Chapter 25
I kept my head down on Monday and decided not to attend the party for the volunteers that was taking place in the still dressed dining room.
I didn’t want to miss it, but I’d had a message from Erik warning me that another photo of us walking back through the garden holding hands had appeared in the paper that morning and that everyone popping in and out of Prosperous Place was full of it.
I might have been a little punch-drunk, literally rather than figuratively on the walk back to the house on the night of the banquet but I knew we hadn’t properly held hands. We had made very brief contact and that was obviously when the photographer had snapped us again. What a snake.
Erik also said he wasn’t looking forward to the party but would stick it out. I considered inviting him over to the house while it was happening but then reckoned that if we were both absent everyone would jump to the wrong conclusion irrespective of whether we were together or not, so I didn’t.
‘Where were you?’ Rafe asked, when he arrived back from the celebration and found me in my sitting room with the curtains closed and the cats on my lap. ‘You never said you weren’t coming over.’
‘I had planned to but changed my mind,’ I fibbed. ‘I’ve got a bit of a headache.’
‘Anything to do with the second photo that appeared this morning?’ I turned to give him an anguished look. ‘Erik brought it up,’ my father said quickly, to reassure me that it wasn’t the hottest topic of conversation.
‘Why did Erik mention it then?’ I frowned. ‘And to whom?’
‘I think he saw the party as an opportunity to talk to everyone en masse,’ Rafe explained.
‘He was most insistent that the photographer had made the most of what had been nothing more than a punch ignited kiss that you both immediately regretted and that you definitely weren’t in any kind of romantic relationship. ’
Hearing what Erik had said and imagining him saying it in front of all my neighbours and new friends, I could appreciate then how he’d felt when I’d made light of what had occurred between us in front of Kate and Luke on Sunday.
Even though we were both keen to shrug the moment off, being so blunt about it, though necessary, did feel rather harsh.
‘And did everyone accept that?’ I asked croakily, because for some reason my throat felt tight.
‘They did,’ Rafe confirmed. ‘Erik also said the same thing as what you’d told me about the pair of you being the two Nightingale Square newbies helping each other settle in, which is why you’re sometimes together. Not that that needed justifying, of course.’
‘Good,’ I said. ‘Well, let’s hope that’s an end to any gossiping and we can all get back to normal.’
I hadn’t heard any gossip first-hand, but I couldn’t imagine there hadn’t been any.
I was momentarily surprised Freya hadn’t outright asked me if anything was going on but then realised she didn’t strike me as the sort of person to pry.
She probably thought that if I wanted to tell her something then I would, much like I’d waited for Erik to fill me in about his dad rather than push for information.
‘Yes,’ Rafe agreed. ‘I hope that’s an end to it, too. I don’t like you hiding away over here when—’
‘I’m not hiding away,’ I butted in. ‘I told you, I’ve got a headache.’
‘Well maybe this cake Kate sent over will help get rid of it,’ he suggested and held up a plastic container. ‘She and Luke were hoping to talk to you and asked if you’d go over tomorrow after the school run.’
‘I daresay they’ve totted up the total we’ve made for The Chapel,’ I said, as I lifted the cats off my lap and followed him to the kitchen. ‘I thought they might have announced the amount at the party.’
‘It wasn’t mentioned. Now, how big a slice of this cake would you like? Obscenely huge or the whole thing?’
Once I’d eaten an obscenely huge slice and washed it down with a massive mug of unsweetened tea to keep the resultant sugar hit under control, I messaged Erik and thanked him for putting everyone straight.
I also messaged Kate and confirmed that I’d go over and see her in the morning.
I set my phone aside then and opted for an early night.
I managed to make it over the road the next day, through the gate and into Prosperous Place when the square was deserted.
I was feeling a bit paranoid after being ‘papped’ and wondered how celebrities coped with the invasion on a daily basis.
I knew some people courted it for one reason or another, but there must have been times when it became wearing.
‘Morning,’ I said, when Luke answered the door and I quickly stepped inside.
‘Morning, Skylar. Why did you knock? You can still walk in now the event is over you know.’
‘I didn’t like to assume,’ I told him as I pushed back the hood of my sweatshirt and slipped off my boots which were a bit muddy.
‘Is it cold out?’ he asked, with a nod to the hood.
‘Not really, I’m just keeping my head down.’
‘If you’re worried about that photographer,’ he said. ‘Don’t be. I’ve given him a piece of my mind and told him I won’t be putting any work his way from now on.’
‘So, he’s not likely to be hanging around then?’
‘Not around here.’
It felt as warm and welcoming in the kitchen as always and the atmosphere combined with the reassuring news pulled my shoulders back down to somewhere around where they should be.
‘Morning, Skylar,’ Kate smiled and held up a mug. ‘Coffee?’
‘Morning,’ I smiled back and pulled out a chair at the table, which was covered in paperwork. ‘Yes, please.’
‘We missed you at the party yesterday,’ she said, ‘but I’m not surprised you wanted to stay away. Did Rafe tell you that Erik let everyone know that there was no truth in what they’d seen in the papers?’
‘He did,’ I confirmed. ‘And I’ve thanked Erik for setting everyone straight.
’ It hadn’t escaped my notice that Kate had said papers, plural, but I wasn’t going to get drawn into asking if more than one had picked the salacious story up.
‘Now,’ I said instead, ‘I’m hoping you’ve asked me over to tell me how much last week made for The Chapel.
Was it the financial success we hoped it would be? ’
‘We are going to discuss that,’ Luke said as he and Kate also sat down, ‘but it’s not the only thing.’
‘Okay,’ I said, drawing the word out.
‘But with regards to last week,’ Luke continued, ‘it was a huge success!’
‘We haven’t got a final figure yet,’ Kate said excitedly, ‘but it’s well over double what The Chapel needed to bridge their funding gap!’
‘Double!’ I gasped.
‘More than double,’ she repeated.
‘That’s incredible,’ I said in wonder. ‘The generous contributions from local businesses and the hours the volunteers all gave for free, must have made the biggest difference.’
‘Along with your bargain hunting,’ Kate added.
‘And do you want to know the best bit?’ Luke asked.
‘There’s more?’ I laughed.
‘Everyone who supported us has already pledged to do the same next year,’ Luke announced and my mouth fell open.
‘So, you’ll definitely be doing it again?’
‘We certainly will,’ Kate said. ‘And with even more time to get organised, we can make it even bigger and better.’
‘I have every faith in you,’ I told them both. ‘You’ll achieve terrifying things. I’m so pleased I braved leaving the house to talk to you now!’
‘So are we,’ Kate laughed. ‘Because we have a thank you gift for you.’
She handed me a wrapped parcel. ‘And like Luke said, it’s not the only thing we want to talk about.’
‘You didn’t have to do this,’ I said as I tore off the paper, ‘but thank you so much. Oh wow! These are perfect! It’s about time I had my own. Rafe has a collection, but nothing like these.’
The gift was a pair of Emma Bridgewater mugs from the Halloween selection I’d seen online when I was looking for Christmas present inspiration for my father.
‘You like them?’ Luke asked.
‘I love them! Thank you. They’re perfect.’ I set them in front of me so I could admire them. ‘So,’ I encouraged, ‘what else did you want to talk about?’
I hoped it was more good news.
‘Has anyone mentioned the Winterfest to you?’ Luke asked and I shook my head.
‘I’m not surprised,’ Kate sighed, ‘because it isn’t happening this year. Well, not how it usually would anyway.’
Luke then went on to explain that in the past he had been diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder and how he had come up with the Winterfest to offer anyone who finds the short dark days a challenge, ways of keeping creatively occupied and passing the time with a new hobby while also improving their mental health.
‘There are all sorts of workshops set up here on-site,’ he told me. ‘And we hold as many of them outside as possible. Things like creative writing, making nature journals, nature-based crafts, cooking and preserving, even winter gardening.’
‘Is this what inspired your winter garden here?’
‘Yes,’ Kate said. ‘That was Freya’s first project when she started working for us and she now runs tours and offers workshops on the subject.’
‘The Winterfest first ran from November onwards but has faltered in recent years, and this year, aside from Freya’s contribution, isn’t scheduled to happen at all,’ Luke said sadly.
‘May I ask why?’ It sounded perfect to me so I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t happening.
‘We usually oversee it ourselves,’ Kate said, ‘but life has taken over and not just for us but for the neighbours who also help with some of the workshops, too. We had a meeting a couple of months back and decided we’d take a year off and start afresh next winter, with a view to inviting business owners and professionals to take part, rather than relying so heavily on friends and their families. ’
‘It sounds really special,’ I said, ‘and important, too, given the diagnosis that kicked it off.’
‘We’ve had dozens of fabulous testimonials,’ Luke said proudly. ‘So, we never wanted to give it up. In fact, we’re now considering having an outdoor classroom or studio built that will have floor-length windows to make the most of the light to host it.’