Chapter 19
NINETEEN
The next morning, Rita, Thom, and Sennen were sitting chatting at the kitchen table when Poppy appeared, beautifully made up, wearing black cut-off trousers and an immaculately ironed white cotton shirt. Her hair was tied in a neat chignon of hairdresser quality.
Rita stood up. ‘Did you sleep well, despite the storm?’
‘Hardly a wink.’ Rita hadn’t noticed the girl’s thick Essex accent before. ‘But this one’ – she pointed to Thomas – ‘slept like a bloody baby.’
Thom grunted. ‘It doesn’t feel like it.’
‘Well, I expect you slept better than the guests.’ Rita added brightly, ‘Thanks to Zenya and Teo being so resourceful, they all bedded down in the annexe.’
‘Hilda would have loved that!’ Thom laughed.
Rita tutted. ‘Thankfully, she’s away or they would have all been hanging on for grim death in their yurts. Saying that they are built to withstand all weathers. I must get up there and see how they fared.’
‘It wasn’t so much the howling wind that kept me awake, more the screeching in the night of them birds,’ Poppy chirped, sliding into the chair next to Thom, who instinctively put a hand on her thigh. ‘Thom told you I was allergic to chickens, didn’t he?’
‘Chickens?’ Sen laughed. ‘That was foxes.’ Sennen helped herself to a piece of toast from the rack and buttered it.
Poppy laughed back. ‘Oh. Silly me. I’m more of a Love Island watcher than a Countryfile geek. And far more used to hearing a Tube trundling through Clapham than a stupid old fox in a field.’
Sennen took a sharp bite of her toast.
‘Can I get you a drink?’ Rita flicked the kettle back on.
‘I’d like a fruit tea if you ’ave one. And brown toast, no butter, with Marmite, please.’
‘I can cook you something if you’d prefer, egg, bacon whatever you like?’ Rita, ever the hostess, smiled.
‘Nah, you’re all right, thanks, Reet; can I call you Reet?’
‘Sure,’ Rita stuttered, usually reserving that privilege for only her best friends. She glanced at Thom and Sennen and saw them grimace in unison.
Rita boiled the kettle, got out the box of ginger and lemon tea she’d bought to help keep her morning sickness at bay, and put a mug down in front of Poppy.
‘Thanks a million.’ She snuggled into Thom’s side.
‘He’s so charming, your boy, isn’t he? A credit to ya, in fact, proper old-fashioned chivalrous and I like that, you know.
He always pays for things for me.’ She took a delicate sip of her tea, and it took a second for her to get the taste.
‘Ha! Ginger… talk of the devil,’ she cackled, kissing Thom on the cheek.
‘Don’t you like to look after yourself?’ Rita said cautiously, hands gripping her mug like it might protect her from the words she knew she shouldn’t really be saying.
‘Yeah, but it’s nice to be treated, ain’t it?’ Poppy said with a grin. ‘He’s promised me a weekend in Paris for my birthday…’ She leaned in conspiratorially, lowering her voice. ‘And then… who knows?’
‘Who knows what?’ Thom choked audibly on his coffee.
Sennen concealed her laugh.
Rita remained calm. ‘How long have you two been together again…?’
‘Oh, long enough,’ Poppy said dismissively, waving a hand as if a timeline didn’t matter.
Thom took a huge glug of coffee.
Rita sat down and poured herself a cup of decaf tea from the pot she had just made. ‘When are you driving back, love? Not that I want you to go, as it seems like you’ve only been here five minutes.’ Rita cringed, hoping she didn’t sound like the clingy-mother-type she aspired not to be.
Thom reached for another piece of toast from the rack. ‘I thought late this evening, miss the traffic, if that’s all right.’
‘Of course, I’ll do a roast before you go.’
‘Now you’re talking, Mumsie.’ Mother and son exchanged a smile.
Poppy noticed. ‘I can’t see us coming down here much…’
Rita arched an eyebrow. ‘Ah, I see. Because you’re allergic to chickens?’
Poppy rolled her eyes dramatically. ‘Nah, cos Thomas is allergic to hard work.’
‘Oi!’ Thom patted her hand with his.
Poppy laughed. ‘You should have heard the moaning after him having to hold the ladder in the rain last night. My poor little bubba.’ She squeezed his cheek.
Sennen repeated in a baby voice, ‘Yeah, poor little bubba, having to get his hair wet.’
Rita’s annoyance hit. ‘Thom was always a great help around the farm when his father was alive.’
‘Exactly!’ Sennen fired. ‘He really was, then!’
‘I don’t see you ever offering to muck out the goats,’ Thom spat back.
‘I’m busy.’
‘What? Ringing up wedding venues that let you down.’
‘Children! Stop it!’ Rita shouted at such a level that Poppy spilled her tea then, without anyone noticing, let out a little smirk at the commotion she had caused.
Rita, sensing further escalating sibling chaos ahead, cleared her throat. ‘Sennen, after breakfast, can we do some wedding chat in the barn, please?’
Rita and Sennen headed outside. After the weather’s tantrum the night before, everything felt strangely calm.
The air still smelled of rain and sea salt, fresh and alive.
The sky looked scrubbed clean, with a few stubborn grey clouds drifting about, slowly giving way to blue and the promise of a sunny spring day.
Rita looked up. ‘What a glorious day ahead.’
‘Thank goodness. Hopefully, the trains will be running normally later on.’
‘Hopefully,’ Sennen huffed. ‘Thom owes me one for giving up my seat in the car home. I guess at least he and Her Majesty can discuss their upcoming nuptials on the journey back to London.’
Rita visibly gasped. ‘Don’t! Do you think he would marry her, Sen?’
‘Mum, did you not see his face? It was smattered with, I don’t.’
‘Yes, but she is very persuasive.’
‘You know what he’s like. He usually has at least two women on the go.’
‘Hmm, but he has never introduced me to any of them before.’
‘And you heard what Betty said about him the other day. I didn’t even know Jago had an ex-wife. You kept that one quiet.’
Rita was secretly relieved they were interrupted by the barn door flying open and Teo appearing, carrying a handful of damp yoga mats.
‘Ah, Rita. You OK? The goats and chickens, they missed you this morning. Maa, maa, baa, baa, cluck, cluck.’ Teo burst out laughing. ‘But do ask me again when you have the family here, as I am always happy to help.’
‘I really appreciate it, thank you, Teo.’ She nodded at the mats. ‘Where are you going with those?’
‘I hang them on the washing line at the back of your place, OK?’
As Teo headed off, Rita’s gaze drifted towards the outhouse adjoining the barn where they kept crafting supplies for the Nook.
The door, the one that was always bolted, was hanging slightly open.
She frowned. She was certain she had shut it properly yesterday morning.
But she had been tired and upset, so maybe she had just not closed it properly.
Or maybe the storm had rattled it open somehow.
Even so, a slow prickle crept up the back of her neck.
Thinking she would ask Teo to check it later, Rita followed Sennen into the barn where they were greeted by a buzz of activity.
And it was not just Zenya hard at work; Cass, Davie, Imogen, and Priya were pitching in too.
The huge back door, which opened onto the glorious view of the cliffs and horizon, was wide open, allowing a calm breeze to drift through.
Where the rain had poured in through the roof, debris was being swept away, and soggy carpets were being rolled up to take outside and dry.
Cushions were being checked for damp, and Cass was up on a ladder, precariously held steady by Davie, checking the lighting and making sure the inside of the roof was secure.
Zenya spotted Rita and smiled. ‘They have all had a cooked breakfast and they could all have stayed up on High Meadow, to be honest; their yurts are dry. Stan has just taken Odette back up there. She moaned a bit last night, but everyone accepted it for what it was.’
Rita paused for a moment, taking it all in. ‘You lot… honestly, I don’t know what to say. This is your retreat, your holiday. You should not be working on it.’
Priya smiled. ‘Treat others as you would have them treat you, I say.’
Davie, standing on the bottom rung of the ladder, grimaced as he noticed a splodge of mud on the back of his hand. ‘I am going to remember that one, Priya. If only everyone in this mad world lived by that, it would be a more peaceful place.’
Imogen gave a little shrug. ‘Where exactly will the wedding party be seated? Will they be looking over that beautiful view?’ Her already posh accent lifted another notch. ‘After all, it is gobsmackingly gorgeous.’
‘We are about to discuss that.’ Sennen slipped into work mode. ‘If it is a glorious day, which it very well could be on June the fourth, then we will have the ceremony up at the Singing Tree and maybe the reception in here.’
Rita clapped her hands gently. ‘Honestly, you have all done enough. Get showered, get snacks, please have a day doing something lovely for yourselves. The sea will be warming up now. As it’s Sunday, there are no classes.
Zen and Teo, you must take a day off as well.
You must be shattered. And how about I give you all a lift down to the harbour later?
Drinks and food at the Winking Pilchard. My treat for all this inconvenience.’
She remembered she still had to cook Thom’s promised roast dinner. Slow down? She didn’t have time to, even if she wanted to.
There were appreciative nods all round.
‘OK, great.’ Rita clapped her hands. ‘Those of you who want to join the harbour party tonight, be ready outside your yurts at six thirty and I will ferry you down the hill.’
Cass looked up. ‘Will you be joining us too, Rita?’
She considered it for a moment. ‘Yes. Do you know what? I will.’
‘Ace.’ Cass headed off to carry the ladder outside. Teo arrived back and took it from him.
‘I have the Land Rover outside,’ Teo called. ‘Anyone who want the lift, I will not spare the ponies!’
Everyone looked perplexed.