Chapter Thirty-One
Tamara bounced up and down on her feet and wondered if it was possible to burst with excitement. The sixth of January would always be etched on her brain. Rather like falling in love, she was convinced that dreams you waited a long time to achieve were all the sweeter.
‘I still can’t believe it. My own café!’
The pride in Gage’s eyes was unmistakable. ‘You deserve it. You’ve worked hard for this. We’ll be the “it couple” of Penworthal now,’ he said teasingly. ‘Looks good, doesn’t it?’ The sign over the shop front had been altered and now had an extra line that said: and The Pig Pen Café.
‘We’d better go in. They’re all waiting for us.’
The shop was packed for the official opening and smelled wonderfully of freshly baked cakes.
Emily was now trusted to man, or rather woman, the till and was guarding it with her life.
Luckily, the new year had come in like a lamb, so they were making the most of the mild, dry day to leave the front door wide open.
Inside, Tamara stood still for a moment to admire how well the design she’d settled on for the café blended with the bookshop.
The pale-green-and-white paintwork was the same, and Georgie had used the identical rich maple wood for her serving counter and the awesome shelves that displayed her pig collection.
To fit in with the retro pale-pink tables and chairs, she’d gone vintage for the café’s china too. It’d been easy to find a selection of mismatched floral tea sets because they sold for very little at the flea markets these days.
The one extravagance was the pink glass pig-shaped vases she’d tracked down online and filled today with pink rosebuds.
But in pride of place, on its own special shelf, stood Moccus, the large Wemyss pig Gage had bought at the auction.
Instead of going for a literary connection, she’d chosen to name it after the Celtic god associated with boars and pigs.
With such a beautiful lucky mascot, how could the café do anything but succeed?
The sight of her book-club friends, gathered near the pink ribbon they’d tied across the café portion of the shop, made her eyes prickle. They were all there except Evelyn, the woman who in many ways had shaped Tamara’s mind and been a continuing source of strength and guidance.
Early on New Year’s Day, they’d heard a siren disappearing down the street and soon her phone had started ringing.
Her friends had started passing around the sad news that Ophelia had slipped away quietly in the night.
Next week Ophelia would be buried in the Penworthal churchyard, a surprising request she’d made of Evelyn and Quinten in her final days.
Understandably, Evelyn wasn’t able to face them all today, but she sent Tamara a beautiful handwritten note saying how proud she was of her achievement.
Perhaps a small café, in a bookshop, seating no more than twenty people and selling homemade cakes, wasn’t a huge dream in the scheme of things, but this was her village. Her people. Her community. Being an integral part of that mattered.
‘Speech. Speech,’ Paul yelled. ‘Some of us took off work for this and we want cake.’ His rumbling laugh set off a round of claps and cheers.
‘I couldn’t—’
‘Of course you can,’ Gage said, urging her on. ‘All you need to do is thank them and cut the ribbon.’
‘I’ll keep this short and as sweet as my cakes.’ That brought more laughter. Thanking everyone for coming was easy, and it raised a few more titters when she ran through a few of the crazier names they’d thought of before settling on The Pig Pen.
‘You’ve got hungry customers waiting for a slice of your famous lime-drizzle cake.’ Gage’s boast touched her. Tamara’s take on the ubiquitous lemon drizzle that was found in every café in the land these days was pretty exceptional.
‘I almost forgot. Sorry, everyone,’ she shouted.
‘Becky has the kettle on, so I think it’s about time to do this.
’ The small pair of scissors she had ready finally came into play and with a flourish she snipped the ribbon.
‘To celebrate the café opening, I want you to enjoy whatever you like as my gift.’ Tamara grabbed Gage for one swift kiss and a tight hug.
That was the ration for now. ‘With all this captive audience you should sell a load of books too.’
‘Tyrant.’ Gage’s fake grumble made her smile.
* * *
‘Are you ever going to stop grinning?’ Paul slammed a brimming pint in front of Gage. ‘You would think no one else ever fell in love with a pretty maid before. I know you’re over the moon Tamara’s moved in, but just wait till she gets you up the aisle. It’ll all change then.’
Gage laughed and shook his head. ‘Give us a chance.’
Although it was February already, this was the year’s inaugural meeting of the Book Club Refugees as they’d decided to postpone the January meeting because of Evelyn’s loss.
The pub kitchen was still out of commission, but the brewery had pushed to get the roof repairs done quickly so the new licensees could at least reopen the bar. It was odd not to see Pixie presiding over things, but she’d made the move to Cardiff over the holidays and life moved on.
‘Leave him be.’ Nathan clapped a hand on Gage’s shoulder. ‘Don’t take any notice of this old misery guts.’
‘I think it’s great,’ Tessa said. ‘I’ve got a bit of news as well.’ Her face flushed. ‘Amy and I have been together five years, so we thought we’d make it official and tie the knot.’
‘That’s bloody terrific.’ Gage spoke first and was followed swiftly by all the others. ‘When’s the big day?’
‘Probably in the summer. We’re thinking a destination wedding somewhere warm, Jamaica maybe.
We don’t have to consider our families because I doubt any of them will come wherever it is.
’ Her careless shrug didn’t match the flicker of sadness in her eyes.
It was common knowledge that Amy’s parents had cut her off when she and Tessa had become a couple, but the younger woman’s background was more of a mystery.
‘We’ll have a party here when you’ve done the deed,’ Barry said stoutly. ‘Nothing like a wedding for a good old knees-up.’
‘My wife’s already informed me that she expects a second party after we do the official thing at the register office.
Apparently, fake ones don’t count.’ Quinten’s plump cheeks turned pink.
‘Not that she didn’t appreciate the New Year’s Eve one, especially knowing I’d thought of it for Ophelia’s sake .
. .’ He didn’t drop his head fast enough to hide his emotions.
Nathan chimed in. ‘You and Tamara certainly haven’t wasted any time moving in together.’
‘Good on you, I say.’ Quinten’s voice was unsteady. ‘I know it’s not the same, but Evelyn and Ophelia almost left it too late to reconcile. None of us know how long we’ve got, so make the most of every second, young man.’
‘On that note, I’ll get another round in before we go our separate ways.
’ Harry levered off the chair. ‘We’ll need the strength to hear the gossip from tonight, and, as a distant afterthought, what books we’ll be forced to hear about this year.
’ He chuckled. ‘From what I’m hearing, you’ve joined the saintly Nathan who reads and discusses the books with his good lady wife. ’
Gage didn’t try to deny it.
‘That’s going too far for me but it’s all good for business, right?’ Harry joked.
‘You hit the nail on the head there!’
* * *
‘So, are we all agreed on books set in different countries for this year’s theme?’ Evelyn said briskly. ‘It’s an excellent idea and should broaden our outlooks on the world.’
The clear implication was that living in rural Cornwall was no excuse for becoming isolated and ignorant.
That was something she’d pounded into their heads for years at school.
She’d reinforced the idea that even if they didn’t get the opportunity to travel in the physical sense, the world was still their oyster if they made a point of exploring it through books and other media.
If Tamara dared look at Laura, they’d start giggling and send their indomitable leader back into headteacher mode.
‘Tamara, we know your mind is elsewhere, but could we have your attention for a minute? Amy has a clever idea and we want your opinion.’
‘Sorry, I was—’
‘Daydreaming? I know,’ Evelyn’s voice softened. Her frown lines smoothed and a new sense of empathy poured out of her. ‘I’m finding it a little hard to focus tonight as well.’
Of course, her distractedness wasn’t for joyful reasons. She hadn’t mentioned Ophelia so they’d followed her lead, guessing she needed a mental break from her grief for a couple of hours.
‘Amy, why don’t you explain it again for the benefit of those who missed it the first time,’ said Evelyn.
‘Don’t worry, lovey. I was mentally planning my meals for the week,’ Becky whispered.
Amy ran a hand over her sleek black hair.
She was such a contrast to the ebullient Tess, with her shaggy blonde mop and happy-go-lucky manner.
‘I know we all enjoy hosting book club, but perhaps we might make a change this year?’ She aimed her next words at Tamara.
‘I’ve heard Gage wants to expand events at the bookshop, and I wondered if he might be open to the idea of staying open late once a month so we could meet there?
’ A rare impish smile changed her whole appearance.
‘It needn’t put a stop to him joining the Book Club Refugees booze-up because you could make sure we didn’t vandalise the place. ’
Seeing her friends gathered together was a highlight of the month and when it was her turn to host, that did add another layer of stress to her busy life.
Everyone insisted they didn’t care if the house was untidy, or if there was nothing more exciting to snack on than a packet of Vernon’s special-offer biscuits, but no one followed the mantra.
It was true that holding the meeting at the bookshop would boost Gage’s business, and free everyone to enjoy the evening more, at least all except for her.
With the café being there, how could she not offer to handle the refreshments?
After a long day on her feet, that was the last thing she wanted. How mean was she?
‘But only under one condition.’ Amy put on what they secretly called her scary lawyer face.
‘We all take turns doing the snacks. If people want to team up, that’s fine.
But we do it all and leave the café as we find it, so Tamara doesn’t have extra work in the morning before opening.
We can even make it BYOB and bring our own wine. It’s perfectly legal.’
Tamara wasn’t sure how she felt about having her mind read by someone other than Gage. ‘I’m happy with that and if we vote to give it a try, I’ll put it to Gage.’
‘Just stick on your pink piggy lingerie and he’ll be putty.’ Becky chortled.
She was about to ask how her friend knew about that when mortification swept through her. She recalled foolishly blabbing about Gage’s sexy present after a few too many glasses of champagne on New Year’s Eve.
Everyone fell into fits of giggles. Amid all the laughter, Evelyn managed to winkle out of people whether they approved or disapproved of Amy’s idea, and it was no surprise when everyone voted yes.
‘Right, that’s settled. Tamara will ask Gage if he’ll agree to give us a try.
And now, I suggest abandoning the facade of talking about books and moving on to weddings instead.
The Back of Beyond Book Club will keep the bridal industry in business this year.
I wondered if we might consider the possibility of a group holiday to Jamaica. ’
She happened to be watching Amy, whose reaction was priceless. A gasp burst out and Amy’s hand flew to her mouth as tears leaked out from under her dark-rimmed glasses. This was what true, deep friendship was all about.