CHAPTER SEVEN
I couldn’t sleep that night for thinking about the Sunnybrook Pudding Club and planning which puddings we should debut and in which order...
Ellie and Maddy had agreed it was the perfect name, and we planne to meet up the following week to organise the event. It was already August and we’d talked about holding the very first meeting of the club in early September, so we needed to get our skates on!
One of the best things about it was that I wouldn’t need to worry about job-hunting – for now, at least. I could instead devote the time to my favourite pastime, making puddings, which I could hopefully sell at the club evenings. I’d offered to help prepare the light main course each time as well (Ellie had declared herself a terrible cook and was delighted not to have to do it all herself!), and she and I would split the profits from each event.
‘Oh, this is going to be lovely !’ Ellie had said, looking delighted at the thought of an exciting new venture.
I felt quite excited myself, but was I really equipped to carry this off?
While I was grateful for this totally unexpected opportunity to turn our fortunes around – Loli’s and mine – I couldn’t ignore the feeling of nausea and the way my heart started to race nervously every time I imagined standing up there and making golden syrup sponge and custard, with dozens of pairs of eyes riveted on my every move... people who’d actually paid to watch me.
There was no question, though. Despite the butterflies and my reservations, I had to do it. For Loli more than anything. I wanted to be able to treat her when she came out of hospital and I couldn’t exactly do that on my meagre savings. I couldn’t afford to pass up this amazing opportunity that had suddenly landed in my lap.
There was another reason my heart was dancing along a little faster than usual.
I kept thinking about Jensen.
We’d actually talked about our love of the traditional-style puddings and Jensen had said his favourite of all was sticky toffee pudding. What if he saw the posters Maddy was designing, to put up around the village? He might recall our conversation on the subject of puddings and decide to come along!
Of course, this was presuming that the connection I’d felt between us was real and not just the product of my imagination. Jensen might not want to be ‘found’ by me at all. He might already have a girlfriend. But if he’d felt even half of what I kept remembering from our time together on the riverbank, maybe – just maybe – he’d be curious enough to join a club that I might possibly be a member of?
I turned over for the millionth time and shut my eyes, trying to calm my feverish thoughts. It was a total long shot, of course. Happy endings only ever really happened in books and fairy tales. (And when you couldn’t get your vivid imagination to quieten down at three in the morning!)
But what if the Sunnybrook Pudding Club could bring Jensen back into my life?
*****
Next day, Loli had a surprise for me. She’d finally told her sister in New Zealand about the state of her health, and Joan had absolutely insisted she would get tested to see if she was a good match.
‘I feel terrible, really,’ said Loli, shaking her head. ‘If darling Joan’s a match, she’ll have to come over to England to have the operation.’
‘We can pay for her flight and everything,’ I said eagerly. I’d no idea how we would do that, but if Loli was willing to let her sister donate a kidney, I’d find the money from somewhere, even if it meant getting a credit card and paying it off over time.
She sighed. ‘It’s not the money I’m worried about.’
‘So what is it, then?’
‘Well, Joan’s five years older than me. She’s not getting any younger, you know? What if this has an effect on her own health? I’d honestly never forgive myself, Lisa.’
I nodded, trying to stay calm. ‘I know what you mean, but you’re just thinking about it from your angle.’
‘What other angle is there?’
‘Well, Joan’s.’ I smiled sadly. ‘Look, she loves you and she desperately wants to help. Of course she does. She’s your sister ! If you refuse her the opportunity to donate one of her kidneys, she’s going to feel so frustrated and sad and... well, completely helpless.’ Knowing these emotions only too well, I felt hot tears prick at my lids.
I blinked rapidly. Loli was gazing down at the bed covers, not looking at all convinced, so I pressed on. ‘Plus, she’ll worry about you ever afterwards, and she won’t even be able to see you because she’s thousands of miles away. So if you look at it that way, you’d actually be doing Joan a kindness by saying yes to her generous offer.’
I left the hospital that day feeling more hopeless than ever about Loli being so stubborn.
What would the future look like if she wouldn’t let anyone help her?
*****
Next morning, I tried to distract myself from my predicament with Loli – poor Joan must be frantic, wanting to help her sister but having her offer refused – by trying to focus on puddings instead. But somehow, I couldn’t dredge up the same enthusiasm I’d had the day before for the creation of the Sunnybrook Pudding Club.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Loli in hospital. What if her condition worsened? What if she eventually got to the top of the transplant list and was offered a kidney, but by then she was too ill to have the operation?
For some reason, I thought about Millicent Edgeworth and how she was forced to keep smiling for the sake of her children, with their daddy having gone off to fight in the war. She’d made jam roly-poly pudding for her best friend, Amelia, who’d needed ‘bucking up’.
If it was good enough for Millicent, it was good enough for me!
It had been a long time since I’d made a jam roly-poly. But we’d made our own jam from the strawberries in our garden this summer. A jam roly-poly would be the perfect way of using it up.
Feeling more positive, I made the pudding, following the recipe from the notebook and taking my time over each of the processes – making the pastry, spreading a layer of strawberry jam, rolling up the pudding and then sprinkling sugar on top. And all the time, I thought about Millicent. How had she been feeling as she made the pudding, with little Susan as her helper? She probably had to wait weeks in between each of Sidney’s letters – an unimaginable torture. Had making her puddings brought her a measure of calm while she waited for news of Sidney?
I’d take some jam roly-poly into the hospital later for Loli.
And it would be one of the first recipes I’d demonstrate for the Sunnybrook Pudding Club members!
*****
As soon as I walked onto the ward later, with the pudding container tucked into my bag, I could tell from Loli’s face that she had some news for me.
She sniffed as I sat down in the chair.
‘Well... I’ve told Joan she can get tested,’ she announced. ‘So you never know, she might be a match.’
My heart leaping all over the place with relief, I got up and hugged her – clearly a little too tightly because she actually yelped.
‘Sorry, sorry, I’m just pleased, that’s all.’ I beamed down at her. ‘Pleased’ was a vast understatement. But I didn’t want to go too overboard with the joy, just in case Loli changed her mind again. ‘I bet Joan’s delighted that she might be able to help you.’
Loli nodded, her eyes shining. ‘Your wise words got to me yesterday, about it being a kindness letting her do her bit by getting tested.’ She shrugged. ‘I mean, she might not be a match. But at least she’ll have the satisfaction of knowing she did all she could to help me.’
I nodded. ‘Exactly. And if Joan is a match... oh, my goodness! I can hardly believe it. You could have a new kidney in a few months’ time.’
She laughed. ‘There’ll be no holding me back after that.’
‘You’ll need to take it easy after the operation, you know... and not start diving into all the activities you’ve been missing out on.’
I tried to look stern but I couldn’t stop the happy smile breaking through. This was the chance I’d been waiting for. It was Loli’s chance to get her life back. And it looked like it might be happening at last...