Chapter Six
‘A full English and the company of my two favourite ladies, what a way to start the day!’ Gino smiled, picking up his knife and fork from the blue-gingham tablecloth.
‘Flatterer!’ Mary reached for the maple syrup and poured it over her icing sugar topped waffles.
Ava thanked the waitress who was still placing mugs of coffee down in front of them and buttered her toast before turning her attention to Gino. ‘What a treat, thank you.’
When she’d got his text about meeting up for breakfast, Ava knew she ought to say no.
The sale had been underway for just over a week in the shop, and she was beginning to make some headway into the piles of bags and boxes for sorting out the back, but there was still plenty left to do.
Having a sign on the door saying they wouldn’t be accepting donations until further notice, she knew she had to crack on.
The last thing she wanted was people taking their donations and their loyalty elsewhere.
‘Toast is not much of a treat is it. You could have ordered a proper breakfast.’ Gino gestured to the mound of food on his plate.
‘Honestly, it’s good. I had cereal at half six this morning.’
Mary paused, her cutlery hovering over her waffles. ‘Half six? Why were you up at half six? Flo’s opening up the shop for you, you could have had a lie-in!’
‘It wasn’t my fault this time. Myrtle needed to go out.’
Mary sliced the corner off a waffle. ‘And that’s why you should never have pets.’ She popped it in her mouth decisively.
Gino shook his head. ‘But that makes no sense. You work with animals all day. You go out at all hours to rescue them, and when you get time off, you spend it checking on them.’
‘But that’s different. They’re wild animals trying to fend for themselves and live freely in a world where the odds are increasingly stacked against them. They don’t seek human company, and I do my best to ensure they can keep their independence and return to their natural habitat.’
Mary’s words and passion made Ava think of her mum. Not wanting to get emotional, she changed the subject.
‘Myrtle’s just used to our routine. So am I, to be honest. I love to have breakfast early, shower and be out in time to watch the sun come up. The orange glow of first light spreading across the land and—’
‘Oh, God, she’s off.’ Mary put her knife and fork down.
‘Oi!’ Ava hit her playfully on the arm.
‘I’m teasing. You know I love the way you see the world in pictures to be painted, and for the record, I love Myrtle — she’s the coolest pet I know.’
‘Well, she loves you too.’ Ava smiled. ‘And, honestly, the sunrise over the grounds of Dapplebury House is beautiful. You should come and see it sometime.’
Mary picked up her cutlery, returning her attention to her breakfast as she spoke. ‘Getting out of bed to see the sunrise on a day when I’m not on call sounds like torture. But Gino might be a taker. Fancy seeing the sun come up with Ava, Gino?’
Ava kicked Mary under the table and hoped Gino wouldn’t notice the flush she could feel spreading across her cheeks as she said, ‘The sunrise is stunning. Worth a look if you’re ever up at that time.’
Gino glanced up from his plate. ‘Sure, though I’m more of a late-night than an early morning type, me.’
‘Sunset then?’ Mary raised an eyebrow at Ava who decided to change the subject.
‘Talking of late nights, now you’ve had plenty of time to reflect on it, how did the 50s night go? It seemed a real hit from where I was sitting. I know Mary did quite well out of it. Didn’t you say you learned some new moves from your dance partner?’ Ava giggled.
Mary poked her tongue out. ‘Well if you must know the night culminated in a very satisfying threesome.’
Gino choked on a piece of bacon and reached for his coffee.
Mary patted him on the back and giggled. ‘Just me and my good pals Ben and Jerry,’ she clarified.
Ava laughed. ‘How about you, Gino? Was it a success for The Brown Dog?’
Gino put his knife and fork down and took a quick swig of his coffee. ‘It was good. Not quite the money-spinner I’d hoped for, but good.’
‘Really? But you’d drawn in a crowd. We couldn’t believe how busy it was when we got there.’
‘Yeah, but busy dancing and busy drinking are two different things. What I need is to come up with a plan that gets bums in seats, and people eating and drinking. That would be a winning combination in terms of money in the till.’
‘And we all need more of that,’ Ava put in.
‘OK, so . . . like what? Come on, start by running your ideas by us. Together, we might be able to come up with something. Ava’s creative.’ Mary shifted in her seat, keen to hear Gino’s ideas.
‘I’m not sure my largely unused degree in Fine Art is going to help.’ Ava bit into her toast.
‘You know what I mean.’ Mary tutted, turning her attention back to Gino.
‘Well, the theme seemed to go down well. I just didn’t pick the right concept.’
‘So a theme you can connect with a meal? Eighties night, cheese and pineapple or prawn cocktails to start?’ Ava offered.
‘No not decades. I think no matter which I pick, the evening will be about the music rather than the food and drink if we go down that route.’ Gino pushed his plate back and folded his arms on the table.
‘So a theme, where the music is secondary to the food and drink?’ Mary wiped the last piece of waffle around her plate, mopping up the remaining maple syrup, before putting it in her mouth.
‘Yeah. So . . .’ Gino looked at her expectantly as she finished chewing and swallowed.
‘So . . . I don’t know. Sorry.’ Mary slunk back in her chair and patted her stomach. ‘I’m too stuffed to think.’
Gino screwed up his napkin and threw it at her. ‘Well, that’s a great help!’
‘Maybe there’s a way of us working together?’ Ava was thinking on her feet as ideas popped into her head.
‘You want to work in the bar? We can’t take anyone else on at the—’
‘No, not like that. With a theme.’
‘What do you mean?’
Both Mary and Gino looked at Ava expectantly.
‘Well if you picked a theme where people needed a costume, and I had a rail of clothes suitable for that theme, in the shop, then bingo! Everyone’s a winner. I’d advertise your night and you’d advertise where people could get their outfit.’
‘That’s bloody genius.’ Mary grinned.
‘Yeah but what would work? If we pick a colour, the food could be hard to sort, and I’m not sure people would be bothered to be honest.’ Gino motioned for the waitress to bring them more coffees.
‘No, it’s got to be smarter than that.’ Ava leaned back in her seat.
‘The 50s night was busy because it appealed to people out of the village. Most of those there weren’t from Dapplebury.
We need something that will get folks around here interested in going to their local.
So from the events, you can build a steady trade, remind them their pub is still there and able to offer them a decent night out.
The village is dying, and people are letting it happen. We need to build some oomph.’
‘Oomph?’ Gino questioned.
‘Yes, oomph, back into this village.’
Mary smiled. ‘Wow, Ava, I haven’t seen you this fired up in a long time.’
‘Wait, I’ve got it!’
Mary and Ava turned to Gino, who looked fit to burst.
‘Countries!’ He beamed.
‘Countries?’ Ava pondered the concept.
‘Yeah, food and drink from different countries. The music would be secondary, and people could dress up if they wanted — with clothes from your shop.’
‘It’s a great idea. Cuisines from around the world. I like it. But, I’m not sure many people will be bothered to dress up,’ Ava said, attempting to hide her disappointment.
‘I could offer an incentive if they did.’
‘I wouldn’t want you to lose money.’
‘I wouldn’t if I accounted for it in my mark up. Say I offered a free dessert with their meal, for those who dressed up. They wouldn’t be getting the freebie if they hadn’t already had a meal. It could be a win, win.’
‘What if their outfit wasn’t from Ava’s charity shop? They could have already had it at home, or got it from somewhere other than All Critters Great and Small?’
‘Hmm, OK. So Ava gives them a voucher for a free dessert when they buy from her. What do you think?’ Gino looked at Ava. ‘We could start off with Italian. You know how long I’ve wanted Chef to add some Italian cuisine to the menu. Now he’ll have to.’
Ava was still pondering the idea. She wasn’t sure how well it would work when surely it would be cheaper for the people just to go and pay for their dessert than buy an outfit, but she could see how enthusiastic Gino was about it and she wanted to be supportive.
And who knew, anything that might bring more money into the charity shop was worth a try.
Established in the late 1980s — off the back of her mum’s passion for being there for all animals that didn’t have owners to look after them in their time of crisis — the wildlife rescue centre needed as much cash coming in as Ava could generate.
Surviving on the revenue from the shop, bequests, donations and the goodwill of volunteers got them so far, but more money was always needed.
Ava knew her mum’s mantra well. The aim was “rescue, recovery, rehabilitation and release” and that came at a price.
While she was unable to go to Critters’ Lodge, and take a front-line role in the rescue centre, managing the charity, and the more recently established shop that supported it, enabled her to feel she was actively helping to keep her mother’s legacy alive; albeit that it required maximum dedication for a minimal wage.
‘It sounds like a plan to me.’ Ava smiled and lifted her coffee cup from the table. ‘A toast, to “Cuisines from around the world” and may the good people of this village support our venture.’
Mary raised her mug to each of them in turn. ‘May your gourmets be great and your outfits plentiful.’
Gino banged his mug back down on the table and looked at them both, eyes wide. ‘I’ve got it! We’ll call it’ — he lifted his hands as if seeing the words in neon lights — ‘Around the World . . . in Eighty Gourmets.’
Mary and Ava looked at each other and burst into a fit of giggles.
Gino looked at them, stunned by their less than enthusiastic response.
Mary managed to control her laughter long enough to speak. ‘Gino, how . . . how the hell are you going to come up with eighty gourmets?’