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‘No, it’ll just be me.’ Colin headed for the door. ‘It looks wonderful in here, Mack. It really does.’
‘Thank you, Colin. Yes, see you later.’
Mack waited until Colin was out of sight, then opened the box and popped a still-warm biscuit in his mouth, letting it melt a little on his tongue. They’d work a treat with the Crémant de Bourgogne he’d picked to be served that night.
‘Ooh, have I missed breakfast?’ Flora came through the door, catching Mack still finishing off his mouthful.
‘That was Colin…’
‘Yes, I just passed him. He’s very excited about tonight.’
‘He just brought these in, he made them himself.’ Mack pointed to the box.
Flora lifted the lid slightly and inhaled deeply, the smell making her mouth water. ‘Oh, my word, those look amazing. May I?’ She took a bite of one, catching the crumbs with her free hand. ‘Absolutely delicious…’ She nodded her head in appreciation whilst finishing her mouthful. Then she reached into one of the bags she was carrying over her shoulder and pulled out a handful of brightly coloured tissue paper. ‘Look what I’ve got for the garden.’
‘What on earth are those?’ Mack squinted at them.
‘Paper lanterns. I’m going to tie them to strings of lights. It’s going to look so gorgeous, Mack.’
‘I know you will make it just so, Flora.’ Mack picked up the box. ‘Right, I’m going to take these upstairs before I eat any more of them. Then shall we make a start on setting up what we’re tasting tonight?’
‘Good plan.’ Flora beamed at him. ‘Honestly, Mack, I can’t quite believe this is really happening.’ Just then her phone pinged in her pocket. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen, reading the first few words of a message from Billy. ‘Oh, no…’ Her shoulders sank.
‘Everything OK?’ asked Mack.
‘It’s my brother, he can’t make it tonight.’
‘Oh, that is a shame. I was looking forward to meeting him. He sounds like quite a character.’ Mack laughed.
‘Yes, he is. But also really annoying sometimes, especially when he doesn’t show up at the last minute.’ Flora rolled her eyes. ‘Never mind, his loss. I’ll give him a call – and a piece of my mind – later. Come on, we’ve got lots to do and no time to waste.’
13
The first guests were by the door on the dot of 7 p.m. The evening air was warm, the sky clear despite the forecast predicting otherwise. As people arrived and moved through the shop they cooed over the fresh interior, peering at bottles on the shelves, before spilling out into the courtyard.
Flora and Johnny worked the room with perfectly chilled bottles of Crémant in each hand, topping up glasses as they moved through the increasingly noisy crowd. Mack stood at one end of the tasting table, pouring wines for a rapt audience.
Upstairs Pip and Tom sat by the window, watching the grown-ups moving underneath strings of lights and paper lanterns Flora had hung below.
‘Here you are, darlings!’ Kate appeared at the top of the stairs.
‘Hi, Granny!’ they chorused.
She came to join them at the window. ‘Doesn’t it look lovely from here? Although this place could do with a tidy up.’ Kate glanced back around Mack’s sitting room, noting the piles of books and papers, the dark walls and furniture giving the place a heaviness that made her feel quite claustrophobic. ‘How on earth does he live in this mess? It could be wonderful with a bit of TLC…’
‘Can we come downstairs for a bit? Please, Granny?’ Tom looked up hopefully, deploying his best puppy-dog eyes.
‘Darling, I think Mummy wants you both to stay up here. It’s not for long.’
Pip fixed Kate with a pleading look. ‘Please, Granny? Just for a few minutes…’
‘OK, but just for a bit. I don’t want you getting me into trouble. Perhaps if you do something useful, like pass some food around, your mother won’t mind.’
Just then the sounds of a piano, bass and trumpet floated up from the courtyard. Pip ran back to the window, peering down.
‘Listen! There’s music! Come on…’ Pip grabbed Kate’s hand and together they headed downstairs, Tom close behind.
They moved through the crowd in the shop and out into the courtyard. Flora stood by the DJs where they’d set up against the back wall.
