Chapter 38
The summer fete in Lower Leaping was the highlight of the village social calendar, a chance for the whole community, old and young, to come together to enjoy the celebrations and to raise some much-needed money for local charities.
Tess had popped down early in the morning to help with the setting up of the stalls, which were lined up on both sides of the riverbank.
There was a wonderful sense of camaraderie as the volunteers erected gazebos, laid tables with paper cloths and tied colourful bunting on the canopies.
Tess had brought along the coffee and walnut cake and flapjacks which she had made yesterday, and a batch of scones which she had whipped up early this morning.
Seeing the vast array of cakes and biscuits that had been donated to the cake stall, Tess wondered if they’d be left with a baker’s shop worth of goodies at the end of the day, but she might have known from previous years that the cake stall was always one of the most popular stands.
She had tried to persuade Hannah to come along this afternoon, but Hannah had been adamant that she wanted to stay at home, or more accurately in the garden annexe, where she had escaped with her magazines and her headphones to listen to some podcasts.
Understandably, she wasn’t quite ready to face the entire village and their inevitable, well-meaning questions about how her trip had gone and what plans she had for the future.
There would be plenty of time for those conversations in the coming weeks.
Instead, Tess had wandered down to the village fete with Dilly, where she’d been eager to visit some particular stalls, before doing her own stint at the cake stall, picking up some rhubarb, some lavender plants and jars of plum jam and green tomato chutney, popping them into her wicker basket.
Tess loved to see everyone out and about, chatting, laughing, enjoying the sunshine and all the attractions on offer.
Children ran up and down the grass, shouting and skipping, enjoying the freedom and the ice creams, while the four-legged community members were equally happy meeting up with their canine chums. Tess had considered bringing Barney along but he’d already had a long walk that morning and looked more than happy curled up on the daybed in the annexe with Hannah.
‘Are you done?’ After Tess had finished her session serving at the cake stall, Gina, Suzy and Dilly were hovering at the side, waiting to collect her. ‘We thought we’d go to the Pimm’s tent but we didn’t want to start without you.’
‘What a good idea,’ said Tess, dropping her sunglasses on to her face from her head and linking arms with Gina and Suzy.
‘Oh look,’ said Dilly, pointing to the other side of the river. ‘Isn’t that Nico?’
Tess turned to look. ‘Oh, great. Yes, it is. Let’s go and say hello.’
Tess had messaged both Nico and Rob about the fete, saying how much she would love to see them if they fancied it and Nico had replied to say he would try to get along, while Rob had thanked her for the invitation but explained that he had plans with his children.
It didn’t matter because she already had arranged to see Rob later in the week for an early-evening walk, followed by some pub grub in the Royal Oak, but it was lovely to see Nico, at least.
‘Hi!’ She embraced him in a hug and he kissed her lightly on the cheek. ‘You know Dilly. And these are my friends, Gina and Suzy. We were just going to get a drink. Would you like to join us?’
‘Love to, if I’m not intruding?’ he asked with a glance around the group.
‘Not at all,’ said Gina. ‘The more, the merrier.’
As Tess suspected, Nico’s easy-going manner meant that he fitted into their group as though he’d known them all for years, chatting away, telling tales of his recent holidays, listening intently as they talked about their plans for their next trip, and offering suggestions for future destinations.
With their refreshments collected – long, cold Pimm’s for the women and a beer for Nico – they wandered out to the grass and found a free table where they settled in uncomfortable plastic chairs, but it didn’t matter in the slightest because they were enjoying the drinks, the conversation, and the general ambience, watching the afternoon unfold as the sun cast a benevolent glow over them.
That was until Suzy spotted a familiar figure over the other side of the field, who was looking all around him, as though searching out something, or someone, in particular.
‘What’s Charles doing here?’ Suzy asked, and they all turned to look at him, dressed in chino shorts, pink polo shirt and straw hat.
‘Oh no! That’s the last thing we need. I bloody well hope he hasn’t brought Melody with him. That’s out of order.’ Tess stood up, outraged that Charles would even contemplate coming along when he’d left his life in the village behind.
She marched across to meet him. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ she demanded of him. ‘I hope your new girlfriend won’t be showing her face. I’m afraid she won’t find a very warm welcome.’
‘No, of course not. This isn’t her kind of thing,’ he said with a note of regret to his voice, ‘but I’ve been coming to the village fete for over twenty years. I thought I’d come and see what was going on.’
‘But this isn’t your life now. Don’t you understand? You left me and our family behind. You need to be building a new life now with Melody. In another village somewhere. Just not here,’ she said airily.
Charles peered behind her, at her friends, taking a double glance when he spotted Nico sitting amongst the group.
‘Is that Nico Brunswick? What’s he doing here?’ Tess noticed the way Charles’s brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. ‘Ah, I see. I get it. Is Nico your legal advisor? Is he the reason behind your desire to expedite this divorce?’
Nico, on hearing his name mentioned, picked up the tray and empties and went off in the direction of the beer tent to order more drinks, obviously wanting to avoid getting involved in any heated discussions.
‘Not at all. Nico is a friend. I always thought he was a lovely, charming man and I’ve been enjoying his company, that’s all. You’ve made new friends, and so have I. You can’t have any quibbles about that.’
‘Oh, Tess.’ He reached out a hand to hers but she pulled hers away. ‘What’s happened to us? I miss what we had, don’t you? I miss you.’
Tess felt a fire ignite inside her chest. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
‘No, absolutely not. You don’t get to say that to me. You’ve made a new life for yourself and now you’ve got to get on with it. There can be no second thoughts.’
Charles’s gaze appraised her and she knew him well enough to recognise the swarm of emotions behind his eyes: sadness mixed with regret.
‘Look, why don’t you go? There’s nothing for you here now.’
He looked around him, clearly unsettled, his eyes alighting on the cake stall.
‘I don’t suppose you baked one of your delicious coffee and walnut sponges for the cake stall?’
She had done for as long as she could remember, and would probably go on doing so for years to come. It was something of a tradition now, as well as being Charles’s favourite.
‘Yes, I did, but you’re out of luck, I’m afraid. It’s already been sold.’
‘Bugger,’ he said, with a rueful shake of his head and then, after a pause, ‘Is Hannah okay?’
‘Yes, she’ll be fine. It might take some time though for her to come to terms with what’s happened. For us all to come to terms with it.’
‘Yes, it seems to be a lot of change all at once, though,’ he said regretfully.
For a few moments, they stood in silence together, surveying the scene around them, the scene of happier times in previous years.
Charles glanced in the direction of Nico returning with a tray of drinks.
‘I suppose I should go. I’ll leave you to be with your friends.
I’ll be in touch, but tell Hannah I love her, won’t you? ’