17. Pea-ing on the Floor
Chapter 17
Pea-ing on the Floor
‘ O h no! This won’t do at all. Don’t you see how the tabletop is stained?’ Diane wasn’t keen on the idea of eating at the kitchen table.
‘It’s the patina of age,’ Amy suggested. ‘The kitchen was probably built round this table – they couldn’t have got it in through the door.’
‘That’s not necessarily a good thing. I can’t imagine what some of those marks must be. Didn’t you say there was a dining room?’
‘Yes, it’s on the right of the front door. But it’s cold and very formal.’ Matt looked up from the large pan of Bolognese sauce he was stirring. ‘The kitchen’s much warmer, and we wouldn’t have to carry everything through.’
‘I shall go and see!’ Diane announced and made a stately progress through to the dining room while the boys flicked frozen peas, which had fallen out of the packet, at each other over the kitchen table.
‘Come on, boys, don’t do that please,’ Amy said while Diane was out of the way .
‘She’s gonna start on about the starving children in Africa again.’ Harry raised his eyebrows.
‘Just remember what I said about best behaviour when Di – I mean, Mrs Willis, is here.’
‘I remember. But you also said she wasn’t coming ‘til tomorrow, so doesn’t that mean I don’t have to do best behaviour until then?’
‘No. She’s coming back, pick up the rest of those peas, please.’
‘Half of them are Oliver’s!’
‘Then Oliver can pick up his half too, please, Olly,’ Matt suggested.
They were crawling around on the floor picking up peas when Diane opened the door. She looked down at the two boys as if she was surprised to see them.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked.
‘We’ve pea-d on the floor,’ Harry said with a giggle.
‘You’ve what!’ Diane was shocked.
‘We’ve dropped peas on the floor. Amy said we had to pick them up,’ Oliver explained.
‘Don’t you have a dustpan and brush here? That would seem to make more sense than picking them all up individually. I’m sure that’s what your mummy would’ve done, Oliver. There’s no need for you to crawl around and get filthy.’
‘I thought,’ said Amy, tartly, ‘it would help the boys to understand what a mess they’d made if they had to be responsible for tidying it up.’
Diane smiled regally. ‘It’s Christmas – is there really any need to punish the boys for a minor indiscretion? I think you and I should get the dustpan and clear up the mess ourselves while the boys run along and play. Then I’ll set the table in the dining room. I think we should have our meal in there, it’s much more suitable, even though it’s a bit chilly.’
‘I’ll go and turn the heaters on,’ said Matt.
’No need, I’ve already seen to that. And I found a nice freshly laundered tablecloth in the drawer and some good china and glassware in a cupboard, so there’s no need to use that nasty chunky green set from the kitchen.’
‘The plates in the kitchen aren’t quite so delicate as the ones in the dining room,’ Amy said, as she went to the cleaning cupboard and found the dustpan and brush. ‘Safer with the boys.’
‘Nonsense! They’re old enough to understand the need to be careful. Oliver’s a very careful boy.’
‘Harry’s rather clumsy, though.’ She got down on her hands and knees to sweep up the remaining peas, as Diane supervised.
‘Maybe he should use the kitchen plates then.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Diane. We’ll all use the same plates,’ Matt said. ‘If you’re really set on it, we’ll eat in the dining room, but we’ll use the kitchen crockery.’
‘You’ve missed some there.’ Diane pointed out a couple of peas that were behind the sturdy leg of the table. ‘No need to thank me, I’m sure you’d’ve spotted them for yourself. Eventually. Now, when you’ve finished that, and washed your hands, perhaps you would come and help me set the table in the dining room?’
Diane sailed back towards the dining room as Amy put the sweepings into the bin.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Matt mouthed to her.
When Amy and her mam had stayed at this cottage many years before, the dining room had been little used. It was a cold room cut off from the rest of the house, and in those days a battered dining table with a padded leather table protector and four rather spindly chairs had been the only furniture. Now a long, highly polished table with six matching chairs stood in the centre of the room with a sideboard at the far end. There was one window that looked out at the front of the house and another smaller one was set in the gable end looking out down the valley. It probably had the best view in the house, which was a shame when this room didn’t encourage use. Even with the portable heaters turned to full it wasn’t warming through. Diane opened a drawer in the sideboard and spread a clean, white tablecloth over the table.
‘I’m not sure this is a good idea. Spaghetti Bolognese can make a real mess. I don’t want to stain the tablecloth if we want to use it for Christmas dinner,’ Amy suggested, but Diane waved her away.
‘I’m sure the boys will be careful, and we can always wash it, can’t we?’
‘They haven’t installed a washing machine in the utility room yet; I’ll have to go all the way down to the camping barn if I want to do any –’
‘Here are some place mats. They’ll catch any spills,’ Diane said triumphantly. ‘Now you put round the cutlery … deary me, not like that. The dessert forks need to go below the dessert spoons at the head of each place setting. Dessert spoons in your right hand, forks in your left. See? There, now you know how to lay a formal dinner table. Stella was very particular about things like that, you know.’
‘Really? She was?’
‘She loved to host dinner parties.’
‘And what about Matt?’
‘I’m sure he was perfectly happy with anything Stella wanted. Now, where will I find napkins?’
‘I wouldn’t have the faintest idea.’
‘Do you know, I’m sure the first thing Stella would’ve done, when she arrived in the cottage, would be to find out where everything was in case it was needed. If you don’t know where the napkins are, I presume you don’t know where to find the cruet set.’
‘Probably not. But I know where the first aid kit and the cleaning supplies are, and I think we’re more likely to need those in an emergency than napkins and a cruet set.’
Diane seemed unaware of Amy’s mild sarcasm and carried on laying the table. She stood back to view it critically. ‘And now for the finishing touch,’ she said. ‘This silver candelabra could go in the middle of the table. That’ll provide a suitably seasonal touch, don’t you think?’ She put it in place and surveyed the final effect. Everything was meticulously placed, and sparkling. ‘Stella would’ve loved this.’ She blinked rapidly. ‘She did adore entertaining.’
It wasn’t what Amy would have chosen for a family dinner, but she had to admit Diane had made the drab room shine. She sighed. There were many times at the cottage where she imagined her mother working in the kitchen or sitting cosily beside the fire. If a traditional dinner table helped Diane to feel closer to her lost daughter, she could sympathise.
She just hoped that Harry could keep his Bolognese sauce on his plate and not all over Diane’s pristine snowy-white linen tablecloth.