Chapter 18
On Saturday, my father and I had the best time as we each described in detail what our fantasy spooky celebration would be like while we festooned every room in the house with autumn decorations. It soon became obvious that daydreaming wasn’t the only thing we had got carried away with!
‘And there was me thinking I’d gone a bit overboard on my shopping trip,’ I said to Rafe as he added leaf and pumpkin patterned cushions to his sofa and offered a spare couple to me to put in my sitting room.
‘You should know me by now, Skylar,’ he grinned. ‘If something’s worth doing—’
‘It’s worth doing with flamboyance and flair.’
‘Exactly,’ he chuckled as I recited one of his mantras. ‘Now, where are those little fabric pumpkins you had a stack of? They’d look ideal on your mantel and hearth.’
The fireplace in my room was already embellished with a silk leaf garland and fairy lights, as were the bannisters.
‘Are you sure the cats will ignore all of this?’ I asked as I looked around at the many additions to the décor.
The whole house was transformed, Rafe even had bed linen and towels in autumnal hues, and I adored it all, but it wouldn’t look anywhere near as impressive if Socrates and Plato had an attack of the zoomies and shredded everything.
‘Trust me,’ Rafe said. ‘They’ll be utterly indifferent.’
By the end of the day, I realised he was right. They’d taken it all in their stride and I was grateful for that because I would have hated to see it spoiled.
‘I told you,’ Rafe said rather smugly as the cats stalked around us to check their food bowls hadn’t magically refilled even though it wasn’t anywhere near their dinner time. ‘Now, go and find something to do while I make us some dinner.’
‘Don’t you need a hand?’
‘Not for what I have in mind. Go and have a bath or read a book or something and I’ll call you when it’s ready. It will be an hour or so.’
I didn’t need telling twice and, once I’d drawn my sitting room curtains, turned on all the fairy lights and the flame setting on the faux fire, I curled up in my armchair and let my thoughts drift.
Rafe and I had had such a wonderful day.
He was far happier now he knew I was completely committed to doing what he’d invited me to Nightingale Square to do.
There had been a moment when we’d been having our heart to heart the evening before, that I wondered whether I should mention that I might not be staying for ever, but I’d kept it to myself.
What would have been the point in putting the thought in his head when neither of us knew what the future might hold…
‘Skylar!’ he called after rather less than an hour. ‘We forgot the wreath!’
I had been drowsing in my chair, but as I came to, I breathed in the most delicious aroma.
‘What are you cooking?’ I asked, as he came in holding a huge wreath for the front door and handed it to me.
It was quite heavy, but so beautiful. Red, orange and gold leaves formed the base and there were tiny pumpkins and gourds, orange sunflowers, ribbons tied into bows and of course, more golden fairy lights, filling every available space.
‘Just a traybake,’ he said as if the aromas he’d conjured were nothing out of the ordinary. ‘Chicken, herbs, sweet potato, lardons, sprouts, garlic and apples,’ he reeled off. ‘It’s an autumn staple of mine.’
‘Well,’ I said as I breathed in deeply, ‘it smells sublime. I didn’t think I’d eat again after the equinox feast, but I can’t wait for this.’
‘It won’t be long,’ he smiled, appreciating the praise. ‘Though it will probably feed eight rather than two. Hang that up, will you?’ he requested, just as someone knocked on the front door. ‘And if that’s anyone we like,’ he added as he went back to the kitchen, ‘invite them in to eat with us!’
Still holding the wreath, I opened the door to find Erik, Freya and Finn on the step. They were crowded together because it was just starting to rain again.
‘Hi,’ Erik smiled, as he turned up the collar on his jacket. ‘Pub?’
‘What he means is,’ Freya said, as Finn leant forward, took the wreath from me and hung it from a perfectly positioned hook on the door that I’d never noticed before, ‘would you like to come with us for a pint in The Dragon, Skylar?’
‘That’s a beauty,’ Finn said in praise of the wreath before I could answer her.
‘It is,’ I agreed. ‘It’s Rafe’s. Though how he safely shipped that from the US when he moved, I have no idea.’
‘I didn’t,’ my father said behind me. ‘I had it delivered from a local maker last week. Are you going to ask our friends in, Skylar or leave them getting slowly soaked on the doorstep?’
‘Sorry,’ I stepped back to make room. ‘Come in.’
‘We were just on our way to the pub,’ Erik said, without moving.
‘Well, you’re very welcome to eat with us before you go,’ Rafe offered and the three of them quickly bundled in. ‘It’s nothing fancy, but there’ll be plenty to go around.’
‘It smells amazing,’ Freya smiled as I took her jacket and hung it up while she looked about her. ‘And I love your decorations.’
‘Come on,’ I said to our unexpected guests. ‘I’ll show you around. This is just the tip of the iceberg!’
No one made it to the pub that evening. Our impromptu supper party was a total triumph, and we all sat in the kitchen that was made for entertaining.
We devoured Rafe’s delicious traybake, drank wine and talked for hours, with music quietly playing in the background and candles adding another layer of comfort to the ambience.
My father had always been a laidback host and as I watched him, I could see he was in his element and his cats were, too. They’d made a beeline for Finn, even Plato who tended to be shy of newcomers, and he’d fussed them until their purrs were almost as loud as our conversation.
‘I’ve been thinking about this Halloween ball idea,’ Erik said quietly to me, when we found ourselves next to each other on the sofa while the others were still talking at the table.
‘Me too,’ I said back. ‘I’m really looking forward to talking to Kate and Luke about it all on Monday.’
‘So, you really think it’s going to be possible to pull it off?’ he asked, sounding doubtful.
‘Well,’ I hedged, ‘I think it’s going to be possible to pull something off for sure.
I know they were thinking of a ball, but that suggests a hundred guests or more which would be tricky to set up in five weeks.
Selling all those tickets for a start, then securing the right size marquee, catering, luxury outdoor loos and that’s just for starters. ’
‘Oh crikey,’ Erik said as he puffed out his cheeks. ‘I was so worried about where everyone would park, I hadn’t thought about fancy loos.’
‘Kate was open to the idea of scaling back a bit,’ I told him, ‘so hopefully Luke will be too when he realises just how much would be involved.’
‘At least he has decent contacts for promotion purposes.’
‘He does?’ I frowned.
Had I not known Erik as well as I now did, I might have encouraged him to put himself forward as the star attraction for the event.
His celebrity – for want of a better word – status would have made him a huge draw, but given his current circumstances, that sort of pressure was the last thing he needed.
I still wanted him to elaborate on the conversation we’d been having about his dad but knew it should happen on his terms.
‘Do you not know what Luke’s famous for?’ he asked me, looking amused.
‘Famous,’ I frowned. ‘No, should I?’
‘Most people know at first sight,’ Erik laughed, no longer keeping our conversation quiet. ‘Google him while I refill our glasses.’
‘No more wine for me, but thanks,’ I said and reached for my phone.
‘Find him?’ Erik asked when he came back with his glass and a lemonade for me.
‘Er, yeah,’ I said and turned my phone around. ‘I had no idea. I mean, I knew he was a good-looking guy but…’
The image was of the philanthropic man I knew, wearing very little while reclining provocatively on a speedboat and ostensibly advertising expensive aftershave while no doubt also raising pulses.
‘Nothing to write home about though really, is he?’ Erik grinned.
‘I’ve seen better,’ I shrugged. ‘And according to this, it was literally years ago that he was named the most desirable male model in the world. He’s really let himself go since then.’
We looked at each other and laughed.
‘I can’t believe you didn’t know,’ Erik grinned.
‘I didn’t have a clue,’ I said and shook my head, ‘but now I do, I’ll be making the most of him to help pull this party off!’
‘What’s so funny?’ Rafe asked as he, Freya and Finn, who was carrying both cats, came to join us.
‘Skylar didn’t know about Luke’s former career,’ Erik said on my behalf.
‘You’re joking?’ my father was agog.
‘You knew?’ I gasped.
‘Of course, I knew!’
The other three laughed.
‘Why didn’t you say anything?’
‘I assumed it was a given and that everyone knew,’ Rafe shrugged. ‘Luke was top torso for five years running among my closest circle of friends in LA. An achievement unsurpassed to this day.’
‘Now that, you could have kept to yourself,’ I said, making the others laugh again.
I didn’t mention that Erik could have given Luke a run for his money.
‘Fair enough,’ Rafe grinned.
It was close to midnight before Freya said she and Finn should get back to see to Nell.
‘And I should go, too,’ Erik said.
‘I’ll show you out,’ I offered. ‘I’m sorry you didn’t make it to the pub.’
‘Don’t be,’ Erik smiled. ‘None of us are. We’ve had a lovely evening. Thank you both.’
‘And thank you Plato and Socks,’ beamed Finn who was covered in cat hair but didn’t care.
I wondered if Nell would!
‘See you tomorrow, Skylar,’ Freya said as soon as I’d opened the front door and as she and Finn headed for home.
‘What are you up to tomorrow?’ asked Erik who was still standing on the doorstep.
‘I’m going over to the Grow-Well in the morning,’ I told him. ‘Then Grandad George is coming here to have a tour of the house. Or the ground floor at least. And Rafe is cooking his famous roast beef with all the trimmings for a late lunch.’
‘Will you have room for it?’ Erik grinned.