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‘Retirement not tired. Grampy Ian isn’t tired, he’s just going to help Nana Elsie in the bakery.’ Rueben whispered to his little sister.
‘That’s what I said, retirement.’ Pippa pouted before continuing. ‘We decorated one piece of paper for each letter and Rueben cut it into triangles because he’s super good at cutting, isn’t he, Mummy?’
‘He certainly is.’ Teresa grinned and ruffled Rueben’s hair.
‘Brilliant. Every party needs a banner! And I’m sure I saw some blu-tack around here somewhere.’ Diane turned and rummaged through decorations strewn across the coffee table before holding up the small cardboard packet of blu-tack.
‘Oh yay! We’ve lost ours at home so we couldn’t bring any, so it’s super good that you’ve got some we can use.’ Pippa turned to her mum. ‘Do you think we’ll need all of it, Mummy? We don’t want it falling down on top of Grampy Ian’s head.’ Pippa giggled. ‘That would be funny.’
Teresa shook her head. ‘I don’t think we’ll need to use all of it. We’ll need it to stick the other decorations up, too.’
‘Now, where do you think it would look best?’ Josh spun around slowly in the middle of the room, his hands on his hips and his expression serious.
‘Umm, by the door? No, Grampy Ian won’t see it straight away if it’s by the door and we want him to see it straight away, don’t we? Or he won’t know it’s his tired party.’ Pippa turned around before quickly turning back as the wool holding the paper bunting together began stretching.
‘That’s true.’ Josh placed his finger on his chin, thinking before indicating the back wall next to the archway through to the kitchen. ‘How about on this wall, then? It’ll be the first thing he notices if we put it up there.’
‘Yes, yes. I like it there. Let’s put it up there.’ Pippa began walking across to the wall before standing still and looking at her brothers. ‘Come on, or it’ll break and if it breaks, we’ll have to make another one.’
Chapter Sixteen
Elsie leaned againstthe counter, the tables in the middle of the bakery strewn with cake boxes and covered trays full of pastries, doughnuts and cookies. ‘I think that’s it. Can anyone think of anything I’ve forgotten?’
Tammy looked around the room. Molly and Jude, Diane and Harry, and Lauren and Charlie had all returned after the bakery had closed for the day to help take the food across to the lighthouse.
‘I think you’ve got it all. This lot could feed the whole bay for a fortnight.’ Diane grinned.
‘Oh, you don’t think I’ve gone overboard, do you, love?’ Elsie frowned as she looked across at Diane.
‘Not at all. I think it’s great. It means that however many people turn up tonight, they won’t be going home with empty stomachs.’ Diane joined Elsie by the counter.
‘Yes, yes, you’re right. This has got to be enough.’ Elsie picked up her list from the counter. ‘I’ll just check the list to make sure I’ve not forgotten anything, and then we’ll be ready.’
‘Yes, what time is Ian back? Is Ollie still bringing him to the lighthouse?’ Diane began piling a stack of cake boxes into Harry’s outstretched arms.
‘Yes. Ollie has him over at Trestow asking his advice about something or other at the kitchen shop and Josh will ring Ian and ask him to pop over to help him with something at the lighthouse in an hour’s time.’ Elsie picked up her sparkly cardigan from the counter and slipped it on.
