‘But do you like him?’ Lindy obviously wanted the details.
Rachel bit her lip. ‘I do like him. He’s fun and he’s kind, but I’m not ready for a relationship. And certainly not with him.’ And before Lindy could say anything she added, ‘It’s not because of what he looks like or his clothes; it’s just his – randomness. I like a bit of certainty in my life.’
‘Setting up a business like Vintage Weddings with people you’ve only just met isn’t a certain thing to do,’ said Lindy.
Rachel found she was smiling. ‘No. And yet it’s been the best thing that’s happened to me for years and years.’
‘Oh, me too!’ said Lindy. ‘The best thing apart from my boys.’
Rachel had a second or two, before there was a knock at the door, to consider that if it hadn’t been for getting pregnant, Lindy’s career would have been very different – much more fulfilling. And yet she’d still think her boys were the best thing in her life.
‘That’ll be Beth,’ said Lindy. ‘We can find out more about Charlie – and eat the cakes!’
Rachel made tea and seated her guests round the table in the dining room.
‘So, this is a wash-up meeting, is it?’ said Lindy. ‘I’ve never been to one before.’
‘You probably have,’ said Rachel, ‘you just haven’t called it that.’
‘These cakes are wonderful,’ said Beth. ‘I didn’t have lunch.’
‘Oh, Beth!’ said Lindy. ‘Rachel told me what happened! I do hope you don’t mind.’
Beth shrugged and took another cake. ‘A close friend knowing doesn’t make it any worse. I’m not sure if anything could make it any worse.’
‘More to the point,’ said Rachel, ‘what will make it better?’
‘Dunno. I expect in about ten years I’ll think about it and laugh.’
‘Don’t wait ten years to laugh about it,’ said Lindy. ‘Ten months maybe, but ten days is better.’
‘Oh, Lindy, I don’t know. I feel so humiliated.’
‘I don’t know why you’re feeling humiliated,’ said Rachel. ‘You’re not the one discovered in a cupboard with your pants round your ankles.’
Lindy bit down hard on her lip. Rachel glared at her, knowing she was trying not to laugh.
Beth intercepted the glare and looked at Lindy. ‘It’s not funny,’ she said.
‘Oh, I know,’ said Lindy. ‘I’m not laughing at you; it’s just the way Rachel said it, like she was a headmistress or something. It’s just created a really funny picture in my head.’
Now Beth bit her lip.
Lindy was distressed. ‘Honestly, Beth, love, I can imagine just how ghastly the whole thing must have been. You, discovering that fat girl with make-up smeared all over her face—’
‘It was probably all over Charlie’s face too,’ added Rachel. ‘She had enough on to supply an entire product range. “Slappers Are Us”, or something.’
‘OK!’ said Beth. ‘It’s just a little bit funny. But what am I going to say to him if he turns up in the pub?’
‘Would you like that pint in a glass or over your head?’ said Lindy.
A little smile crept across Beth’s face. ‘Not sure I’ll give him the choice.’
‘He won’t go to the pub for a while,’ said Rachel. ‘Not if he’s got any sense.’
‘Well, if he prefers that fat cow to me, he obviously hasn’t got any sense,’ declared Beth.
‘And who wants to go out with an idiot?’ said Rachel.
‘Not me. That’s for sure,’ said Beth. Then she frowned. ‘Not sure I want to tackle him about the hole in the exhaust in the van now, though.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ said Rachel. ‘I’ll ask Raff. He’s sure to know someone who can do it at a very reasonable rate.’
‘Oh! Thanks, you guys. You’ve made me feel a whole lot better,’ said Beth. ‘Obviously it still hurts like hell, but not as much as it did. But please, do not let me do that again.’
‘What, fall in love with an idiot?’ said Lindy.
‘Fall in love with anyone,’ declared Beth. ‘Ever! Now, you’ll be glad to hear that although I have been so miserable I could hardly move, I did do a bit of work on our website.’
‘Really?’ said Rachel. ‘That’s amazing! Not even workaholic me could have done that.’
‘Well, I know, but I thought: Why should I let him take away everything, including the satisfaction I’ve got from Vintage Weddings?’
Lindy went over to Beth and hugged her. ‘You’re wonderful. Do you know that?’
‘Yes, you are,’ said Rachel. ‘Working when you just feel you want to cut your throat is amazing.’
‘I don’t think I actually wanted to cut my throat, more, well … do something agricultural to Charlie that I won’t mention in front of Rachel.’
‘You mean cut his balls off?’ said Rachel. ‘I totally get that!’
Rachel picked up her clipboard. Things were calm now. Beth seemed almost back to her old self. Rachel knew she wasn’t, really, but she obviously wanted to put the episode behind her and get on with the business in hand.
‘OK, girls. The wedding: how was it for you?’ Her pen was poised, ready to make notes.
‘I thought it went brilliantly,’ said Lindy. ‘The hall did us proud. Everyone loved it, and the family were thrilled with what we did for them.’
‘It was lovely of Eamon to thank us publicly like that,’ said Rachel.
‘April was thrilled with her dress,’ said Lindy.
‘There are zillions of pictures on her Facebook page,’ said Beth. ‘She does look amazing.’
‘I thought our outfits worked well,’ said Lindy, ‘especially for you, Beth. You were channelling Audrey Hepburn—’
‘Well, apparently Audrey Hepburn doesn’t do it for Charlie!’ said Beth, but with an air that made them laugh.
‘Another indication of what an idiot he is,’ said Rachel. ‘But moving on …’
‘Mum says everyone thinks we’re miracle-workers,’ said Lindy.
‘We’re not quite that,’ said Rachel, suddenly a bit anxious. ‘We had so much help from everyone.’
‘But we learnt a lot,’ said Lindy. ‘We have skills now we didn’t have before.’
‘We can offer a make-up service,’ said Beth. ‘I might have to buy some more make-up though, if someone else wants me to do it.’
‘We will have to think about catering in the future,’ said Rachel. ‘The village only did it for April because she’s local, and her mother, and all. We should research people.’
‘Or learn to do it ourselves,’ said Lindy. ‘Otherwise we’ll have to use up all we’re paid on the caterers.’
‘We could add them to the bill,’ said Beth. ‘We can’t do everything.’
Rachel sighed. ‘I know we can’t,’ she said. ‘But the food is so important. I hate not having control of it.’ Then she felt embarrassed. ‘Sorry, yes, I am a control freak. I will get over it!’ The others laughed and Rachel went on: ‘And it’s so much easier to be neurotic if you don’t have to hide it all the time. So I’m glad you guys know.’
‘We’ll find a caterer we can rely on,’ said Lindy. ‘And personally I’m so happy we haven’t got to think about weddings any more. At least for a little bit. I’m completely weddinged-out just at the moment.’
‘Me too!’ said Rachel. ‘Although I really loved it and seeing it all come together was amazing, I don’t want to do it again immediately. Unless we got a paying client, of course.’ She looked at her colleagues. ‘So, let’s make a list of what we need to focus on now.’
‘We need to get the smell out of the van for a start,’ said Beth. ‘I put up with it before but now it’s going to remind me of Charlie.’
‘I did notice a bit of a whiff the other day,’ said Lindy. ‘Like there’s something rotting in the fruit bowl.’
‘I think there’s some trick with bicarbonate of soda,’ said Rachel.
‘I’ll look it up,’ said Beth. ‘Next?’
‘We need to finish doing the hall,’ said Rachel. ‘I know it looked fine – more than fine – but I am aware the decorating is nothing like finished. And then there’s the kitchen. Even as a serving area it’s disgusting.’
‘Is it that bad?’ said Lindy. ‘I thought it was more or less OK. Inadequate, but not dreadful.’
Rachel regarded her sternly. ‘I’m sure if anyone found out we were intending to hire it out and serve food they would close us down for hygienic reasons.’
‘OK,’ said Lindy. ‘Add it to the list. But as well as doing stuff ourselves we must all get behind the fund to repair the roof. Like going to the quiz,’ she added. ‘My mother’s making me go.’
‘Are you good at quizzes?’ asked Rachel.
‘Not really, no. But she’s invited Angus to be on our team.’
‘He seems a nice guy. But do you think Sarah is up to her usual matchmaking tricks again?’ asked Rachel.
‘Probably. Anyway, if I’m going, you two must too.’
‘I’ll probably be working,’ said Beth.
‘Sukey might run a bar and let you work at it, then you can secretly tell us the answers,’ said Rachel.
Beth laughed, looking genuinely cheerful now. ‘Do you know how little I know about sport?’
‘Everyone has a specialist subject,’ said Rachel. ‘Mine’s how to avoid clutter and get rid of unsightly stains. Only those things never come up in quizzes.’ There was a whistle. ‘Oh, there’s your phone,’ she said to Beth. ‘If it’s Charlie don’t answer it.’
Beth was reading the text. ‘It’s not Charlie. It’s Helena. She’s got a date for the wedding.’
‘When?’ demanded Rachel.
Beth looked up from her phone. ‘April the twelfth.’
There was a tiny silence and then Rachel said, ‘That’s less than two months away.’
‘Doesn’t it interfere with Easter?’ said Lindy, sounding as though she hoped it did. ‘We could make her postpone it a bit.’
Rachel checked the diary on her phone. ‘No. Easter is late this year.’ She looked at Beth. ‘It is very short notice. Can you ask her if she could put it back a bit? Even another month would help.’
Beth wrote the text.
There was a pause as they awaited a reply. Beth picked up Rachel’s copy of
Interiors
magazine and flicked through it. Then Lindy said, ‘This is getting frustrating. Why don’t we try and Skype her? It would be good to see what she looks like.’
‘Good idea – if she’s somewhere she can Skype. I’ll ask her.’
There was more waiting for Helena’s reply. ‘Just thought,’ said Beth. ‘You can Skype all right here, can’t you, Rachel?’
Rachel nodded. ‘All mod cons in this gaff.’ She realised the thought of making a joke about her house would have been impossible to her only a couple of months ago.
There was a few minutes’ hiatus while Rachel set up Skype and Lindy took the mugs and plate through to the kitchen and washed up. Rachel was aware of this but knew Lindy was sensitive to her washing-up foibles. It would be OK.
‘Right, we’re there,’ said Rachel. Beth and Lindy rushed to join her and then there, on her computer screen, was someone who looked quite a lot like Beth.
‘Hey, Hels!’ said Beth delightedly. ‘Long time no Skype. Why the hurry with the wedding? Are you up the duff?’
‘Don’t joke,’ said Helena. ‘Yes I am. And it would break Mum’s heart if I went up the aisle with an obvious bump.’
No one spoke for a few tense seconds. Rachel cleared her throat and nudged Beth, who took the hint.
‘Right, OK,’ she said, ‘I’d better introduce you to the team,’ obviously still a bit shocked by her sister’s news. She’d be an aunt by the end of the year! ‘This is Lindy.’
‘Hi, Helena,’ said Lindy. ‘Don’t worry about being pregnant. I got married because I was pregnant.’
‘Oh, and how did that work out?’ asked Helena.
‘Not well, but you’ve been together for ages. We were a bit of a one-night stand really,’ said Lindy.
‘And I’m Rachel. I’m in charge of the clipboard.’ She waved it.
‘So, Hels!’ said Beth. ‘This is a bit of a curveball. I didn’t think you even cared what Mum thought about the wedding, which is why we’re doing it and not her!’
‘Since I’ve been away from home I realise I actually miss her. And really, it’s not fair to dump it all on you.’
‘But what about her wanting something completely different from what you want? You know: the big hotel? The eight bridesmaids you haven’t seen for years? Her choir singing her choice of music? I thought you hated the idea of all that.’
‘We’ve had some long chats and she’s agreed it’s my day and not hers. I think us both leaving home has made her realise how controlling she’s been and she’s changed.’
‘Hmph!’ said Beth. ‘I’m not sure that’s possible. Are you sure you’re not going to lie down and let her take over? Just for an easy life?’
‘Really. I’m not.’ Helena leant forward. ‘There’s one suggestion I’ve totally said no to.’
‘Oh yeah?’
‘She wants me to wear her wedding dress and veil – to save money and because she loves it so. I told her that was out of the question.’
‘Actually, Hels, that’s one thing she might be right about. If I remember from the photos her dress would – well, it could hide a bit of a bump.’ She stopped for a stunned second. ‘Hey – you don’t think Mum was preg—’
‘No,’ Helena interrupted her sister. ‘I’ve done the maths. I wasn’t born for a good year after they got married.’
‘So have you told her you’re pregnant? Congratulations by the way. I think it’s lovely!’
‘So does Mum! I was really surprised but I think the thought of a grandchild mellowed her. She realised if she went on being like she has been all these years, she might never see it.’
‘Ah! Love the thought of Mum being all gooey. Now we’ve got a van I should go and see her.’
Helena paused. ‘You don’t need to do that. She’s coming over to see you. She wants to get involved with the wedding – but on our terms, not hers.’
Beth was silent for so long, Rachel felt obliged to step in. ‘That’s lovely. All help gratefully received, I’m sure.’
‘Well, she can’t stay with me,’ said Beth. ‘I’ve got no room!’
‘I’m sure she doesn’t have to actually stay in your house—’ said Lindy.
‘She’ll have to stay in a B and B,’ declared Beth. ‘Lindy? You must know of a good one? My mum’s a bit fussy.’
Lindy winced. ‘Not in the village. Our one is a bit nylon sheets and loo-paper dollies.’
‘Oh no,’ said Helena from somewhere far across the world. ‘Mum would have a fit.’
‘It wouldn’t have to be in the village,’ said Beth, cheering up now she knew she no longer had to share the village with her mother, even at night. ‘It could be quite far away – if you can think of anywhere.’ She turned to Lindy who shook her head.