Chapter 35
SATURDAY DAWNED brIGHT and beautiful, the rain of yesterday nothing but a distant memory.
A cobalt blue sky stretched as far as the eye could see as the soft pink mist of sunrise gradually faded away.
Drops of dew bejewelled the vibrant grass beneath her feet as Helena walked across the green.
The road closure was in place ahead of the old pub.
Spotting Johnny pull up in his van, she moved the barrier to one side to allow him through.
‘Morning!’ Nathalie called out moments later as she marched towards them looking ready for action in a pair of denim cut offs and a candyfloss pink T-shirt.
She carried a clipboard, had a megaphone around her shoulder, some purple sunglasses on top of her head and strings of turquoise beads around her neck.
Meg, Maisy and Ted were all in tow. Ted, who had clearly been dragged out of bed and was still sporting some rather extreme bed hair, was put to work immediately to help Johnny unload the tables from the van.
Nathalie supervised their positioning while Meg, Maisy, Helena and Margery started to bring out the supplies from Hazel Cottage.
By ten o’clock, the entire village green was covered in stalls.
Each table was shrouded in a brightly coloured tablecloth.
Bunting fluttered in the gentle breeze. All the volunteers were in place, manning their stations, with floats set up for each stall holder.
Nathalie had the whole thing organised with military efficiency.
Johnny and the band had taken their positions on a makeshift podium comprised of the school’s stage blocks, complete with several speakers and three microphones which Andy the music teacher had managed to rig up.
The sun was shining fiercely, it was set to be an absolute scorcher of a day.
Before long the punters came pouring in.
The turnout was fantastic. Children raced around with painted faces and balloons clutched in their fists.
The tractor rumbled past with its trailer full of grinning faces, and people of all ages wandered around from stall to stall, eating Helena’s delicious cakes and sipping homemade lemonade.
Johnny and the band were a huge hit, with a crowd gathered around them at all times, singing along and dancing.
At midday, Helena took to the stage, taking hold of the microphone.
She had written a short speech, thanking everyone for coming and talking through her plans for the Community Café, describing how they could get involved, and how welcome everyone was to come and join in with any and all of the activities they would have going on there.
She felt quite overwhelmed with gratitude as she spoke.
‘I can’t thank you all enough for your support.
It really does mean the world to me. I am so excited for the grand opening on 23 July, and I hope to see each and every one of you there in the very near future.
’ She scanned the crowd in front of her, beaming back at all the happy faces, some familiar and some unfamiliar.
She spotted Ahmed and his family, who she was delighted to see had taken up her invitation to come.
She felt heady with happiness, sun and adrenaline.
Suddenly, she froze. Standing to the side of the crowd, right next to Malcolm’s potion stall, was a face that she knew like the back of her hand. She felt her knees buckle beneath her at the sight. She couldn’t tear her eyes away.
‘Helena? Are you okay?’ Johnny was trying to take the microphone from her, but she wouldn’t loosen her grip. She realised that the music had restarted and the crowd had dispersed. Chatter filled the village green once again.
‘Helena?’ he repeated.
She came to her senses, handing him the microphone. ‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘What’s wrong?’
Her whole body was as tense as a coiled spring. Every hair was standing on end. What the hell was he doing there? Was she imagining things?
She blinked. He was still there, grinning at her, as if it had been five minutes since they last saw each other, not eleven months.
‘It’s Noah,’ she breathed. ‘He’s here.’
‘He’s here?’ Johnny jerked his head to follow her gaze. She could feel the fury instantly flush through him. ‘Do you want me to get rid of him?’
‘I—I—I don’t know what to do. What is he doing here? I thought he was in New Zealand…’
‘Helena.’ Johnny grabbed her arms as if to shake sense into her. ‘You don’t have to see him if you don’t want to. You don’t have to speak to him. If you want me to, I’ll tell him to get lost.’
At that moment time seemed to stand still as she watched a small child with a headful of bouncy curls race over to Noah.
Raffy! The one person on earth she would have cut off her right arm to see again.
He was right here. She couldn’t compute what was happening.
Her heart pounded as she stumbled off the stage, racing over towards him.
‘Raffy!’ she shouted, unable to stop herself. ‘RAFF!’
At the sound of her voice Raffy spun around, as if in slow motion.
Without thinking, she ran to him and pulled him into her arms, lifting him in the air and spinning him around as she hugged him close.
She breathed in that familiar smell, so uniquely his, and revelled in the feeling of his small body in her arms, the weight of him, so much heavier than when she had last held him, so much taller.
He giggled as she put him back on the ground.
‘Hi Helly,’ he smiled shyly up at her. It had nearly been a year. If that felt like a long time to Helena it must have felt like an eternity had passed in Raffy’s eyes.
‘What are you doing here?’ she asked. ‘I’ve missed you so much.’
Noah stepped closer. ‘Helena,’ he said with a smile. ‘It’s good to see you.’
She looked up at him. She had no idea what to say, no idea how to even be there in front of him. A thousand words caught in her throat but nothing came out. She wanted to say so much and yet at the same time she didn’t want to speak to him at all.
‘We’re back!’ he grinned. As if it were the most normal thing in the world. As if she should be delighted.
‘Back? What are you talking about? I thought you were in New Zealand.’ Her head was spinning in confusion.
She stood up and looked at Noah. She wanted to slap his smug smiling face.
‘You left me,’ she said, her eyes filling up with unstoppable tears.
‘You didn’t even have the guts to tell me to my face. ’
‘I know.’ He held her gaze. ‘And for that I am truly sorry.’
‘You never answered a single call,’ she said, trying to control the desperate anger in her voice in front of Raffy. ‘Not a single message. All this time… You left me with nothing, with nowhere to go. You threw me out onto the street for Christ’s sake!’
Noah looked a little bit sheepish. He cleared his throat awkwardly. ‘I thought it would be better that way, to have a clean break… for Raffy’s sake.’ She almost laughed. Of course he would say that, of course he would present himself as nothing but a caring father.
‘You thought it would be better?’ she spat, clutching Raffy’s hand tightly, unable to let go.
She was grateful that he seemed distracted by the enormous tractor with its trailer full of children as it rattled past. She spoke through gritted teeth, keeping her voice as quiet as possible.
‘Are you insane? You have no idea what you did to me. What damage you will have done to Raffy. What the fuck were you thinking?’
Noah paused. She felt a flutter of fear as she waited for his reaction, she was amazed she’d had the nerve to speak to him like that. But she had changed. She was no longer the same woman that he had left behind.
He took a deep breath, keeping his eyes fixed on hers, giving nothing away.
‘I wasn’t thinking straight, Helena. I was in a bad place, as you know.
I am a different person now. I promise. I’ve changed.
And now I’m back.’ He reached out to take her hand.
‘I’m here to get you back, to be a family again. You, me and Raffy. We belong together.’
Helena shook his hand off her and took a step backwards, reeling.
She felt as if she’d received a physical blow.
She glanced up at Johnny. He was hovering to the side of the stage, his fiddle by his side, a questioning look in his eyes.
Like a wild animal tensed to pounce she knew that he was ready to intervene at a moment’s notice if Helena needed him.
She had never seen him like this. His protectiveness meant the world to her.
‘I don’t know what to say.’ She shook her head. ‘You can’t just turn up here like this. With no warning, no explanation. I mean seriously, what are you thinking?’
‘I will explain everything, Helena. I promise.’ Noah was looking at her with such a calm, level gaze, so self-assured, so completely convinced that she would have no choice but to capitulate and welcome him back with open arms. He really had no idea who he was dealing with now.
‘If it weren’t for Raffy I would be telling you to get lost right now,’ Helena said, the fury in her voice unmistakeable.
She ignored Noah, and crouched back down to Raffy’s height.
A million questions raced through her mind, where had they been?
What had they been doing? When had they come back from New Zealand?
Had they ever even gone? She gathered Raffy in for another cuddle, pushing all her thoughts to one side, savouring the hug as though her life depended on it.
‘Raf, it’s so good to see you.’ It was the last thing on earth she had been expecting, seeing them here like this. Her mind was still reeling with shock.
Raffy patted her back. He leant backwards and looked at her with a shy smile. The flecks of gold in his eyes looked more striking than ever against the blue of his irises in the bright light of the sun. ‘You too Helly.’