Chapter 28 #2
Balancing the tray in her arms, Scarlett headed out towards the sitting room, kicking the doorstop on her way out of the kitchen so the door closed behind her to give Nicola some privacy.
As she crossed the hallway, she smiled. By the sound of it, Miss Cooke, Jill and the rest of the Community Hub members were deep in discussion about some imminent road closure or something.
Likely something which would be deemed a small inconvenience elsewhere, but would make the front page here if Meadowfield had its own newspaper.
‘Here we go. Who’s in need of refreshments?’ Scarlett raised her voice as she entered, hoping they wouldn’t think she was rude for interrupting them.
‘Oh, lovely. I could do with a spot of tea.’ Miss Cooke shifted forward. Inching her way towards the edge of one of the large Chesterfield sofas, she placed her notebook on the coffee table before looking expectantly towards Scarlett.
‘A nice coffee would be perfect, please, Scarlett.’ Jill stifled a yawn. ‘Little Kasey was up until midnight last night, and then poor Willow woke from a nightmare at three.’
‘Yikes. I wish I’d known, and I’d have brought double-strength coffee.’ Scarlett carefully lowered the tray to the coffee table, both relieved and surprised when nothing spilt.
‘Haha, I’m sure I drink too much as it is.’ Jill laughed as she gulped her drink.
‘You do.’ Miss Cooke began to pour tea from the dainty teapot. ‘A little less coffee and a little more sleep training for your little ones wouldn’t go amiss.’
Widening her eyes, Scarlett looked from Jill to Miss Cooke and back again. Had Miss Cooke actually said that?
‘You’re right, of course.’ Leaning against the sofa cushions, Jill balanced her mug on her knees. By her reaction, she was well used to this sort of less than helpful judgement from Meadowfield’s mayoress. ‘I’ll get Kasey to pack his overnight bag after nursery today and pop him by before dinner.’
‘Oh… I…’ Miss Cooke looked up, the teapot still in hand and the tea quickly filling the small teacup.
Bursting out laughing, Jill slapped her knee. ‘I’m sorry, but your face was a picture.’
Miss Cooke shook her head slightly as she lowered the teapot and tutted at her teacup, presumably because in her shock at Jill’s suggestion, she’d overfilled it. ‘You may jest, but I’m sure all the advice you need will be on the internet for you to follow yourselves. At home.’
‘I know.’ Jill grinned. ‘And we’ve tried it all.
It’s just him, just our little Kasey. None of the others were as tricky as he was at getting to sleep.
Besides, when he grows out of it, we’ll look back and miss the endless walks around the village pushing him in his buggy as we try to get him to nod off, or the hours spent watching nature shows, hoping David Attenborough’s calm voice will lull him to sleep. ’
‘At least he’ll be a genius on the nature front.
’ Scarlett grinned as she finished unloading the tray and straightened her back.
Looking around the small gathering, she checked that everyone had a mug of coffee or a cup of tea in hand.
Yep. ‘Does anyone fancy another slice of cake or a mince pie or anything?’
‘Ooh, I’d love another slice, please?’ Rachel asked.
‘Perfect. I’ll go and bring some in.’ Thankful she hadn’t found herself roped into helping out with anything like Nicola had been concerned about, Scarlett turned, ready to head back to the kitchen.
‘Actually, one moment, please, Scarlett,’ Miss Cooke called after her.
Pausing in the sitting room doorway, Scarlett turned. Perhaps she’d been a little too premature in her relief. ‘Yes?’
Picking up her notebook from the coffee table, Miss Cooke flicked through the pages before tapping the page and looking up. ‘Will Pennycress still be serving hot chocolate and cake at the Meadowfield Carol Service on Christmas Eve?’
Carol service? Hot chocolate and cake? She frowned. ‘What time is that?’
‘Six in the evening as usual.’ Miss Cooke’s curt tone suggested Scarlett should be aware of this fact even though this would be her first Christmas in Meadowfield and only her second trip here.
‘Right.’ Hugging the tray to her chest, she tapped it gently as she thought.
Laura and Jackson were due to arrive back in England around midday, but whether they’d be suffering from jet lag or not, Scarlett didn’t have a clue.
Although maybe they’d already arranged to serve hot chocolate and cake; she’d have to check.
‘I’m not sure. I’ll check with Nicola. I’m sure she’ll know. ’
‘Well, let me know asap.’ Miss Cooke waved her hand slightly as though expecting Scarlett to run and find Nicola this instant. Which she would, but still.
‘Yep, I will.’ Nodding, Scarlett hurried out of the door, pulling it to behind her.
Hopefully Nicola would know what Laura and Jackson had planned, as she didn’t want to sign them up for something they wouldn’t want to do, but likewise she didn’t want to tell Miss Cooke they wouldn’t do it in case they wanted to.
She paused outside the kitchen door, listening to see if Nicola had finished on the phone before deciding she must have done and going through.
‘How did it go? Has she signed you up for litter-picking duty or an evening of impersonating an elf whilst following Meadowfield’s Santa around collecting money from unsuspecting villagers?’ Nicola slipped her mobile back into her pocket.
‘Ha, not quite. Although she’s wanting to know whether or not Pennycress is supplying hot chocolate and cakes on Christmas Eve for the village carol service.’ Scarlett set the tray down on the work surface before reaching up to take a pile of small plates from the cupboard above.
‘Ah.’ Nicola grimaced. ‘We usually do, yes. Laura didn’t mention it, but yep, we took part last year and I’m sure Laura and Jackson will want to again this year.’
‘Okay, cool. Will we need to arrange the cakes and supplies beforehand?’ She assumed they would, as Laura and Jackson wouldn’t have much time between getting back home and going out to serve hot chocolate and cakes.
‘Yes. I’ll ask my mum to bake some extra cakes. Although knowing her, she’s likely organised to do them, anyway.’ Nicola laughed.
‘Okay, great. Well, if Laura and Jackson are too jet-lagged on the day, I can always come and help anyway.’ Scarlett began slicing the fruit cake to serve.
Nicola’s mum, Vivienne, had run the inn before Laura took over, and she’d happily been supplying them with cake whilst the newlyweds were enjoying their honeymoon.
‘Perfect. Here, let me take that in, and you can get back to your painting.’ Stepping forward, Nicola picked up the tray before Scarlett could protest.
‘Thank you. Are you okay telling Miss Cooke we’ll serve at the carol service too, please?’
‘Yes, of course.’ Nicola grinned as she walked out of the kitchen.
Sinking back into her chair, Scarlett smiled. Even if Laura and Jackson were happy to attend and serve at the carol service, she might just go along too and perhaps take her sketchbook. There was bound to be some gorgeous village-y scenes she could capture for next year’s Christmas cards.