Chapter 40
FORTY
Once back at the farmhouse, Thom pulled up in the courtyard and was out of the car in seconds, jogging round to her door as Rita reached for the handle.
‘Honestly…’ She smiled as he offered an arm.
She swung her legs out carefully, then straightened, steady on her feet now.
Thom hovered for a moment before she leaned back in and lifted the bags from Betty’s off the passenger seat.
The delicious smell of warm cinnamon buns still lingered in the car, a comforting reminder of her morning escape to the harbour.
She put the food into the Nook, then spotted Stan ahead, balancing on the tractor trailer and directing Jago in the cab. She called out to get his attention. ‘Stan!’
Signalling for Jago to stop, he jumped down, brushing sawdust from his hands. ‘What’s up, Mrs Jory, you all right?’
She rested a hand on her stomach, letting it settle there naturally. ‘I wanted you to hear it from me before anyone else,’ she offered with nerves and pride. ‘I’m pregnant.’
For a heartbeat, Stan froze, then his face split into a grin so wide it made his eyes sparkle. ‘I knew it! You’ve had an extra twinkle for a while, you ’ave.’
Jago got out of the tractor and walked to them. Rita grinned. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t tell your man here already.’ She gestured to Jago. ‘He’s been bouncing off the walls since he found out.’ Rita put her tongue in her cheek. ‘Saying that he is clearly very good at keeping secrets.’
‘Ha bloody ha.’ Jago kissed her on the cheek. ‘Look at you ditching your crutches already.’
‘Hard as nails, me,’ Rita laughed.
‘That you are, Mrs Jory.’ Stan smirked. ‘I’d best tell Mrs Bodkin; she’ll start knitting like a madwoman, she will. Is it a girl or a boy?’
Rita laughed, rubbing her bump lightly. ‘It’s double trouble again, Stan, and no idea of the sexes yet, although Zenya is adamant it’s two boys.’
Stan’s grin softened into something more tender. ‘Two of the little blighters, well, I never. All I can say is those kids are going to be the luckiest babies in Cornwall, with a mum like you.’
‘Oi.’ Jago shook his head. ‘What about a dad like me?’
Stan’s face straightened to deliver his line, Cornish accent heightened. ‘They’ll be lookers, that’s for sure.’
Jago pulled her gently to the side. ‘So, do I get the pleasure of waking up to your beautiful face tomorrow, then?’
Rita grinned, a teasing glint in her eye. ‘I can’t wait; I really can’t. But let’s get this wedding out of the way first. Then, well, let’s see. Maybe you’ll get lucky, maybe you won’t.’ She winked and blew him a playful kiss.
Jago laughed, shaking his head, his familiar lopsided grin lighting up his face. ‘I get it. Keep me waiting even longer. It will be you who’s in trouble.’ He glanced back at her and gave a cheeky wiggle of his bum before getting back into the tractor.
Rita looked up to spot Teo touching up the barn door with varnish. With a deep breath, she limped over to him.
‘Teo.’ She was slightly breathless. ‘I have something to tell you.’
His face dropped. ‘Are you OK?’
Rita laughed. ‘Yes, yes. I’m fine but also very pregnant.’ Rita took a breath. ‘With twins again.’
He froze mid-roller, then his face lit up. ‘Bella Rita… wow. That’s amazing!’ He leaned in, careful not to bump her bump, or cover her in paint, and kissed each cheek in a flurry. ‘I am so happy for you.’
‘I just wanted you to know before anyone else told you and before Jago starts broadcasting it from the tractor.’
Teo laughed, glancing toward the trailer. ‘Sí, I know why now. Zenya she say, if I see Rita lifting, I stop Rita lifting.’ He then was wide-mouthed. ‘?Madre mía!’ He thought hard for a second. ‘So, I have the neuvos half-brothers and or sisters and two new cousins all at the same time. ?Estupendo!’
Rita, thinking that with this level of drama and complication in her life maybe she should consider writing for Emmerdale, looked lovingly at the exuberant young man.
She then turned and shouted. ‘Come on, all of you, take a break. Betty’s goodies for lunch in the Nook.’
By mid-afternoon, the farm still hummed with purposeful energy. Stan and Jago rumbled past Rita on the tractor, the trailer clattering behind them, piled high with the final blackened remains of what had once been the café’s snug little heart.
‘Careful on the turn,’ Rita called, hand shading her eyes. ‘We can’t have Cinderella’s coach getting stuck in tyre tracks now, can we?’
Jago pulled over and grinned, soot still smudged across his cheek like war paint. ‘You wound me. This is precision driving.’
Stan gave a mock salute from the passenger seat. ‘We’ll have it fit for a fairy tale by dinner time, don’t you worry, Mrs Jory.’
‘I meant to ask you about the wedding day weather.’
‘And your birthday weather, too.’ Jago smiled at her.
Stan nodded slowly. ‘I’ve been watching the sky this week, listening to the wind through the gorse, and checking the sea swell.’ He tapped the side of his nose. ‘Dry all day. Light breeze. Perfect.’
‘I hope so,’ Rita said, laughing. ‘The bride arrives in the morning with her entourage so it will be good to impart that seasoned knowledge.’
With the tractor and trailer trundling its way back to Hawthorn Acre, Rita stood and surveyed her home.
The fire site was almost fully dusted with fresh sawdust, pale and clean against the dark ground, Zenya and Teo working methodically with shovels while Thom ferried barrow after barrow from the stack.
Sennen, who had just finished meeting the caterers in the farmhouse, moved between them all with military efficiency, clipboard tucked under her arm, hair scraped back like a woman on a mission.
‘That looks so amazing! Thanks, team.’ Sennen looked to her notes, causing a sense of pride to flow right through Rita. ‘I need to check the yurts next,’ she added.
Zenya wiped her hands down her jeans. ‘They are all done. Let me show you.’
‘Ooh, I’ve got some books to put in there,’ Rita remembered, ‘four of them on the kitchen table, if you don’t mind getting them. You’ll be quicker than me.’
With Zenya and Sennen up at the yurts, Rita followed Teo into the barn.
She stopped just inside, breath catching.
The space had been transformed. White silk-covered chairs gleamed in the soft light, arranged around a long table already laid out for the feast, each place set with care and Clarice Cliff vases ready to house the beautiful pink Cinderella roses.
Uncovered trestle tables, stacked and polished, were set for the food and wedding cake that was arriving with the bride.
Fairy lights twinkled overhead like captured stars.
Off to one side, a bar area had been prepared, stocked and waiting, and hay bales were dotted around, adding a touch of rustic charm.
A dance floor gleamed by the huge barn doors, which opened onto the cliffs, the sea stretching endlessly beyond.
Rita let out a little sigh of wonder. ‘It looks incredible. Well done. And what a perfect place to get married… it really is.’
‘Sí, maybe you’ll need to buy a hat sooner than you think.’
‘Teo!’ Rita’s eyes widened. ‘Have you got something to tell me?’
‘Well, Jude, he has to ask me first.’ The young Spaniard burst out laughing.
‘You kidder, oh and how about the chairs for the ceremony up at the Singing Tree?’
‘The hire company they forget them; they come manana.’
Once outside, with Teo stashing paint cans in one of the outhouses, Thom jogged over to Rita. ‘The drive’s clear.’ He swept his hand towards it. ‘Plenty wide for a Cinderella coach, and then some.’
‘If that coach gets stuck’ – Rita put her hands on hips – ‘it will be a disaster.’
‘It won’t,’ Thom said. ‘And if it does, we’ll carry the bride. Just like Richard Gere.’
Rita sighed deeply. ‘You are all just brilliant, do you know that? And me, I’m just bloody exhausted.’
‘Go in and have a rest, Mum; we won’t be long now. And I’m insisting on a takeout tonight, no cooking for anyone and I mean it,’ Thom insisted.
Rita’s mobile rang. ‘It’s the hospital.’
‘Take, take it.’ Thom gesticulated.
‘OK, OK, great, what, right now? OK, no problem. Your granny is ready to come home. Sorry, Thom, but do you mind? You might be better taking the Land Rover as I’m not sure if she’ll be able to get out of that Porsche of yours.’
‘Mum, we are talking about Granny Hilda here; she’ll probably be wanting to scale Everest tomorrow.’
The crunch of tyres on the drive made them both turn.
‘Bugger,’ Rita muttered. ‘I forgot all about the boys in blue.’
A police car eased into the yard, coming to a slow stop.
‘Do you want me to put them off until tomorrow?’ Thom asked.
Rita shook her head, resting a hand on her bump. ‘No, it’s fine, darling. Let’s get it over with. You get off and collect Granny. Hopefully by the time you’re back they’ll be gone and I can help sort her out.’
‘As long as you’re sure.’
Thom rested a hand on his mum’s shoulder. ‘I’m so happy for you and Jago. New life in the family, it’s a beautiful thing.’