Chapter 36
Saturday dawned bright and breezy, with the promise of a warm afternoon and a balmy evening.
Mab, having spent a sleepless night thinking about the launch, Harry’s health and her baby’s future with varying degrees of panic, was trying to drink enough chamomile tea to kick-start her brain.
She thought about the latest hospital visit that Leo and Alex had described to her.
They had been told in no uncertain terms of their father’s wishes.
Pale and drawn, Harry lay wired up to an amazing amount of equipment, and was only able to talk for a moment, but Leo said that there still seemed to be no doubt in his mind that the shop should open on schedule.
They’d asked Harry how he expected them to go ahead with the party when they were so worried about him because the doctor had said that Harry was by no means out of danger yet, and had been having palpitations all that day.
‘I’ll tell you how,’ Harry had said, ‘You’ll do it with a bit of backbone, lads.
All these months of hard work, and you’re suggesting you throw it all away because I’m stupid enough to be a crock?
Go home, the pair of you. Pour drinks all round, and then all of you get your sorry arses into gear.
If you don’t, I’ll drop dead with disappointment and then come back to haunt you all. ’
Already that morning, Leo, Alex, Nina and Mab had snatched a quick breakfast meeting before blasting through their tasks for the day.
The news from the hospital was more encouraging today, and Alex had telephoned Den and Josh to update them.
Leo said he still couldn’t bring himself to speak to his eldest brother, but had chatted reassuringly to Josh, telling him that the immediate danger seemed to be over, and that Harry had asked that Josh and Den completed their work in hand before coming to see him, if indeed they felt they must.
‘There’s no need to panic the lads, I’ll be home soon,’ Harry had said.
Mab doubted this fact. Harry’s grey face when he left in the ambulance had frightened her more than she dared to say.
At least Harry now had Nina in his life, and Mab could see that this was one person who was not going to be slapped in the face by bereavement again, or not if Nina had any say in the matter.
At five minutes to nine on Saturday morning, standing in the shop reading the morning paper which had done them proud, Mab realised, to her delight and amazement, that a queue was forming on the pavement outside the shop.
‘Guys, come and look at this,’ she yelled, bringing the rest of the gang hurrying from their various last-minute tasks.
They stood as close together as possible, Nina, pale but composed with an arm around Jess on one side and a hand on George’s shoulder on the other.
Mab and Stan, Alex and Edward and Leo moved in to surround the others.
‘Blimey, how are we going to fit all that lot in the shop?’ said Stan. ‘I hope they don’t all try to get in the jacuzzi together.’
‘The queue goes all the way round the bend,’ breathed George, standing on tiptoe to get a better view.
‘Round the bend. Ha! No change there then,’ said Leo, moving towards the door. ‘Right, this is it, everyone. Break a leg, I’m opening the door.’
The rest of the day passed by in a haze of chocolate, laughing faces and congratulations.
There hadn’t been time yet to get a rota of bookings up and running for the jacuzzi, but the problem was solved by Alex, who had devised a competition to win ten minutes in the tub.
To bag a place, the entrants had to write a two-line review for the café, which must include the words ‘chocolate’, ‘life-enhancing’ and ‘delicious’.
This idea proved so popular that Alex was forced to begin to plan for extra sessions the following week.
The TV film crew duly arrived, just in time to catch the delighted squeals from the first winner, as, having rushed home and back to collect a bikini, she lowered herself into the fragrant bubbles.
For Leo, interviews with the local radio station and the chief reporter from a neighbouring newspaper were interspersed with frantic conversations with café customers and advice sessions for aspiring authors wanting to join the writers’ group.
He passed most of these on to Mab, who held court in the garden, outlining her plans for the future.
Mab proudly held the fort for a while as Leo and Alex left for a hospital visit, and Nina followed soon after, unable to be away from Harry for a moment longer.
By half past five, the last few customers were being ushered out into the street, and all but Nina – who had promised to return for the last part of the party but not until visiting time was over – flocked into Edward’s side of the premises and sank gratefully into the café chairs.
‘I can’t remember ever being this tired before.’ Alex put his head in his hands and yawned hugely.
‘I know, but it was, like, totally awesome, wasn’t it? Can I have some of that leftover veggie sushi, Edward? I’m still starving,’ said George. Edward looked over at the counter.
‘Help yourself, mate. It’s a good job the party food’s safely put away or they’d have eaten that too. There’s hardly anything left. How did your stuff go, Jess?’
‘I ran out of brownies at half past ten, and the flapjacks went soon after. The chocolate dip was the bestseller, they loved my biscuits. I’m going to be baking all day tomorrow, but it was brilliant!’
‘Right, who wants first shower?’ asked Leo, starting to tidy up manically.
In less than an hour, everyone except Mab was clean and ready for action.
Jess was in a tight-fitting sheath of jade-green silk, her long plait entwined with matching ribbons.
A huge white pinafore finished her outfit for the moment, and her high-heeled sandals click-clacked as she crashed about happily around the kitchen, hurling trays of tiny samosas, quiches and cheese straws into the ovens.
Stan and George were beginning to load up the trestle tables with breadsticks and dips.
They were both being careful not to get any food on their brand-new jeans and smart shirts.
The worktops were lined with platters of pinwheel sandwiches, cream cheese and smoked salmon in alternate rows with egg mayonnaise, and Jess’s flying fingers were working overtime.
Everything looked fantastic, and Jess grinned as she saw George furtively steal a baby Yorkshire pudding as he did a final check of the room.
Soft music played in the shop area, just loud enough to create background noise for the babble of voices that would soon drown it out.
Alex and Edward came into the room together, followed closely by Leo, and all three stood waiting for comments, grinning broadly.
‘Ooooh,’ breathed Jess. ‘You three look amazing.’
Alex and Edward were wearing matching tuxedos, sleek and smart with snowy shirt frills.
Alex’s bow tie was the exact colour of the deep blue sign, and Edward’s the light silver of the dragonflies’ wings.
Leo’s own long-awaited linen suit made him look like the very best sort of entrepreneur.
It was baggy, tastefully crumpled, and a very dark blue.
The waistcoat fitted closely and he had rolled the jacket’s sleeves up and teamed the suit with a brilliantly white t-shirt.
Popping the cork on a bottle of his finest champagne, Leo called, ‘Mab? Where are you? Come and have some bubbly before the first of the punters get here. Jess bought some alcohol-free stuff specially for you.’ He began to fill a row of champagne flutes and then stopped dead in his tracks as the stairs door opened and Mab entered the room.
The others seemed to sense Leo’s amazement as she came forward, aching for their approval.
She had tried so hard to live up to the occasion tonight, even though exhaustion was making her dream of an early night already.
The dress she’d discovered in a local charity shop was a floor-length silvery waterfall of gauzy tulle.
It swished as she walked, flowing and rippling behind her.
She had decided to leave her hair loose, lightly taken back at the sides with her favourite silver combs.
Her shoulders were bare, the strapless dress emphasising her smooth skin and generous cleavage.
Leo stared, mesmerised, as Mab glided towards him.
Suddenly, she felt like a million dollars.
‘Will I do, Leo? Do you like my dress? Is it too fancy, do you think?’ She ground to a halt, thrown by his lack of response. Leo took a deep breath.
‘It’s… it’s…’
‘Absolutely amazing, honey,’ Alex came to the rescue. ‘You look like a very sexy mermaid, doesn’t she, Ed?’
‘Bloody hell, Mab,’ was all Edward could manage. She smiled in relief.
‘Good, because I haven’t got time to change now, the first guests are here.
’ The doorbell jangled, Edward leapt to open it, and a crowd of people flooded in, chattering excitedly.
Stan quickly put the music they’d chosen on to play, Leo turned to the champagne table, and in the uproar, only Mab heard George’s voice.
‘Erm, Mab, I just thought of something.’
‘Can’t it wait, love? This isn’t a great time for a chat, to be honest.’
‘It’s just that I took a message this morning for Leo, and I forgot to tell him.’
‘Oh. Well, it probably wasn’t important, we’re open now so it can’t have been vital, can it?’
‘But the lady said I had to remember. It was the stupid lady. You know, the one that dumped Leo?’
Mab froze. ‘Not Sophie? Are you saying that she rang this morning? It can’t have been her, surely?’