‘It’s up to Nathalie,’ he shrugged. ‘She’ll tell us when she’s good and ready, right?’ He smiled at her, eyebrows raised.
‘When the time is right, you’ll be the first to know, I can promise you that,’ Nathalie beamed. She was clearly besotted but still infuriatingly tight-lipped about the whole thing.
‘We can get drunk and toast the success of the Community Café,’ Johnny said, refusing to join Helena in her attempts to extract further information.
‘Providing itisa success, of course,’ Helena said.
‘That it will be,’ he replied. ‘I have no doubt.’ He reached over and gave Helena’s shoulder a squeeze, knowing she was feeling nervous now the launch was so close.
‘You three have been the absolute dream team. There is no way I could have done this without you.’
‘We wouldn’t be anywhere else,’ Johnny smiled.
‘You’re damn right about that,’ nodded Nathalie.
As Helena sent them both off into the night half an hour later, she was relieved to see that it had finally stopped raining. The air smelt metallic with damp. A glitter of stars had emerged from the cloud cover, an encouraging sight that boded well for the following day. She watched Johnny and Nathalie as far as she could, but they disappeared around the corner before she could see anything telling. Johnny hadn’t mentioned anything. In fact, he hadn’t mentioned anything at all in terms of dating. It was strange, in a way, seeing as they talked about everything else. Helena clearly had no love life to speak of, and, as far as she could tell, Johnny seemed to be happily single. He wasn’t on any of the apps, hadn’t been for any dates as far as she knew. For such a good-looking guy, she was amazed he hadn’t been snapped up in the year since he’d arrived. She wondered if she was right, maybe he was Nathalie’s mystery man. Maybe he was supporting her in keeping it quiet. He had been so badly hurt by his ex it would make sense that hewould take a long time to trust anyone new. She took herself up to bed, trying to ignore the butterflies storming her stomach. She told herself to calm down, but it didn’t help. She couldn’t shake the deep-rooted anxiety swelling within her. She couldn’t put a finger on what was causing it. There was a lot less pressure hanging over the event in terms of raising funds, thanks to the success of the Just Giving page, but it was still the first time her idea would really take root in the community, and that filled her with nerves. There was a lot riding on the next few weeks. She was so desperate for it all to be a success.
35
SATURDAY DAWNED BRIGHTand beautiful, the rain of yesterday nothing but a distant memory. A cobalt blue sky stretched as far as the eye could see as the soft pink mist of sunrise gradually faded away. Drops of dew bejewelled the vibrant grass beneath her feet as Helena walked across the green. The road closure was in place ahead of the old pub. Spotting Johnny pull up in his van, she moved the barrier to one side to allow him through.
‘Morning!’ Nathalie called out moments later as she marched towards them looking ready for action in a pair of denim cut offs and a candyfloss pink T-shirt. She carried a clipboard, had a megaphone around her shoulder, some purple sunglasses on top of her head and strings of turquoise beads around her neck. Meg, Maisy and Ted were all in tow. Ted, who had clearly been dragged out of bed and was still sporting some rather extreme bed hair, was put to work immediately to help Johnny unload the tables from the van. Nathalie supervised their positioning while Meg, Maisy, Helena and Margery started to bring out the supplies from Hazel Cottage.
By ten o’clock, the entire village green was covered in stalls. Each table was shrouded in a brightly coloured tablecloth. Bunting fluttered in the gentle breeze. All the volunteers were in place, manning their stations, with floats set up for each stall holder. Nathalie had the whole thing organised with military efficiency. Johnny and the band had taken their positions on a makeshift podium comprised of the school’s stage blocks, complete with several speakers and three microphones which Andy the musicteacher had managed to rig up. The sun was shining fiercely, it was set to be an absolute scorcher of a day.
Before long the punters came pouring in. The turnout was fantastic. Children raced around with painted faces and balloons clutched in their fists. The tractor rumbled past with its trailer full of grinning faces, and people of all ages wandered around from stall to stall, eating Helena’s delicious cakes and sipping homemade lemonade. Johnny and the band were a huge hit, with a crowd gathered around them at all times, singing along and dancing.
At midday, Helena took to the stage, taking hold of the microphone. She had written a short speech, thanking everyone for coming and talking through her plans for the Community Café, describing how they could get involved, and how welcome everyone was to come and join in with any and all of the activities they would have going on there. She felt quite overwhelmed with gratitude as she spoke. ‘I can’t thank you all enough for your support. It really does mean the world to me. I am so excited for the grand opening on 23 July, and I hope to see each and every one of you there in the very near future.’ She scanned the crowd in front of her, beaming back at all the happy faces, some familiar and some unfamiliar. She spotted Ahmed and his family, who she was delighted to see had taken up her invitation to come. She felt heady with happiness, sun and adrenaline.
Suddenly, she froze. Standing to the side of the crowd, right next to Malcolm’s potion stall, was a face that she knew like the back of her hand. She felt her knees buckle beneath her at the sight. She couldn’t tear her eyes away.
‘Helena? Are you okay?’ Johnny was trying to take the microphone from her, but she wouldn’t loosen her grip. She realised that the music had restarted and the crowd had dispersed. Chatter filled the village green once again.
‘Helena?’ he repeated.
She came to her senses, handing him the microphone. ‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘What’s wrong?’
Her whole body was as tense as a coiled spring. Every hair was standing on end. What the hell was he doing there? Was she imagining things?
She blinked. He was still there, grinning at her, as if it had been five minutes since they last saw each other, not eleven months.
‘It’s Noah,’ she breathed. ‘He’s here.’
‘He’s here?’ Johnny jerked his head to follow her gaze. She could feel the fury instantly flush through him. ‘Do you want me to get rid of him?’
‘I—I—I don’t know what to do. What is hedoinghere? I thought he was in New Zealand…’
‘Helena.’ Johnny grabbed her arms as if to shake sense into her. ‘You don’t have to see him if you don’t want to. You don’t have to speak to him. If you want me to, I’ll tell him to get lost.’
At that moment time seemed to stand still as she watched a small child with a headful of bouncy curls race over to Noah. Raffy! The one person on earth she would have cut off her right arm to see again. He was right here. She couldn’t compute what was happening. Her heart pounded as she stumbled off the stage, racing over towards him.
‘Raffy!’ she shouted, unable to stop herself. ‘RAFF!’
At the sound of her voice Raffy spun around, as if in slow motion. Without thinking, she ran to him and pulled him into her arms, lifting him in the air and spinning him around as she hugged him close. She breathed in that familiar smell, so uniquely his, and revelled in the feeling of his small body in her arms, the weight of him, so much heavier than when she had last held him, so much taller. He giggled as she put him back on the ground.
‘Hi Helly,’ he smiled shyly up at her. It had nearly been a year. If that felt like a long time to Helena it must have felt like an eternity had passed in Raffy’s eyes.
