Page 69 of The Seaside Supper Club

‘And oh, what a hamper,’ declared Sue.

‘Put us down for ten then, pet,’ said her husband, as he pulled out his wallet with a flourish. ‘And the tea is all free you say, that’s marvellous. It’s not often you get something for nothing, nowadays. Thank you to whoever’s organising it.’

‘Well, that’s actually me and my friends.’ As well as a swirl of pride, Cath also was hit by a tug of anxiety. The pressure was on to live up to expectations.

‘How fantastic, well done.’

Cath handed him ten strips of tickets for the raffle, after taking his name and a contact number.

‘Fingers crossed, then.’ He nodded at the tickets now in his hand.

Cath was crossing her fingers, too, hoping that they could manage to pull off another smooth and very sociable event.

‘Joyce is coming along,’ remembered Sue. ‘I’ll get her some raffle tickets, too. Let’s take five more. She’s recently lost her husband, you know. I think this event might help get her back out, cheer her up a bit.’

This was what it was all about, Cath thought, cheering people up, brightening their day, sending them away with a smile, a full tummy, perhaps a few new friends and some heartwarming memories. She just hoped that she and her supper club team could pull it off all over again, and make it as good, or even better this time. No pressure there, then! What could possibly go wrong?

*

With Dan and Andreas away all day, Cath had promised to look after Shirley as well as the shop. She’d taken the terrier out briefly over lunchtime. And, after closing up, she was now in the flat above the stores, clipping the little dog on to her lead, ready to head out to the fields beyond the village, and take a stroll down by the river. Cath stifled a yawn after her hectic day, but she had a feeling this walk would do her good, as well as the dog. She felt more than ready to decompress a little.

With a week now having passed since she and Will had had their difficult outing, though things had settled somewhat and she’d popped in to visit him each day, she was still feeling a little angsty, and couldn’t put her finger on exactly why. Perhaps her mind would settle and begin to work it out as she rambled. She made her way down the stairs, with Shirley trotting eagerly beside her. After locking the side door, they turned the street corner, passing the village green with its stone cross memorial, and strolled by several traditional honey-grey stone cottages; their small front gardens in full bloom, with scented roses, tall hollyhocks, and pots and hanging baskets filled with purple and pink petunias, trailing begonias and delicate dark-blue lobelia.

Leaving the village behind, the pair made their way along the lane to drop down through a small wooden gate into the pastures that bordered the river. All around was farmland; fields of green where cattle and sheep calmly grazed, alongside crop fields now turning to barley gold. Away in the distance were the moorland hills. The sky above filled with bulbous clouds that were slowly scudding by, with a promise of summer blue beyond.

With nature all around, and Shirley happily sniffing and scooting about on a loose lead, Cath’s thoughts began to settle. The Tilldale Tea was looming, of course, with all of the organisation that would entail. When she’d thought up this madcap afternoon tea scheme, she had no idea quite how popular it would be, or that Will would become ill with cancer and would have to undergo surgery, and be facing a slow recovery. She already felt tired to the bone, and despite all the wonderful offers of sponsorship and fundraising she’d received, there was of course a whole heap of planning to do and tasks to undertake. Juggling all this with caring for Will, plus the prickly atmosphere shifting momentarily from her to between him and his girls – just last night he’d accused Maddie and Sophie of ‘ganging up on him’ as they tried to persuade him to get back out and do some exercise on his bike again. With Cath privately agreeing with them, yet trying her best to keep his battered spirits up, it was taking its toll.

Her online tuition was still ongoing, though that had slowed down at this time of year – at least until the new term started – but still there was a lot of prep needed to keep up to date with any changes in the curriculum. She was making her weekly visits to the care home, too; she couldn’t imagine letting the residents down. That was an awfully big life ‘to-do’ list in itself. Throw in a full day at the shop, which had been fine and she was glad to help out the lads, but she was more than ready to crash out on the sofa. Instead, here she was still going strong-ish, giving Shirley her exercise.

Cath’s pace wasn’t as brisk as it might have been. Snatching a yawn, she took a pause, gazing at the cool cola-brown ripples of the river flowing by. Her energy levels were definitely at a low ebb. The emotions of these past weeks surrounding Will’s diagnosis and surgery had evidently caught up on her. Though she tried to keep bright and cheery for him and the girls, the disturbing thoughts that troubled her at night still managed to worm their way to the surface. She hardly wanted to acknowledge them. They were like doom-mongers. What if they hadn’t got rid of it all, the cancer? What if it might already have spread? How did they know for certain that the surgery would work? Was cancer ‘Clive’ going to prove to be a bit of a bastard in the long run?

And what if she’d finally found the love of her life, and he wasn’t going to be here for that long? These were the fears that she hadn’t dared to voice to anyone.

She felt a prickle of tears.

‘Hey, Shirley.’ She bent down to stroke the soft-white fur of the West Highland terrier. ‘Enjoying your walk, little lady?’ Okay, she was aware she was talking to a dog, but there was no one else around to hear her, after all. And perhaps a chat with her canine pal might help shift these negative thoughts. Shirley snuffled her damp black nose against Cath’s palm in response, and then stood still beside her, happy to receive more affectionate pats. The warmth of the mid-July sun was on Cath’s back, the smell of grass and earth filled her nostrils. The sound of a tractor humming in the distance, and oh, the close hum of a bee as it passed by like a drone on its busy nectar-seeking way.

By the time she’d returned to the shop, Cath’s head felt a little clearer; being surrounded by nature, her canine companion and the simple act of walking had calmed her. Everything would work out somehow, she told herself, as she hung up the lead and watched Shirley settle down into her snug bed. Keep the faith, find a way. No use fretting about what might go wrong. Appreciate the now; plan, plan, plan for the afternoon tea party; and a big two-fingered ‘V’ sign to Clive.

Chapter 29

At last, two weeks on, and they had the house to themselves for a whole evening, hopefully giving them the chance to relax a bit as a couple. And hopefully, after all the ups and downs of life after surgery, also the chance to be a little more honest with each other.

Maddie had settled back in at Newcastle, coming up only for the odd day off to see her dad, which was more about keeping him company than hands-on care at this point. And Sophie, who was living back at Tilldale for the uni summer holidays, had arranged to go out this evening with some old school friends, into Alnwick for a meal and drinks, eager to try out a new bar that had just opened. She was to stay over for the night with one of the girls who lived in the town.

Cath had bought some nibbles from M&S, prepared an easy chicken pasta dish ready to warm through at Will’s, and planned a chilled evening. Without a third wheel, they might in fact be able to feel like a couple again and chat a little more openly. They still hadn’t talked about his outburst at the café. Although, later that day he had apologised about being off-hand with her, though he hadn’t seemed to want to go into it any more than that. And with Sophie around at the time, she hadn’t felt inclined to push him.

Cath poured them both a glass of wine, and they sat chatting in his lounge about Adam’s latest call – she’d guessed right, he and the dark-haired girl she’d spotted when she’d visited those few weeks ago had become a bit of an item, and Adam was taking her out for a drink this evening. Cath also filled Will in on her day yesterday working at the shop, and Veronica’s amazing spons-a-thon challenges from the local groups for the afternoon tea event.

‘Do you think you might make it? To the event. No need to have to do anything too strenuous, but more to be there. Perhaps help by chatting with the ones from the home. They’d love that.’ Cath really felt he needed to start getting back out there. Stepping back into normal life.

‘Ahm, yeah, I might do.’ He was positively noncommittal, but at least he sounded like it was a possibility.

‘That’d be great,’ Cath encouraged further.

The atmosphere between them was pleasant enough, though Will was still rather quiet. They enjoyed their tasty supper, and there was only a hint of Will’s ongoing discomfort with him having to make a couple of rather swift trips to the loo.

All in all, it had been a lovely evening. It was past nine-thirty, and Cath was sitting beside Will on the sofa with some beautifully relaxed piano music playing, by Ludovico Einaudi, so Will had informed her. It seemed only natural to move a little closer. Cath reached an arm up across his chest and shifted to snuggle up. God, she’d so missed that easy closeness they had not so long ago. She wasn’t expecting anything more from him physically or sexually, not yet. She was well aware, after all, that making love naturally was very unlikely to happen for many months post-prostatectomy. But a kiss and a cuddle, that would be perfect.