A Vintage Wedding (21 page)

‘OK. Let’s get going.’

Actually, Beth found it was a lot easier than she expected it to be. Rachel’s make-up was very high quality and she had a good selection of brushes. It only took a tiny bit to make April’s youthful skin look glorious.

‘What do you think?’ Beth asked April, who had opened her eyes.

‘Oh that’s great!’ she said, surprised.

‘Not being orange is a good start,’ said Rachel. ‘What time is Lindy due to help April on with her dress?’

‘You’re the Clipboard Queen,’ said Beth. ‘Isn’t it on your list?’

‘OK, in about half an hour,’ said Rachel, having checked. ‘I’ll get the stove lit myself. It’s quite chilly in here, but it’ll soon warm up.’

‘Mm,’ said Beth, who was concentrating on April and not really listening. ‘Now, I can’t remember, what comes next?’

‘Be glad that the Clipboard Queen took notes,’ said Rachel, on surer ground now. ‘It’s primer, foundation, spritz, concealer, highlighter, bronzer, setting power and blush. What have you put on, Beth?’

‘Just a tiny bit of powder foundation,’ said Beth.

‘Put that all on me and I’d fall over with the weight of it!’ said April, peering at Rachel’s list.

‘No danger of that,’ said Beth. ‘We have a bit of blush and that will have to do. I don’t think you need concealer and all that stuff.’

‘What about my freckles?’ said April. ‘Shouldn’t we cover those up?’

‘No,’ said Beth firmly, who had them too. ‘My dad always said, “A face without freckles is a sky without stars.”’

‘Oh, that’s lovely!’ said Rachel.

‘OK, eyeshadow now, I think,’ said Beth and she picked up a brush.

Sarah rushed in with Lindy about half an hour later. ‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t get here any sooner,’ she said. ‘I had to go and sort out some problems for a farmer on the other side of the county. Is April all right?’

‘Go and see,’ said Rachel. ‘She’s in the sitting room.’

‘Wow!’ said Lindy when they found her, the room cosy now the stove was lit. ‘Amazing make-up! That friend of yours is really talented. Where is she? I’d planned to get here before the bridesmaids.’

‘She’s not here,’ said April. ‘She did a crap job and I hated it. Beth did this.’

‘Beth did?’ said Lindy. ‘Beth? I thought you said you couldn’t do things with your hands. First it’s the cake and now it’s make-up. I had a look at the cake, by the way, in the hall. It looks brilliant.’

‘I watched a lot of YouTube videos to acquire both those skills.’

‘Well, however you learnt it, it looks brilliant! It’s another service we can offer our brides!’ Lindy patted Beth’s shoulder approvingly.

‘No! Not again,’ said Beth. ‘It was far too nerve-racking.’

‘But it looks so amazing!’ said Sarah.

‘That’s because April is really pretty and has brilliant skin!’ protested Beth but no one took any notice.

‘I think we need a toast – the drinking kind, I mean,’ said Rachel. ‘I’ll get the bottle.’

‘Good idea,’ said Beth. ‘Shall I find glasses?’

There was a tiny pause. ‘They’re in a box in the second cupboard as you go in.’ Rachel let out a breath. ‘I am so relaxed about people being in my space now. I can’t believe it.’

Rachel took a photograph of the bride wearing Rachel’s towelling robe, all made up, waiting to put the dress on. There was no official photographer and guests had been detailed to take as many photographs as they could.

She took more when April had the dress on, with Lindy on her knees adjusting the veil and making sure all was as it should be.

‘That’s such a nice thing to do,’ said Sarah, nursing her second glass of cava. ‘Taking pictures of this process. It’ll be a lovely memory.’

‘I’m going to make it into a book,’ said Rachel, ‘and see if I can get guests to email me their photos so April will have a proper record.’

‘That’s so nice!’ said Sarah, sounding very slightly as if she were going to cry.

‘Please don’t start crying!’ said April. ‘It’ll set me off and I’ll ruin my make-up!’

‘I’ve got more cotton pads in the freezer, in case we need them again,’ said Rachel.

‘There is such a thing as being too organised,’ said Beth.

‘No there isn’t,’ said Rachel happily, crossing something off her list.

‘I’ll just pop along to the hall now,’ said Sarah. ‘You don’t need me here any more and I’ll make sure it’s all ready for the reception. Then I’ll go to the church. See you there!’

Then the bridesmaids arrived and Lindy could help them with their outfits. Beth felt awkward about meeting the one who had been supposed to do April’s make-up and not just because of that, but because she fancied Charlie. She was quite a large girl and was wearing the make-up she had thought suitable for April: the heavy brows that started slightly too close together; the ‘smokey eye’ that actually looked like ‘I-came-out-of-a-fight-the-wrong-side eye’, so dark and smudgy was her make-up. Her lips were nude and shiny.

‘Call that make-up, April?’ she said disdainfully. ‘You can hardly see you’re wearing any!’

‘That’s the look we aimed to achieve,’ said Beth, feeling protective of April in the face of this Amazon. She handed her a glass of cava.

The girl drained her glass and held it out for more.

Having served the other bridesmaid, Beth put only a tiny bit more in the glass thrust in front of her. This woman was a nightmare sober, what she’d be like drunk was too horrible to think about.

‘Yes, I really like my make-up,’ said April, sounding a little defiant. ‘It’s natural.’

‘You’ll look washed out in the photos. Just you wait and see.’

Beth gulped, wondering if this was true, then Rachel stepped forward. ‘Actually,’ she said, looking at her camera, ‘I think she looks lovely. Not washed out at all.’

‘Let’s have a look!’ demanded the Amazon.

‘Sorry,’ said Rachel crisply. ‘Not until they’re all properly edited and the bride and bridegroom have had a chance to look first. Now, if you two bridesmaids would like to go upstairs to the bedroom on the right, Lindy will be up shortly to help with your sashes. Beth is available to do make-up should anyone need it, but do let’s press on.’

She sounded so commanding and efficient, no one dared argue. They trooped upstairs like lambs.

‘I don’t know why I asked her to be a bridesmaid,’ said April, leaving no one in any doubt who she meant. ‘She bullied me at school and she’s trying to bully me now. Charlie wouldn’t look at her,’ she added, sounding very un-bride-like in spite of her appearance.

‘Never mind about her,’ said Beth happily. ‘Let Rachel take a few more pictures of you on your own before they come down again.’

Only April was dry-eyed when her father came to collect her to usher her into the little pony-trap that was now garlanded with more slender versions of what was decorating the hall. The pony had white ribbons threaded through his mane and his dark coat was as glossy as paint.

‘She looks so lovely!’ said Rachel, snapping away with the camera and sniffing.

‘It is tragic that her mother isn’t here!’ said Lindy, clutching a sodden tissue to her nose.

‘Oh, you two!’ said Beth, a bit hoarsely. ‘Let’s have a cup of tea to calm down before we go to the hall. We’ve only got about an hour before they all get there, starving hungry and desperate for a drink.’

‘At least we’re not doing the food,’ said Lindy. ‘But we should make sure everyone knows where everything is.’

‘Come on then. Tea and then get on with it,’ said Rachel and led the way back into the house.

‘Did you mind your house being filled with strangers wandering round in their undies?’ said Lindy, gathering champagne flutes. ‘I know it must have been a bit difficult for you?’

‘Well, it was,’ said Rachel, who was loading the tea tray, ‘but you get to a point when you just can’t fret about it any more. And I do like it when people like my house. It being beautiful and private isn’t so satisfying.’ Now she looked around. It was still a bit untidy but that seemed to be OK.

‘And Beth!’ said Lindy, having taken through the glasses and come back to tidy some more. ‘Get you and the make-up! You did a really good job on April. You’ve got a hidden talent there.’

‘Not hidden any more,’ said Rachel. ‘I’ve made a note. It’s something we can offer brides now.’

‘Oh, you and your notes, Rach!’ said Beth.

‘So how much are we earning from all this?’ asked Lindy. ‘I’ve got a horrible feeling my mum might have told April she can have it all for nothing.’

‘Not at all!’ said Rachel. ‘April’s dad slipped me an envelope with a cheque in it for a thousand pounds!’

‘What? That’s a huge amount of money,’ said Beth. ‘I thought we’d agreed five hundred.’

‘Still very good value,’ said Lindy. ‘She got a dress, the bridesmaids made over, a venue, catering, make-up – all sorts.’

‘Of course a lot of it was donated,’ said Rachel, ‘but what really touched me was he was paying more than we’d agreed because of the support we’d given his “poor, motherless little girl”.’

‘Don’t!’ wailed Lindy.

‘Oh, don’t take on so,’ said Rachel. ‘We’ve got to put on our outfits in a minute. And by the way, I paid myself back for the van.’

‘I just hope Helena’s wedding goes as well – as far as this wedding has gone. We really seem to have got a good package together. Something we can be proud to offer other brides, not just my sister.’

‘We have, haven’t we?’ agreed Rachel. ‘I’m so proud of us.’

‘Me too,’ said Lindy. ‘Now let’s get our kit on – see if our aprons fit!’

Lindy was delighted by how it was all going. Eamon and April had separately thanked them for arranging everything so well. The whole village was here helping out one way or another, everyone delighted to see the hall looking so attractive.

The catering team had done April proud and the wedding guests were all having a wonderful time. The paying bar was doing well, which would please Sukey, although Lindy realised it was mostly ‘helping locals’ – those doing the bar, helping with the food or generally finding something they could usefully do who’d have been drinking in the pub anyway, but they were certainly drinking more than usual. It was all good.

She was really pleased how attractive their outfits were too. With their full skirts and wide belts, close-fitting tops (models’ own, as Rachel put it), little scarves round their necks, and ballet flats, they were all looking faintly like Audrey Hepburn, Beth especially with her short hair and huge eyes.

As they’d hurried into them and put on make-up (not to be too outshone by the bride) they agreed they’d give a chunk of what they’d earned to the village hall fund. After all, so much had been donated by the village, it was only fair it got at least some of the benefit.

Lindy couldn’t help looking back to how her life had been the previous year: happy enough but non-eventful. Much of what she did day by day had to be repeated the following day. Her boys were always a joy, of course, and her family warm and supportive, but it was tedious having to scrape every penny together for anything extra.

Lindy realised she had probably worked harder than any of them to make this wedding happen in such a short time but she had loved every minute. She felt for the first time ever her skills were really being used. Although she’d stayed up so late, got up so early, to get it all done, the result had been worth it: April had a really beautiful dress. Lindy was fulfilled. Vintage Weddings would supply what was previously lacking in her life. Then, for no reason, Angus flitted into her thoughts. She banished him rapidly. She mustn’t read too much into a pleasant hour spent in his falling-down house drinking tea from a chipped mug.

‘Lindy!’ A voice broke into her thoughts. It was a woman who’d known her from her cradle. ‘You’ve done wonders with this old place! Never seen it looking so lovely. Even in the old days it was always a gloomy building.’

‘I didn’t do it all by myself!’ Lindy protested. ‘I only did the garlands and things.’

‘Don’t say only. It looks terrific. In fact, I think we should have a dance in here – a hop, we used to call it – while it’s looking so good.’ Mrs Jenkins was definitely a pensioner and yet she was obviously still up for a bit of a party.

‘It might be a bit short notice to get it organised, Mrs Jenkins,’ said Lindy, feeling a bit tired at the prospect of organising anything else quite so soon.

‘The WI’ll sort it. Raise some more money for the roof.’ She frowned. ‘I would have joined the committee only I’ve been so busy with my Eric’s leg. Is your gran on it?’

‘No. I’m sure she would have joined but she’s quite often roped in to look after my boys,’ Lindy explained.

‘Oh well, I’m sure she helps from behind the scenes.’ Mrs Jenkins looked upwards once more. ‘I can just see the posters for that dance now: “Raise the roof to save the roof” or some such.’

Lindy watched smiling as Mrs Jenkins strode off into the crowd, heading for the chairman of the WI, who was wielding a teapot the size of a boulder. Lindy was reminded of something her mother had said: ‘If you want something doing, get the WI to do it – they never fail.’

Sarah appeared just as Lindy was thinking of her. ‘Oh, hello, Mum!’

‘Darling! I’m so proud of you all. The hall looks amazing. You’ve done brilliantly. The boughs are stunning with the fairy lights. I was just wondering if we could arrange to have the quiz quite soon, while all this still lasts?’