded and pushed a fallen napkin back onto the tray.
‘Right, I’d best go and grab some more cake.
’ Laura picked up the tray just as the front door swung open and Jill stepped inside with a few sheets of plywood under her arm.
She was quickly followed by a group of at least ten young children all sporting bright blue T-shirts with the words Meadowfield Forest School emblazoned in yellow writing across the front and carrying large pieces of card, paintbrushes and those squeezy bottles of paints which seemed to be a staple in every primary school classroom.
Lowering the tray again, Laura glanced at Nicola, a look of pure horror on her face before turning to Jill. ‘Hi, Jill. Everything okay?’
Leaning the sheets of plywood against the wall, Jill scraped her hair from her face and bundled it into a messy bun, strands of her glorious red hair cascading down her back as it fought against the hairband. ‘Yes… No.’
‘No?’ Laura raised her eyebrows.
‘In truth, I don’t know whether I’m coming or going – and please don’t ask me the day of the week or the month. I don’t think I’d be able to answer.’ Jill held her hand over her forehead.
‘Oi! You just hit me with that.’ A young boy shouted at the girl in front of him, who was holding a piece of card roughly the same size of her.
‘No, I didn’t.’ The girl turned towards Jill and, as she did so, the card whacked the boy against the arm again.
‘Oi!’ the boy cried out again, rubbing his arm furiously. ‘You did it again. Mrs Davies, she did it again.’
‘It’s Jill, Sebastian. I’ve told you that before.’ Jill glanced at Laura and Nicola and lowered her voice. ‘Every time one of them calls me Mrs Davies, I automatically look around, expecting to see Gerald’s mum.’
‘But it hurts.’ Sebastian pouted.
‘I know, I know.’ Hurrying across to him, Jill rubbed his arm before ushering the young girl with the card forward a little. ‘That’s it, Issy. Just try to make sure you’re standing away from anyone else.’
‘Uh, is there anything we can do to help?’ Laura asked cautiously.
‘I was hoping I could plead with you to see if we could borrow the sitting room. We’d be quiet.
And not for long either, a couple of hours or so.
’ Jill walked back towards the desk, holding her hands together in a pleading motion.
‘We’ve just been chucked out of the village hall because there’s a private function there this evening and they need to get the hall ready. ’
‘We’ve got the bridge club in the sitting room at the moment.’ Nicola looked at the bottles of paints and chalks, all being held a little precariously. ‘But why don’t you come through to the garden? The weather’s nice and it’s not supposed to rain. What do you think, Laura?’
Relief washed across Laura’s face at Nicola’s suggestion. ‘Yes, the garden. What a great idea.’
‘Are you sure? That would be amazing, thank you. It’s just typical, isn’t it?
But with only another couple of weeks left until the carnival, we can’t really lose any time at the moment.
’ Jill began ushering the children through into the kitchen towards the glass doors which led out onto the decking.
‘Mind that paint, Willow. Put the salt shaker down right now, Freya. That’s it, Ruby, straight through the doors and head right down the steps to the grass. ’
‘Thank you for letting us do our important painting here.’ Issy, the girl holding the large sheet of card, smiled up at Laura and Nicola before turning towards the kitchen. The large piece of card she was dragging behind her clipped Laura on the shin.
‘No problem,’ Laura called after her as the last of the children disappeared through the doorway and Laura bent down to rub her leg. ‘That was quick thinking about the garden, Nic.’
‘Haha, I saw your face when Jill asked about them taking over the sitting room and then noticed the bottles of paint.’ Nicola grimaced.
‘Yes, and that sort of washable paint never comes out, however many stain removers you use.’ Laura curled her index fingers around the word, ‘washable’.
‘Exactly.’ Nicola looked over as the sitting-room door opened and old Mrs Pritchard peered out.
‘Did I hear children’s voices?’
‘Yes, that was Jill, with the forest school children. They’re trying to work on props for their carnival float but have had to leave the village hall, so we’ve sent them out into the garden.’ Nicola waved towards the back of the inn.
‘Oh, how lovely. Was my little granddaughter Issy with them? She was chatting to me about the float they were designing when I babysat her the other day.’
‘Yes, she’s here.’ Laura smiled and rubbed her shin again.
Old Mrs Pritchard glanced over her shoulder to address the rest of the bridge club. ‘Who fancies some arts and crafts? The children’s forest school are painting for the carnival in the garden.’
‘Now that sounds fun.’ Mrs Pierce’s voice rang through the inn. ‘Come on, people, let’s go and give them a hand.’
Soon enough, the bridge game was forgotten, and the group of avid card players were heading out towards the garden.
Vivienne paused as she walked through the hallway and placed her hand on Nicola’s arm. ‘I’ll go and take a look and then be back in to bring out our drinks.’
‘Don’t worry, Mum. I’ll get those.’ Nicola smiled as the words her mum always used to say on the rare occasions they’d had a holiday for themselves came to mind, ‘you can take the innkeeper out of the inn, but not the inn out of the innkeeper’.
‘Are you sure, Nicola?’
‘Of course I am. Now go and help poor Jill.’ Nicola laughed as she closed her open tabs on the computer.
‘Right, I’m going. You don’t need to tell me twice.’ Vivienne chuckled as she followed the last of her club outside.