Chapter 34
34
After a morning of enforced rest, Libby was picked up in Harriet’s car and driven the short distance to Strawberry Hill Farm.
Her dad had made them both lunch before she had left and she was struck by his sudden change of heart and outlook. He seemed, dare she think it, more positive. He had even told her that he was planning on visiting Eddie in the hospital that afternoon, once he’d checked it was okay with his family.
She had thought long and hard about what he had said the previous evening and perhaps he was right. Perhaps she wasn’t to blame for his stroke. It was still hard to overcome her feelings of guilt but maybe she should try to believe him and then they could both start moving forward with their lives at last.
As Harriet turned left onto the narrow lane towards Strawberry Hill Farm, the view was a welcome sight. Autumn was in earnest now and the colours of the trees lining the avenue were beautiful in their golden and crimson hues. The rustling of a few dry leaves underfoot as Libby walked along the potholed lane reminded her that the crisp cold days of winter were only just around the corner.
A cool breeze whistled across the open courtyard in front of the farm as she reached the turquoise front door and knocked on it.
It was quickly flung open by a smiling Flora. ‘Hello! You look so much better!’ she said, stepping forward to give her a hug. ‘Come on in.’
Harriet had told her that Flora and Grams had kindly offered the use of their kitchen to complete the chocolate order. They were also insisting on helping, a concept that was still somewhat new to Libby.
The door led directly into the large kitchen. It was a comfortable, welcoming space with a very large oak table in the middle and the homely aroma of coffee and freshly baked bread.
But that day there was also the sweet telltale smell of something far more familiar as well – cocoa.
To Libby’s surprise, all of her chocolate-making equipment was already laid out on every work surface, along with the ingredients and the few flat-pack boxes that had been saved.
Also filling up the kitchen were Grams, who stepped forward to give her a warm embrace, as well as Katy, Harriet and Maggie.
‘What are you all doing here?’ asked Libby, delighted to see them.
‘We’re all taking some time off work to give you a hand,’ Harriet told her.
‘After all, it’s all my fault that you got this big order,’ added Katy, biting her lip in worry. ‘So the least I could do is help you with it.’
Libby was touched and, for a moment, the tears pricked her eyes.
‘It’s all right to ask for help every once in a while,’ said Grams softly.
Libby nodded.
‘Now, everything has been cleaned and washed with lots of soapy water,’ Flora told her. ‘So how much is there left to be done?’
‘I’m not sure,’ said Libby. ‘I’ll have to have a count up and see.’
‘You do that and I’ll get the kettle on,’ said Grams, with a firm nod.
Flora showed Libby into the pantry, where the completed boxes of truffles had been safely put away. Libby counted them up and realised that she still had over a third of the order left to do in only a couple of days.
She went back into the kitchen to let everyone know the state of play.
‘It’s okay,’ said Katy, with a firm nod. ‘Once we’ve set up the equipment properly, you can get all your ducks in a row.’
But at that point, Libby decided that if she was going to be honest with everyone, she really ought to start now.
‘Actually I don’t have my ducks in a row,’ she confessed. ‘I’m not sure I even have any ducks. Maybe I only have a couple of naughty squirrels who have legged it and are off partying somewhere.’
Her friends giggled.
‘Truth be told,’ carried on Libby in a far more serious tone. ‘I don’t think I was ever going to meet the deadline on my own.’
‘Well, you’re not on your own now,’ insisted Katy.
‘Absolutely,’ said Maggie. ‘Put us to work. We’ll soon get up and running.’
Libby hesitated. ‘Are you sure?’ she asked.
‘Of course we are!’ said Flora. ‘After all, look what happened last time you tried to do it all by yourself!’
‘I was just a little bit tired,’ muttered Libby.
‘Well, thank goodness for Ethan,’ said Harriet.
Libby was still embarrassed about the huge furore that she had caused by falling asleep. But at least Ethan had been gracious afterwards, not letting her take the blame for the smoke damage when she knew that it was all her fault, her wretched pride that had caused the accident.
‘The boys are still over there, helping clean up the soot from, well, everywhere,’ Katy told her.
‘Looks like everyone needs a hand this week,’ announced Grams. ‘So let’s get the coffee and tea flowing and get going.’
Libby explained her process of making her truffles, all the way from the cocoa bean to the final chocolate truffle. They split the work down to individual tasks. Grams was put in charge of timing the roasting of the cocoa beans in her oven. Flora was measuring all the ingredients out in preparation, Maggie was in charge of the melanger, which, thankfully, had survived the fire, Harriet was rolling out the truffles and Katy, who had absolutely no cooking skills whatsoever, was putting the flat-pack boxes together as well as ordering more to cover the ones that had been lost to smoke damage.
They all began to work steadily but quickly, the conversation washing over Libby as they made inroads into the amount of chocolates still left to be made.
Perhaps, thought Libby, glancing around at her friends, some good could come out of something so awful. And that asking for help wasn’t such a bad thing after all.