Chapter 31
Cath was in the kitchen, electric whisk to hand, and a big stainless-steel mixing bowl before her.
She emptied four large pots of cream into the bowl and started to whisk, trying to hold her concentration, despite the time running away with itself.
The cream would take a while to thicken but once it did, it went quickly and was easy to overwhip.
She wanted it to be the perfect consistency to spoon on top of the scones without any messy drips, but lusciously smooth rather than a solid mass.
Lily was working at the other side of the kitchen, plating up the marvellous mini cakes and bakes on to the top layer of the three-tier stands.
Using her artistic touch, with dainty strawberries and some pretty viola flowers picked from her parents’ garden, she laid out squares of Nikki’s chocolate tiffin, mini honey-nut baklava – an extra touch care of Andreas – individual cream-and-fresh-berries pavlovas, salted caramel choux bites and slices of sticky lemon drizzle.
The platters soon began to look like works of art; the perfectly pretty plates that Cath had dreamed of serving for her special guests.
‘Tea at the Tilldale Ritz’ was taking shape.
When Cath took a pause mid-whipping, and glanced over, spotting the stunning arrangements, she felt a tear mist her eye.
‘Oh, Lily. They are just beautiful. Perfect, in fact. Thank you, lovely.’
‘Fa-bu-lous, darling,’ boomed Andreas’s voice across the room, from his finger-sandwich stand, lined-up alongside Nikki and her eldest son Hamish, who’d been tasked with buttering the bread.
‘I think the Saveur restaurant vibes must be rubbing off on me.’ Lily gave a smile. ‘They always make things look so artistic.’ She’d been enjoying working at the delightful restaurant part-time between her studies for the past year now.
The tiered stands, borrowed from Ellie at Claverham Castle, were looking fantastic.
All they’d had to do was collect them yesterday – Nikki had gone on a trip for those – and then return them all washed for Monday.
It was those touches of generosity that helped bring the event, and the community, together.
Cath went back to her cream whipping, Dan took over the sandwich station from Nikki who was desperate to put some finishing touches to the hall’s decorations.
Lily began to fill white porcelain pots with candy-cotton-scented glossy strawberry jam and then set out more dishes ready for the cream.
A batch of six scones had already been positioned on layer two of each stand.
A production line of finger sandwiches was now being finished by Dan, Andreas and Hamish at the far end of the kitchen – a selection of local ham, egg mayonnaise and cress, smoked salmon and cucumber, and grated cheese from the nearby dairy teamed with Granny Ruth’s chutney.
All kept under a cling film wrap to keep them fresh, ready to put out at the last-minute, on tier one.
And all the while, the clock on the wall kept ticking away.
‘Oh, Andreas, we need to dash. We’re still in our working scruffs. The wardrobe awaits,’ exclaimed Dan, as he placed the final finger sandwich under wraps.
‘Of course! We need to look the part.’ Andreas grabbed a holdall, and they made a swift exit, most likely heading for the gents’ loos, with Cath and Lily left chuckling.
Lily had come wearing her 50s-style outfit, and was looking striking in a vintage white-spotted maroon A-line dress she’d found on Vinted, at a bargain price of five pounds.
It was rather unusual and lovely to see her in a dress.
With her pixie-cropped dark hair, a maroon floral hairclip positioned to one side and her trademark bold make-up and red lips, the style really suited her.
There was more than a hint of Audrey Hepburn going on.
The Dr. Martens boots were her own individual touch; though somehow it still worked.
With the fresh cream finally at the right point, Lily whizzed it away to dish out.
Cath then realised that her own 50s-style attire was still in a bag on the floor of the kitchen’s storeroom.
With now less than ten minutes to go, and early guests and the band arriving at any point, she decided it’d be better to finish clearing the kitchen, pour cold milk into the jugs to go out with the tea and coffee, and warm the teapots ready to fill.
She could make a quick outfit change once everyone was settled in the hall, she decided.
Her navy-spotted apron would have to do for now!
The kitchen was soon cleared, the dishwasher buzzing away, and with disinfectant spray to hand, Cath was giving the surfaces a wipe down.
Talk about cutting it fine. But she knew after checking on the hall earlier – where two long rows of trestle tables were now covered with crisp white tablecloths (double sheets that Nikki had ironed and brought in), and set with fifty-four places of tea plates, cutlery, and cups and saucers, it was all looking grand.
She couldn’t resist a further quick peek, however, before the guests came.
And oh … bud vases were now placed down the centre of the tables too, filled with the fragrant pink and yellow roses that Cath had brought from her garden – a nod to Reggie who’d have planted those rose bushes years ago – along with pretty pastel shades of carnations and delicate white sprigs of gypsophila, that Nikki had bought yesterday from Wendy, the Kirkton florist.
The tombola was set out, with volunteers Veronica and Dorothy, from the hall committee, having spent the last hour sticking the raffle-ticket labels to each of the donated items, with zeros and fives being the winners.
The duplicates had been folded and placed in a wicker basket for the lucky dip. Young and old seemed to love this game.
Oh, and there on display at the end of the stage was the pièce de résistance, the raffle prize, a tea-time bonanza hamper. Many tickets had been sold in the shop already, but Lily was later to do a sweep of the room to check everyone who’d wanted to join in had had the chance.
Cath was just about there with covering the costs, phew, and anything left over from the various sponsorships that were still coming in, was to go rather fittingly to the village hall funds.
‘Well done, team,’ said Cath proudly, realising the lads and Lily were now at her shoulder scanning the room too, and catching Nikki’s eye as she stood tweaking a teacup or two to make perfect symmetry.
Tilldale Hall was ready, ta-dah. All it now needed were the guests to fill it.
*
‘Hey, Mam, we’re here.’ In trooped Scott and Angus, dressed smartly (if somewhat reluctantly) in their school uniform black trousers and white shirts, ready to help serve the food and drinks, waiter-style.
The young trio of Nikki’s sons had enjoyed helping out at the Christmas event, despite having been unenthusiastic recruits to start, and were back working with the supper club team for the 50s-style tea.
Will had insisted on helping at the event too.
Cath and the others agreeing, over the group chat, that he shouldn’t come in too early only to wear himself out.
His recovery being the most important thing.
Cath couldn’t help but wonder how awkward today was going to be for the pair of them, coming face to face for the first time since what she’d been calling ‘Will’s wobble’. But hey, she’d deal with that when it happened, for now, guests were imminent.
Anxiety was nipping at her. She couldn’t shift this feeling that she’d forgotten something.
She’d had the biggest to-do list ever, and had been working her way through it all week, even down to making sure there was plenty of loo rolls in the toilets.
But was there something obvious, something she might have missed?
Perhaps she was just so determined to get this right for everyone who’d helped and everyone who was coming along, that it was only natural.
She’d done her best, she reassured herself.
‘It’s going to be fantastic,’ said Lily with a smile, as if reading her thoughts.
‘The minibuses are here!’ came a shout from the corridor, that sounded very much like Nikki’s husband, Kev. This was followed by a call of, ‘Oh no, and so is the rain!’
Drat it.
But in true organised Cath fashion, after having checked the weather app this morning and spotting the chance of heavy showers, she had thought to leave several large umbrellas at the hall entrance, just in case.
‘Okay, everyone, go and grab a brolly, and we’ll help see the care home guests in,’ came the command from Cath. ‘It’s all systems go!’
‘Here we go again!’ echoed Andreas; Cath now registering that he was dressed smartly in a Gene Kelly, ‘Singin’ in the Rain’-style dark suit. Stood with, oh my, a Danny Zuko-styled Dan with a Brylcreemed quiff, his Grease black leather jacket, white T-shirt and black jeans. Amazing!
‘Love the look, lads!’ She grinned, giving a big thumbs up.
So, this was it! She popped back to the kitchen to scan everything on a final check: the tiered stands all dressed and looking deliciously tempting, the extra sandwich platters all done, teapots and milk jugs at the ready.
Cath took a deep breath, then she headed on out to join the welcoming committee.
If she’d forgotten anything, it was too late.
She steadied her nerves by reminding herself that they had plenty of good food, tea and coffee galore; the raffle and tombola organised; the band were here and setting up; and very soon to be joined by the magical addition of the cutest of choirs, being the Brownies group.
Cath had heard from Brown Owl that they had made some gorgeous felt flowers to hand out as buttonholes for everyone, too.
An activity they’d completed at last week’s session, to help with their community and creativity badges.