Once they’d left, I closed my eyes and let out the biggest groan. They had caused havoc. After a deep breath I surveyed the damage. I raced into the en-suite and grabbed a few wet wipes and used them on the lipstick. To my relief it came off easily and I wiped away a picture of a pink snowman, four stick people and what looked like a baby stick person, a dodgy looking dog, and the word ‘DAD’ in big letters.
The bedding would have to be dry cleaned but that could be done as Maddie and Frank were not due back for another week. I stripped the bedding and peered into the wardrobe. Frank’s shoes were swimming in cola. Shit.
The clean-up operation took longer than I had hoped. Layla came to give me a hand with the wardrobe, and she carefully wiped down Frank’s expensive leather shoes.
‘This is going to be okay,’ I muttered, ‘all this is fixable.’
Layla cast me a worried look. ‘It still stinks of dog piss in here.’
I bit my lip. ‘Okay, let’s open the windows and get as many air fresheners as possible on.’
She nodded and hurried away as Aunty Bev peered inside. ‘You need to get rid of that smell, Rachel. Frank dislikes the dog at the best of times so he won’t appreciate bed reeking of Humphrey’s piss.’
‘I know, Aunty Bev,’ I snapped.
By the time I returned downstairs I was exhausted. More people had turned up early and were sat in both the east and west wings. As I passed a few reached out and thanked me.
‘You have saved the day,’ said one lady, ‘my son is over from Australia, and he would have been so upset without his Christmas dinner.’
I nodded as she pointed to a large family stood by Maddie’s bookcase. ‘That’s him, his wife and his three children.’
To my horror one of their children was fiddling with one of Maddie’s books and the other was drawing in one. There wasn’t time to sort that out. I would replace damaged books.
A young man waved at me as I was about to head for the kitchen. ‘The wifi isn’t working. Can you sort it out?’
‘There’s a power cut,’ I said, trying to remain calm.
‘Oh,’ he said looking bewildered. ‘Is that why we are all here? I thought it was free food?’
I had to hurry away to save my sanity.
Ben, Layla, Aunty Bev, and I spent three hours preparing the lunch. We did a great job despite the circumstances and the Christmas buffet looked amazing.
I made sure Layla, Grandpa, Cath, and Rosie were at the front of the queue, which snaked out of the kitchen and into the reception hall.
Everyone loved the food, and it was a wonderful sight to see them all shovelling plates of my Christmas buffet food into their mouths. The queue had reduced dramatically when Aunty Bev came running from the front door. ‘Kay and Dorothy are here,’ she hissed.
‘What?’
I walked into the hallway to find Kay and Dorothy standing with pink noses, damp hair and rosy cheeks. Kay smiled at me, and I knew she’d forgiven me for my outburst the previous day. ‘Mum and I have no power and I can’t cook anything on my electric oven,’ Kay explained. ‘I am sorry about yesterday; it was a bit of a shock hearing Mum was engaged.’
‘I can understand,’ I said, with a smile. ‘Come in and join the buffet queue. Shall I tell my grandfather you’re here?’
Dorothy’s face lit up. ‘Please can you go fetch Eric? I have been thinking a lot about him.’
As she took off her coat I went to get Grandpa. I don’t think I have ever seen him move so fast. I had to run to catch up with him as he rushed to see Dorothy.
‘My darling,’ he cried, on seeing her. ‘Oh, how I have missed you.’
As they cuddled and hugged Kay led me away by the arm. ‘Do you think we could encourage them to date first rather than rush into an engagement?’
‘You have my backing. I have been trying to persuade my grandfather to date Dorothy first, but he’s so headstrong.’
Kay nodded. ‘Overnight Mum has lost all her common sense. She claims Eric makes her feel like a love-struck teenager again.’
‘Let’s take a joined-up approach.’
She rolled her eyes at her mother and Grandpa engaging in a kiss under a sprig of mistletoe. ‘To think my mother was against me marrying a boy at eighteen all those years ago. He’d proposed after a month of dating. She went mad at me. Now – look at her.’
