Chapter 26
26
When Blessing phoned as I handed Pip the second-to-last bunch of asters, I couldn’t scramble out of the barn fast enough.
‘Hey.’
‘Hi. Are you okay? You sound out of breath.’
‘Yes. No. I have no idea.’
‘Tell me.’
I paced over to the nearest fence, then started marching alongside it. ‘You called me, you go first.’
‘You’ll never guess what I’ve done.’
I stopped. ‘It’s not something to do with my kitchen, is it? You’ve not set the house on fire, or killed all my plants?’
‘If I had, you think I’d break it to you by asking you to guess? No. It’s a good thing! Exciting. And nothing to do with the house.’
‘You have a date?’
‘Well, yes, but that’s not a big deal. Guess again.’
‘Please tell me. I’ve got quite a lot to do today.’
‘I’ve handed in my notice.’
‘Wow!’
Blessing had worked at the Travel Shop since she was sixteen.
‘Why? What are you going to do instead?’ For a panicked moment, I wondered if she would now expect to live with me rent-free, which was okay – I had no mortgage to pay, but I would be living off my savings for now and we had agreed that Blessing would split the cottage bills and buy her own food.
‘Help you in whatever you’re doing next? I can’t make pasties yet, but I can wash up, manage accounts and serve coffee. Compared to you, I’ll smash marketing, social media, all that biz.’
‘Blessing, I have no idea what I’m doing next.’
‘Okay, we can take some time out and travel for a bit instead. Pick up seasonal work. I don’t know, but I do know that I’m done with airports. Unless I’m catching a plane. I hate work without you there. Barb’s bitchy comments start to really bother me when I can’t laugh about them with you, later. A 6a.m. start is torture without a decent coffee. Plus, Mum said I have to give the car back if I move out and I can’t afford to buy one myself. It’ll take nearly two hours to get to the airport on public transport.’
‘Are you sure this isn’t just a bad day? It might not hurt to think about it for a few days.’
‘Maybe. Except I got a bit fired up about resigning and told Barb that if she put more effort into what came out of her mouth instead of what she slathered on it, all her staff might not want to leave. Honestly, Emmie. I’ve been Assistant Manager that long, I’ll have no problem finding customer-service work if I need to. I might be impulsive but I’m not irresponsible. I’ll still pay my way.’
‘In that case, great! I’m glad to have a wing-woman on my journey into the terrifying unknown.’
‘Okay, you’re super busy, so enough of me. What’s your news?’
I’d walked far enough along the fence line that no one else could possibly hear, although I did a good three-sixty scan to make sure.
‘I think I’m falling in love with Pip.’
I counted six skittered heartbeats before Blessing answered.
‘Emmie, that is not news.’
‘It is to me!’
‘How many people on that island have made comments about the two of you?’
‘Too many,’ I mumbled, hunching my shoulders.
‘Precisely.’
‘Fine, but that doesn’t help me. What am I supposed to do about it?’
‘Tell him? Kiss him? Ask for his number and if you can meet up when he comes over for his graduation?’
‘I don’t want to come home,’ I whispered. ‘Not yet, anyway.’
‘So don’t! It’s your life, Emmie. What did you just say to me? Enjoy the wedding, and then take a few days to think about what’s next. Find out what he wants, too. Because he clearly loves you back.’
‘You think so?’
‘Don’t you?’
I thought about this. ‘I think he might…’
‘And you’re going to walk away from that, why?’
‘Because I’m a wuss?’
Because I was terrified that I’d end up making the same mistake as my mum, rushing into something I couldn’t handle. Or even worse, Pip might think he loved me enough to make the same mistake as his dad, potentially destroying both his relationship with his family and the farm. Then he’d get to know the real, Sherwood-Forest me. The one with an empty past, pitiful present and no clue about the future. And he’d leave again, so all that trouble would have resulted in nothing but a smashed-up heart.
Because if I stayed, I’d have to confront all the weird things that had been happening, and confrontation came about as easily to me as telling a man that I loved him.
‘Ah crap, there’s a queue of customers and Barb’s giving me the evil eyeliner. I have to go. Call me though, as soon as something happens!’
She hung up, leaving me leaning against a wooden fence, head swarming with muddled thoughts.
Pip appeared at the barn door, calling out as he started walking over.
‘Everything okay?’
‘Yeah. It was Blessing. She’s quit her job.’
He came to stand next to me, the fence creaking as he rested his hips against it.
‘You look worried about that.’
I kept my eyes on the grass, unable to look at him now every part of my body hummed with the truth about how I felt.
‘Not really. I’m more worried that I’ve also quit mine.’
His head jerked up.
‘Oh?’
‘The lease on the kiosk runs out on Sunday. I’m not signing a new one.’
‘Why?’
I dared a peek at him through my hair. His face shone with hopeful anticipation.
‘Pip!’ Rosemary was outside the barn, tapping her wrist wildly. ‘When you’ve finished standing around chatting, Hugh says can you meet him at the church ASAP, please. You probably ought to take your suit with you.’
He pushed himself off the fence. ‘I’ll talk to you later?’
All I could do was nod. Hopefully by ‘later’, I might have figured out what I wanted to say.
After a few more minutes completing the reception centrepieces, I helped Lily load up the remaining flowers for the church, and then followed Rosemary to the kitchen. She was showing me how the oven worked when Aster appeared.
‘Lily asked if I could give you this.’ She held out a dress. ‘It’s a lend, not a gift, mind. I may not have worn it in decades, but it still fits me.’
In all the activity, I’d almost forgotten about an outfit, and felt touched that Lily hadn’t. I accepted Aster’s offering with some trepidation – she was in her nineties, although I had to admit, we were similar builds – and held it up to have a proper look.
‘Oh!’
‘Don’t sound so surprised.’ Aster frowned. ‘I might be an old farmer’s wife, but I can scrub up on occasion.’
The dress was lovely. Pale-green satin, with sheer, capped sleeves, a fitted bodice and full skirt that would reach just below my knees.
‘I bought it for my husband’s funeral. He hated me in black, and this was the same colour as his eyes.’
‘It’s beautiful. But are you sure?’
Aster’s glare was fierce enough to scorch the pasties. ‘I wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t sure. It’s only a dress. Now, Rosemary, is the cake safe and secure on the middle shelf?’
‘Yes.’ Rosemary opened the fridge door to show her.
Aster gave a brisk nod. ‘You know that’s the only place where things stay reliably cool in that ancient thing. I don’t know why you haven’t replaced it yet.’
‘You know we can’t afford to replace the fridge until after the Sunflower Festival. As long as we keep things in the middle, it’s not a problem.’
‘Are you going to try it on?’
It took a second or two to realise she’d switched back to me.
‘Ma, do you really think there’s time for that? Emmie has a lot to do.’
‘You’re the chef,’ Aster barked. ‘Is there time?’
‘I think so. I mean, yes. If I’m quick.’
Rosemary showed me to a downstairs shower room, tutting about how the service would be starting in a couple of hours. I could understand her being stressed – having four days’ notice to plan for her daughter’s wedding couldn’t have been ideal.
I slipped the dress on, managed to zip it up and jumped up and down a few times, trying to catch sight of it in the small mirror above the sink. It seemed to fit okay, and from what I could see, it definitely looked better than my shorts, and even worked with my white flip-flops, so I gratefully changed back and Rosemary hung it in the coat closet under the stairs.
If I’d had any lingering suspicion that Aster had been the person trying to ruin my time here, this erased it. If she hated me, then there’d be no way she’d lend me this dress.
‘Right, we’ll leave you to it,’ Rosemary said, shooing me back to the kitchen. ‘Everyone’s been instructed to keep their phones on today, so any problems, call me or Violet. The numbers are on the countertop, here. But try to avoid between one-forty-five and three because we’ll be at the ceremony.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Come on, then, Ma. Time to get changed.’
‘I know full well what time it is. Do you want to check I’ve brushed my teeth and put clean knickers on, too?’
‘Are you sure you can manage this?’ Rosemary hovered in the doorway, hands wringing. ‘There’s still time to throw some sandwiches together. The farmer’s market has some lovely pork pies.’
‘Please don’t worry. I’ve been doing this since I was thirteen. Go and enjoy your daughter’s wedding. The first pasties will be ready at four-thirty.’
‘No, we need them served at three-thirty.’
‘Really?’ Lily had been very clear when she’d shown me the schedule.
‘Yes. Iris wants them then. I can ask Lily to call you if you don’t trust me.’
‘No. Of course. Three-thirty. No problem.’
Rosemary frowned, clearly thinking there might be a problem if I couldn’t even get the timings right.
‘I just really want it to be an unforgettable day.’
‘It will be. And the pasties will be ready on time.’
Iris and Hugh’s wedding was certainly a day both I, and the rest of the Isle of Siskin would never forget.