A Vintage Wedding (6 page)

‘You know what I’ve been thinking?’ said Beth.

‘No,’ said Lindy. ‘We’re not psychic.’ She glanced at Rachel who was organising her ironing pile. ‘At least I’m not.’

‘Remember our toast? To new beginnings? I think this could be a new beginning.’

‘What could?’ asked Rachel.

‘I think we should set up a little company, doing what we’re good at.’

‘I am good at ironing,’ said Rachel, ‘but I don’t want to do it as a business.’

‘Not ironing! At least, not only ironing, but combining our skills: my eBay talent, Lindy’s sewing, Rachel, you doing what you do when you’re not ironing—’

‘Accounts,’ said Rachel.’

‘Perfect!’ said Beth. ‘You always need someone who does accounts.’

‘And I do lots of other things as well,’ said Rachel, liking the sound of what Beth was saying.

‘We could arrange weddings for people, on the cheap,’ Beth finished.

‘Catchy name!’ said Lindy. ‘“Weddings on the Cheap”! That’ll get people flocking to us.’

‘You never know,’ said Rachel. ‘It might. But a better name would be “Vintage Weddings”.’

‘Vintage doesn’t mean cheap, does it?’ asked Lindy.

‘No, but it always means second-hand, or “pre-loved”,’ said Rachel. ‘It would fit in with revamping old wedding dresses.’

‘Oh, I like that!’ said Beth. ‘And if we did a few for other people, we’d know more what to do for Helena’s.’

‘We’d have our day jobs as well, of course,’ said Rachel, pausing in her ironing, ‘until it takes off. But it would be brilliant fun. Or it might be. Have you got a sleeve board?’ she asked Lindy.

‘Somewhere. There!’ said Lindy triumphantly. ‘It’s being a skateboard ramp for superheroes.’

Rachel accepted the offered board. ‘Don’t you find it difficult working in such …’ She paused, aware she might cause offence.

‘In such a mess?’ asked Lindy. ‘Well, in a perfect world I’d have a huge space to do dressmaking and things but as it is, I just have to focus on what I’m doing and ignore everything else.’ She smiled wryly. ‘My mum says it’s a special gift. What she means is, I should tidy up more. But there seems no point.’

Rachel swallowed and concentrated on the frill on the sleeve. Unknowingly, Lindy had just told her the whole focus of her own life was pointless. Rachel was trying very hard to work out if she was right.

But at least her ironing skills were useful. A little while and a cup of tea later, she handed back the dress, laying it over Lindy’s arms. ‘It’s still dreadful but at least it doesn’t need ironing any more. Mind if I get on with these curtains?’

‘Knock yourself out!’ said Lindy. ‘Gran will be thrilled. She does so much for me and I can’t even get her curtains finished for her.’ She paused. ‘Put the dress back on, Beth. Let’s see what I can do with it.’

Lindy had cut a sweetheart neckline and was pinning in a cap sleeve in place of the wrist-length ones when she remembered something. ‘Sorry, Rachel. You didn’t actually come round here to do my ironing.’

‘That’s OK. I love ironing.’

‘But why did you come?’

Rachel shrugged. ‘I just needed company. I had a load of logs delivered and—’

‘Oh no,’ said Lindy, looking at her, worried. ‘Don’t tell me Mum – er – who delivered the logs?’

‘Raff.’

‘No! Mum really should know better.’

‘To be fair, I think she did try to get some from someone else first.’

‘So what’s wrong with Raff?’ asked Beth.

‘He’s a nice guy and all that,’ said Lindy, ‘and his logs are really cheap, but …’

‘What?’ asked Rachel.

‘Well, you’re new to the area. He’s bound to be interested and – how much did he charge you for the logs?’

Sensing Lindy would be sympathetic to her outrage, Rachel put down the iron. ‘He didn’t charge me. He said I was to take him out for a drink instead.’

‘That’s all you need!’ said Lindy. ‘Raff McKenzie hitting on you when you’ve only been here five minutes.’

‘He was a bit – full on,’ admitted Rachel.

‘Don’t get me wrong. He’s nice. But he’s a bit – well, you know – love ’em and leave ’em.’

‘Has he ever tried it on with you?’ asked Beth.

Lindy shook her head. ‘No. But there was a girl who broke her heart over him and left the area.’ Lindy went on: ‘We don’t want Rachel leaving if she’s going to be so useful!’

Rachel laughed. ‘I promise I won’t let him break my heart. It took me years to get to live here. I’m not going to be driven away by a man. Even if he does look a bit like the dark-haired one in the Ladybirds.’

Lindy’s eyes widened. ‘Yes! He does, now you come to mention it.’

‘He sounds lovely,’ said Beth wistfully. ‘Maybe he just needs the love of a good woman.’

‘Maybe,’ said Lindy, sounding sceptical. ‘Or maybe he just plays around.’

‘Anyway,’ said Rachel. ‘If you could just tell me how much a load of logs is, and his address, I can post him a cheque. Cash even,’ she added.

‘I’ll have to ask Mum,’ said Lindy. ‘And tell her off at the same time.’

‘I can’t imagine telling my mother off,’ said Beth.

‘I couldn’t imagine that Lindy would make that dress anything other than vile,’ said Rachel, ‘but it’s looking quite nice now.’

Rachel had become accustomed to value tea bags and had got through quite a considerable heap of ironing before Lindy suddenly squealed and realised she should have picked up her boys ten minutes ago.

‘Don’t go!’ she called as she shot out of the door. ‘We’ll have beans on toast when we come back.’

‘I’ll go and get a couple more tins of beans and some bread,’ said Beth as the door closed behind Lindy. ‘I don’t think Lindy can really afford to feed us all.’

‘Here, take some money,’ said Rachel. ‘I can stand us beans on toast. I have a few paying clients, at least.’

A little while later, two boys rushed into the house shouting but abruptly stopped when they saw strangers there.

‘Hi, guys!’ said Beth, gathering up the scraps of lace that Lindy had ruthlessly pruned from the dress.

‘Hello!’ said Rachel, striving for the same casual tone that Beth had used. She wasn’t used to children and never knew how to be with them. There was always the fear that they’d be sticky and make her sticky too. Fortunately they rushed into the kitchen making aeroplane noises.

‘It’s really kind of you to iron the boys’ things,’ said Lindy, seeing the pile. ‘It’s wonderful enough that you did Gran’s curtains.’

‘Don’t you normally iron the boys’ things?’

‘Frankly, I get a sense of achievement when I get a load of clothes in the washing machine. Getting them dry is enough of a challenge.’

Rachel realised that without a tumble dryer, this would be extremely difficult.

Somehow, Rachel got through the beans on toast with the boys. Lindy’s kitchen table was just about big enough for them all to sit at and while Rachel ended up sitting next to Billy, the youngest and potentially stickiest, she was able to keep out of his reach. He was rather sweet, she concluded, and very cheerful.

She made her excuses as soon as she could. She’d enjoyed herself but her tolerance for mess and confusion was low. She waved cheerily at the boys and set off towards order and calm, leaving Beth to read bedtime stories. She wanted to work out a bit of a business plan for Vintage Weddings. She had very little to go on, but it would be good to make a few notes.

A few days later, Lindy was feeling cheerful as she walked away from her grandmother’s house, leaving her two boys in it, watching
Peppa Pig
, having been fed and bathed. She and Gran had done it together, as they often did, and now Lindy was off out.

Not, she admitted, smiling to herself, that a meeting about saving the village hall was exactly a hot date, but she’d long since stopped hoping for them. This was sad for a woman of only twenty-three but so far her life had not turned out as she’d planned.

Turning her mind to happier things, she thought about the wedding dress and was pleased. With the aid of a few crystals and a lot of skilful hand sewing, she’d turned it into something very glamorous. She had loved working with the fine fabrics, even if they weren’t the pure silk and lace she’d have preferred. It was still a dress any bride – well, any bride without a fortune to spend on her dress – would be happy to get married in. Sadly, it wasn’t ever going to look good on a bride without a tiny waist, so it wasn’t suitable for Helena, but it was still lovely.

Although she often thought about how lucky she was – two beautiful boys and very supportive parents and grandmother – Lindy spent a lot of time yearning for something different. Not very different, she always insisted to herself, but a bit. A more creative outlet; work that wasn’t just making curtains and hemming jeans. Vintage Weddings could give her this and the thought was heart-warming.

She’d never want to do without all the advantages of bringing up her children in the same place as she’d been brought up herself, but she often felt she was the youngest middle-aged housewife on the planet. She sometimes wondered if she could have worked harder at her marriage, overlooked Edward’s lapses, gone for counselling. In her heart of hearts, though, she knew that wouldn’t have worked. Her marriage to Edward had been doomed from the start.

But having Rachel and Beth move into the village had given her a much-needed boost. If only their plan to set up a little business to arrange budget weddings came off – it would give her a way of making money for doing what she loved. While she was perfectly happy to make curtains for people she longed to do something a bit more exciting.

She saw Rachel hovering by the end of her lane and hurried to catch up with her. Lindy had offered to call for her but Rachel had insisted she’d be fine, she’d been to a meeting before; however, Lindy sensed that really, she’d like to have someone else to walk into the pub with. Rachel would soon realise, if she hadn’t already, that the Prince Albert was not like other pubs, it was far more female-friendly.

‘Hi, Rachel!’ she called as soon as she was within earshot. ‘I can’t tell you how thrilled Mum was about getting you on to this committee. And Beth’s coming too.’

Rachel laughed. ‘I sort of offered, going to the first meeting.’ She paused. ‘So, have you finished the dress?’

‘Yes! It’s amazing. Even though I shouldn’t say that really. I’ve got some pictures on my phone. I can’t wait to show Beth.’

‘Show me what?’ said Beth who swung into step beside them on the threshold of the pub.

‘The dress. It looks really good.’

‘Ooh, can’t wait to see it.’

They filed up the stairs to the meeting room. Lindy spotted Raff, chatting to Audrey and Ivy who were treating him as though he was their long-lost nephew.

‘Let’s sit together,’ said Lindy, rearranging chairs to make this possible. She was slightly annoyed with herself when she realised this now meant Rachel was sitting next to Raff. ‘Hey, Mum!’ she called as Sarah entered the room. ‘Had you better have Rachel next to you? If she’s treasurer?’

‘It’s OK, love,’ said Sarah calmly, taking off her coat and rearranging her scarf. ‘I’ll sit on her other side. Ooh, Sukey’s provided water.’ Sarah poured herself a glass. ‘Right!’ she said, looking round the table, checking out who was missing.

Lindy resolved to give her mother a firm talking-to about Raff and his ways. She really didn’t want Rachel getting messed up by him. Lindy sometimes felt that having children so young had made her maternal instinct a bit excessive but she sensed that in spite of outward appearances Rachel was a little fragile. Raff could be very bad for her just now.

At last everyone was seated and was catching up with those they were seated next to. They obviously wouldn’t stop talking until they were made to. Sarah had told Lindy that she’d managed to strong-arm a few more people into coming to this meeting.

‘OK!’ Sarah tapped her water glass with her pencil and eventually everyone settled down.

‘First thing on the agenda: getting the hall painted. We’ve got the paint – thanks, Raff – all we need is the manpower. I’ve got a list of people who offered last time. Lindy? Beth? You weren’t here at the last meeting; are you up for painting the hall?’

‘Of course, if Gran will have the boys for me.’

‘A weekend would be best, I think,’ said Sarah, looking at Justin and Amanda, who had been at the previous meeting but hadn’t signed up for decorating. ‘Maybe this Saturday? Do you think you might make it?’

Justin was quick to reply. ‘Unlikely. We’ve got our own house to upgrade. I don’t really want to waste a weekend slapping on emulsion.’

Lindy happened to be looking at Rachel when he said this and saw her wince. Given how scrupulously she’d done her ironing, Lindy didn’t think ‘slapping on emulsion’ was quite her way of doing things.

‘I’ll do it,’ said Raff. ‘I’ll provide ladders and a scaffolding tower. We’ll need one for the ceiling.’

‘So are all the materials donated?’ asked Rachel, pencil poised. ‘If not, how are we going to pay for the ones that aren’t free?’

‘Until we’ve done some fundraising, there is no money,’ said Sarah. ‘I was hoping we could come up with some concrete plans to do this tonight.’

‘Bit of a chicken-and-egg situation,’ muttered Audrey. ‘Maybe we’d be better to just leave things as they are.’