The Sweetness of Liberty James (63 page)

Liberty was feeling exhausted but elated. She had whistled to herself as she turned off her oven and plated up the last food. Taking it out to the happy throng on the green, she wandered among the crowds and was amazed that people still took the new offerings. She was glowing under so much praise, most people saying how delicious it had all been and how excited they were about her café. Some of the more discerning diners had been even more effusive, and delighted in describing to her all the flavours they could detect in the different things they had tasted through the day. Thankfully, Alain had warned her that although she of course knew exactly what she had put in her food, as she had made it, the keener the diners, the more intent they were to tell you what it tasted of. She managed to smile sweetly, say how kind it was for them to notice and repeat over and over, ‘I do hope to see you in LIBERTEAS when it opens in two days' time.'

And it was lovely that everyone was being so kind with their praise; she felt truly blessed to have found her premises where she felt so at home already. She looked around for Edmund, and saw him sitting with Savannah and Khalid, both children sleeping at their feet wrapped in polo blankets.

As she made her way towards them, she wondered if she would ever get there, as she felt obliged to stop and chat, thanking the locals for showing up. She asked if they would
like to see anything in particular on her menu, and offered a free pot of tea with their first cake in the café. ‘It's made us feel like a community again. When is the next fete?' was asked repeatedly. ‘What about the August bank holiday?' Liberty was too flattered to worry about future planning, but she did start dreaming about bringing the village together with annual fetes and celebrations.

The vicar proposed she did something for the harvest festival. ‘It used to be such a jolly occasion, and the church was as full as at Easter and Christmas. Let's try to bring in the crowds by offering more than the usual pots of jam and oversized pumpkins. Let's do a full-on feast!'

Deirdre was also floating. So many people were asking her to sign their ancient, sticky cookery books; she was almost inspired to write another. She and Alain were constantly being told how proud they must be of their daughter, and wasn't she a chip off the old block?

Savannah, who had been talking babies with Evangeline, was incredibly pleased for her friend, even a little jealous, she was shocked to admit. Maybe she should have a career? And then she burst out laughing, which woke both of her children. She hugged them close, realising that they, along with lots of shopping, could fill her life perfectly.

Deirdre had enlisted her cookery school children to help clear up, and gradually plates were stacked, cups and teapots emptied of their dregs and all taken back to Liberty's house.

‘There seem to be very few leftovers,' commented Liberty.

‘Oh, I do wonder why!' her father said with a laugh, spotting a child filling a box with slices of sponge cake and her cheeks with Chelsea bun. ‘I think several families have been fed for the entire week. I hope they will be hungry enough to come to the café!'

All Liberty wanted to do was have a long, hot soak in the tub, and contemplate the café's opening. But she knew she had to make peace with Isabelle and Cecil and find out what crazy
ideas they had been concocting to rein in the wayward Percy. She managed to reach Savannah, who with Khalid was gathering their things and starting to make for home, each carrying a sleepy child.

‘Where did Edmund go?' enquired Liberty.

‘He has left already. I think he had enough of being told how nice it was to have Pa back in the village!' said Savannah with a little giggle, but not unkindly. ‘Poor Ed, he is such a softy at heart, but he just isn't built for placating grumpy villagers and small talk. Anyway, he wanted to check on your in-laws, and didn't like to bother you when you were surrounded by all your new fans. You really have done so well!' And Savannah gave her hand a squeeze, which was about all she could do with Sasha weighing her down.

‘Thank you for helping,' said Liberty. ‘You and Khalid must be shattered. Please get yourselves and the children home. I need a quick shower and will be up to join you as quickly as I can. We can finish the clearing tomorrow, and Dilys is going to keep the party going when the band starts, so I can leave her in charge now.'

Strolling across to Duck End, she gathered up J-T and Bob along with Teal, who they had been looking after.

‘Did you enjoy our country gathering?' she enquired, mostly to Bob, who was usually the last person to be seen at such an event. She was aware he had attended simply to keep an eye on J-T, but hoped he wasn't too bored.

‘Bloody brilliant!' was Bob's response. ‘Apart from some confusion when I said that Feran and Bulli had come in drag at the dog show – they seemed to think it meant the hounds would chase them, rather than an explanation for dogs dressed as bitches. It was amazing! My dear girl, you have done yourself proud. I can't think of the last time I had so much fun with no vodka involved. People are really interesting. That Fred fellow – now he is a good artist!'

J-T and Liberty exchanged looks and giggled with relief that
Gray hadn't shown up and that Bob genuinely seemed to have had fun.

‘You must be exhausted,' said J-T sympathetically. ‘Well done, the day was fantastic.'

‘Yes. Now I have just got to get myself together for Saturday. And of course, at this very moment Percy has to rear his ugly head again.'

‘Well . . .' said Bob. ‘I do believe I can help you with that particular subject. But first let's all freshen up, and I will tell you my plans when we get together.'

Liberty looked from Bob to J-T, but J-T shrugged and said, ‘I don't know what the man's on about!'

They made their way to her cosy home, filled with the aroma of all the cakes baked earlier and the happy sounds drifting in through the windows from the green.

‘Time for you to make yourself presentable and get to Jonathan's,' said J-T as he let the kitten out from her cage, where she had been put for safe-keeping, into a furious scrabble of dogs and fur.

‘You mean, to Edmund's house,' said Liberty as she tried desperately to stop the poor kitten from leaping on to the kitchen surface.

‘Sorry, so it's Edmund's house now?' asked J-T, in a fit of giggles, grabbing Queenie and kicking the French bulldogs out of the front door. ‘I have observed him keeping an eye on you. Rather like a hungry golden eagle setting eyes on a pretty little rabbit.'

‘Oh, grow up!' snapped Liberty, whose face was by now an unbecoming scarlet under the sugar, dust and goodness knows what else stuck to her face.

‘Sorry, darling,' said J-T, all contrite. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders. ‘How lovely to see love blossoming on two unsuspecting trees.'

‘Very poetic,' hissed Liberty. ‘I need to clean up.'

‘There is a smitten, grumpy, hellishly handsome man waiting
to hand you a glass of celebratory champagne at Denhelm Park, and you ought to look more like a human than an iced bun, so get yourself in the shower and we will drive you up.'

At Liberty's surprised look, he explained that Edmund had wanted to throw a little party to celebrate the successful day, and invited them to join Deirdre, Alain and the rest of the mob for supper.
Poor Mrs Goodman
, thought Liberty, but was secretly rather thrilled that Edmund wanted to celebrate. She had barely had time to talk to him, let alone thank him for rescuing her and whisking Isabelle and Cecil away when she needed to work.

All of Liberty's friends and family had noted the presence of Mr and Mrs CR. First of all they wondered why they were there at all, and whispered to one another that for Liberty's sake they hoped Percy was not about to arrive. Then, when Deirdre and Alain had excitedly run out to tell them the CRs wanted Liberty's help to revive the reputation of the bank and prevent their son from doing any more damage, they were even more curious. They had therefore, either because they were Jonathan's family and staying at the park, or because they were Liberty's family and insistent that they needed to be there (Alain and Deirdre) or just insistent (J-T), all wangled an invitation to supper at Denhelm.

Liberty ran upstairs and into the bathroom, neglecting to look in the mirror, knowing her reflection would only horrify. She had spent a day launching her career whilst resembling a cookie monster. She washed her hair twice and spent a little more time than she should on her make-up, knowing the CRs would be well taken care of. Throwing on a navy-blue jersey dress that clung in all the right places and had a flattering boat neck, a pug-coloured cashmere cardigan (bought when she realised how much hair pugs shed) and tugging on a pair of high-heeled dark brown alligator boots, she raced down as Bob and J-T were encouraging the dogs into their beds with a Bonio.

‘Don't worry, Queenie has been out and we have left her in our room,' they reassured her. But Liberty was not going to let
kitten poo worry her on a night when, despite being bush tired and slightly terrified of what plan the CRs had come up with, she felt like celebrating a day that had gone so well. She also knew she had a lot of thanking to do.

J-T held the door open for her just as the band struck up the introduction of Carly Simon's ‘Nobody Does it Better'. As they walked along the garden path, they looked over to the improvised stage on the green and all gasped when they realised it was a clearly pregnant Sarah behind the microphone. When she opened her mouth and started to sing, they stopped walking and listened. It was like liquid glucose; clear, mellow and able to smooth off rough edges. She amazed everyone with her strong, sultry voice. Liberty was smiling as they eventually got into the car and drove off; she had spied the bewitched face of Dr Brown gazing up in surprise and renewed adoration at his cleaning woman.

‘Wow!' said J-T. ‘Did you know she could sing like that?' he asked as he turned into the driveway, passing Deirdre and Alain and Paloma and Jonathan as they walked along the pretty primrose-festooned drive.

‘No,' said Liberty. ‘To be honest, I don't think I have even heard her hum before!'

Bob was looking thoughtful, and Liberty asked him what he was thinking. ‘Only that I suddenly feel, after spending an eventful Christmas here–' at this point he raised an eyebrow ‘– and then today, meeting so many interesting people, and having such a good time, that I have been very narrow-minded.'

‘NO!' said J-T and Liberty, chortling in unison.

‘No, no, let me finish,' said Bob, but not unkindly. He was aware of his previous prejudice against the country set, feeling lost and bewildered by what he saw as a lack of culture when faced with a weekend in the shires. ‘It's made me think that J-T's idea of running a boutique B&B is not such a bad one, after all. I could open a gallery down here, and the dogs would love it – and think of what we could afford with the money raised from the Covent Garden pad!'

J-T was open-mouthed at his beloved's sudden rush of enthusiasm about what had been a very sketchy idea, but as they had just pulled up near the front door he had little time to say anything other than, ‘Let's talk about this later when we are back at Duck End. This evening has so many eventualities that we may be desperate for an escape, but I'm thrilled you think we have a future!'

He squeezed Bob's hand as they went up the steps. They could hear laughter pealing through the windows. Children were running about in their pyjamas, hotly pursued by Savannah.

‘A little too much sugar intake, I fear,' she explained to the arrivals. ‘Come on, you two. Time for a story.'

Mrs CR was chatting happily to Jonathan, while Mr CR was puffing out his features and attempting to charm the beautiful Paloma, who was doing her best to appear impressed by the stuffy but kindly old man. Evangeline, having settled little Yves, was sipping a glass of champagne, whispering with Claude and hoping food would be served shortly. Despite the rest of Littlehurst and the surrounding county being full to bursting point, most of Liberty's helpers and friends had been too busy on their feet helping others or looking after wayward children to eat much, or indeed anything, themselves. Therefore, they were all ravenous. Mrs Goodman was working at full speed in the kitchen, thrilled to have a houseful again; she had raided the farm shop and bought a feast.

Edmund came out of the drawing room laden with drinks. His eyes lit up appreciatively when he saw Liberty. ‘Come in, you must be completely shattered.'

Liberty, who had felt her stomach flutter when she saw Edmund, and not out of hunger, now felt that she looked tired, and her shoulders drooped a bit, but she gratefully took the offered glass of biscuit-coloured champagne, allowing the cool, delicious bubbles to relax and smooth her nerves about the impending evening.

‘How are Isabelle and Cecil?' she asked quietly.

Edmund raised his eyes to the ceiling and whispered, ‘Slightly overwrought.' Then, turning to Bob, he continued, ‘Good evening, Bob. I hate to tell you, but I may be in need of your expertise this evening.'

Liberty's eyebrows described querying shapes, but Bob replied brightly with a ‘righty-ho', hoping Edmund was planning to sell many of the fabulous pictures dotting the walls in order to invest in new ones, bought from him, of course, but knowing in his heart it was more than likely to do with Liberty's in-laws.

‘I do believe little pound signs appeared in your eyes just now,' whispered J-T in his ear.

‘Oh, shush,' replied Bob, but very fondly.

‘I have a feeling in my bones,' continued J-T, ‘that Edmund is thinking about Percy and his art collection.'

‘That's what I keep wanting to explain to Liberty,' said Bob, but they were interrupted again by Jonathan herding them into the bright summer sitting room, where a reluctant fire twitched in the grate; just enough to add a touch of comfort to the warm evening.