by Poppy Blake
The early evening air retained its warmth and the aroma of freshly mown grass and crushed lavender excavated painful childhood memories that Rosie had banished into the crevices of her mind and had not examined for a while, nor was she about to now. She checked her watch. It was 8.15 and there was still no sign of Suki getting ready to entertain them with a tune.
‘Where do you think she is?’ murmured Mia.
‘Relax. Stars always take ages to polish their shine!’ said Matt. ‘And she did have rather a lot to drink this afternoon. She’s probably sleeping it off.’
‘Well, I’m not sitting here like a faithful lapdog!’ declared Felix, tipping the final dregs of coffee into his mouth. ‘If Suki insists on dragging out her microphone, the least she can do is be on time.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding me! How can you say that when you’ve just arrived over six hours late?’ said William. ‘Look, I’ll go and…’
‘No, you won’t!’ said Nadia, pushing William back down into his seat. She obviously hadn’t forgiven him for his lack of support in the ice bucket incident. ‘I will.’ She made her way to the edge of the terrace, but stopped next to the door of the café where Rosie, Matt and Mia were sitting. She glanced back over her shoulder at William, clearly hesitant about disturbing Suki on her own and regretting her refusal of his assistance. She recovered well, and smiled at Rosie and Mia. ‘Would you mind coming with me?’
‘Sure.’
Rosie and Mia got up from the bench and followed Nadia. Matt rolled his eyes and joined them as they made their way across the field to Suki’s lodge. They paused on the veranda, Rosie and Mia exchanging anxious glances, fearful of what they could be interrupting after the afternoon shenanigans and the potential fallout it would produce.
‘Don’t you think we should knock?’ asked Matt.
Nadia shot a quick look at Rosie and Mia, also uncomfortable about disturbing her friend’s beauty nap.
‘What are you all waiting for?’ demanded William, as he came up behind them and elbowed Nadia to one side. He strode to the door of the lodge and knocked. ‘Suki? Come on. Have you forgotten that you promised to sing for us on the terrace before we go out for dinner tonight? Everyone’s waiting for you – including Felix! Suki?’
Silence.
Rosie met Mia’s eyes. If Freddie was still in there, surely he would have opened the door to shoo them away. William knocked again, this time jiggling the handle and pounding on the door.
‘Suki, wake up!’
Matt stepped forward, lines appearing in his forehead. ‘Is there a duplicate key, Rosie?’
‘Yes, of course, but…’
‘Can you fetch it?’
Rosie’s stomach lurched at the tone of Matt’s voice and the genuine concern etched in his eyes. For what seemed an interminable few seconds, her feet felt like they were encased in concrete and she couldn’t move.
‘I’ll go,’ said Mia, sprinting off towards the café where they kept the spare keys.
William was now frantically banging his fist on the sturdy, panelled door. ‘Suki!’
‘What’s going on?’ asked Jess, joining them, with Felix not far behind her. ‘William?’
‘We can’t wake Suki. Mia has gone for the spare key.’
Ripples of anxiety surged through Rosie’s veins as a myriad of possibilities spun through her mind, each one more dreadful than the next. Within minutes, Mia was back, clasping a brass ring of dangling keys, pausing on the wooden steps of the lodge as she fumbled to select the correct one.
Felix snatched them from her. ‘I’ll take those. If anyone’s going to intrude on Suki’s privacy, then it’s going to be me. And if she wants to have a snooze before we go out for dinner then surely that’s her prerogative. Stop gawping!’
Matt moved to let Felix pass but William held his ground.
‘We just want to make sure Suki is okay.’
Felix opened his mouth to deliver an angry retort, but the look on William’s face prevented him from continuing. Instead, he slotted the heavy iron key into the lock and turned, a loud thud telling the gathering that the key on the inside of the door had dropped to the floor.
‘Suki, darling, I’m back. Sorry about being so late, but you know how the guys get when… Oh my God!’
Rosie closed the space from the steps to the front door in record time and pressed into the room behind Felix, William and Matt. The sight that met her eyes would remain seared in her mind’s eye for a long time. Suki lay on her king-sized bed, her legs curled into her chest, groaning in agony, her face as white as the windmill’s walls.
‘Call an ambulance!’ screamed Felix, sprinting to the bed and cradling Suki’s head in his lap.
‘Suki!’ cried Jess, rushing to her sister’s side.
Suki’s face held a waxy quality, her eyes glazed as though she had indulged in more than just an afternoon of alcohol. Perspiration bubbled at her temples and her groan had morphed into the heart-rending whimper of an injured animal. As Rosie watched on in horror, a spasm of pain gripped Suki and she crunched forward, vomiting on Felix’s lap before relaxing back against Jess, some of her earlier colour returning to her face. A few moments later, her eyes seemed brighter and she managed a weak smile for her sister.
Rosie felt a movement at her elbow and turned to look at Mia. She was so pale she looked like she’d just rolled off a pathologist’s slab. Her lips were moving but Rosie couldn’t hear what she was saying so she tipped her head towards her.
‘Mia?’
‘Oh my God, Rosie! I think we might have just poisoned our first celebrity guest!’
Before Rosie could think of a suitable reply, Mia’s legs gave way and she crumpled into Rosie’s waiting arms. With Matt’s help, she settled her friend on the sofa, loosening the buttons at the neck of her jumpsuit and wafting her face with a magazine. A few seconds later, Mia started to come round, her kind, chestnut eyes wide with anxiety.
‘I’m so sor…’
‘Shush. Just take it easy.’
Satisfied that Mia was going to be okay, Rosie turned her attention back to Suki. Felix was still cradling her head against his chest and Jess lay next to her, their fingers laced, sobbing uncontrollably. Nadia and William hovered nearby, their expressions reflecting their shock of discovering their friend in such agony. Suki herself, however, had recovered her usual pallor, but continued to wince as the occasional spasm of pain erupted in her abdomen.
Relieved that the worst seemed to be over, Rosie surveyed Suki’s bedroom. Even in such traumatic circumstances she had to fight to staunch the sudden compulsion to start tidying up. Apart from the wardrobe that was crammed to bursting with an assortment of glittering cocktail dresses more suited to Las Vegas than the Norfolk coast, there was a jumble of toiletries and a huge purse of cosmetics tossed on the dressing table. Foundation, blusher, eyeliner and lipsticks were scattered over the glass top, as well as a hairbrush, heated tongs and a glass bottle containing a pale golden-brown liquid – probably her precious throat spray. Suki had clearly been in the middle of fixing her makeup and preparing for her approaching performance when she became ill.
‘I said no, Felix. I don’t want you to call an ambulance, and I don’t need a doctor. Stop fussing. It’s just an upset stomach.’
‘Food poisoning more like,’ growled Felix, shooting a venomous look in Rosie’s direction.
‘We don’t know that,’ said Matt, the voice of calm amid all the hysteria. ‘Look, Suki, we should leave you to rest. Perhaps you could have a think about what you’ve eaten today and give Rosie a call? I’ll go over to the village to check if any of the other garden party guests have reported similar symptoms.’
‘Well, if you ask me, it’s obvious what’s happened. I want the Windmill Café closed down immediately. I’m calling in the environmental health guys. Suki can’t afford to get sick! She starts recording next week. Some relaxing experience this has turned out to be!’
‘Felix, will you let these people
leave so they can check on the other guests?’
Felix reluctantly stepped away from the door allowing Rosie and Matt to lead a still-shaky Mia onto the veranda and down the steps towards Rosie’s studio apartment above the café.
Chapter 6
As soon as they had settled Mia on one of the overstuffed sofas in the café, she fell asleep, curled into a tight ball like a newborn kitten. Matt called Carole, explained as succinctly as he could what had happened and asked her to activate the Willerby grapevine to see if anyone else had fallen victim to a potential food poisoning bug.
The final gasps of the evening sun streaked through the windmill’s windows sending a kaleidoscope of pretty colour through Rosie’s dreamcatcher. She felt as though it was a slap in the face after the way the day has ended. All the hard work she and Mia had put into making the first Windmill Café garden party a success had backfired spectacularly. Not only was there a distinct possibility that she had poisoned their first celebrity guest with her baking, there was also the chance that Felix would follow through with his threat and call in the food inspectors which could lead to the closure of the café, if not permanently, then certainly temporarily.
Rosie couldn’t hold her emotions in check any longer and an avalanche of distress flowed through her veins. Could she have been responsible for giving the whole of the village food poisoning? If so, it would not only be the end of her career in the catering business, but there was a distinct possibility that the Windmill Café would never recover from the negative publicity. And even if the café wasn’t closed, it was hardly an encouraging advertisement for a friendly village café where just eating a scone or indulging in a toasted teacake could mean you’d be taking your life in your hands.
What would she do if she was fired? Where would she go to next? Was she destined to be a nomad, lurching from one trauma to the next? Had she been a fool to think that she had at last found a place amongst friends where she could be happy? Why did life always have to drop grenades in her path? First her beloved dad, then the debacle with Harry, and now the Windmill Café. What was Graham going to say when he found out? If he had to close the holiday site down as well, he would be facing possible bankruptcy because of her.
Hot tears gathered along Rosie’s lashes and she would have succumbed to a bout of weeping if she had been alone, or with just Mia to share her distress, but she didn’t want to crumble in front of Matt who always seemed to exude an air of practicality in the face of adversity. She didn’t want him to think she was some kind of helpless female. She turned her back and, for want of anything else to do, set the kettle to boil. She grabbed the huge brown teapot from its designated resting place in the cupboard and three mugs, hand-painted with a windmill design.
‘You know, Rosie, this kitchen is so clean it could be pressed into service by the local heart surgeon. If you ask me, there’s no way any of the food you made for the garden party could have been contaminated with even a microscopic germ. You saw how much Suki had to drink, it was probably something to do with that.’
‘I hope so. I couldn’t bear to think that my food has poisoned everyone at the garden party,’ she said, handing Matt a mug of steaming tea.
‘It’s far too early to be making any assumptions, Rosie. Anyway, where’s your self-belief?’
She tried to smile, grateful for Matt’s support, but she knew it didn’t meet her eyes. Uncontrolled emotions continued to churn through her body causing her to feel lightheaded. She was ashamed to admit that she craved the indulgence of a session with the bleach, an almost overwhelming urge to grab a cloth and start scrubbing the already immaculate benches to wash away the non-existent bacteria that could have been responsible for Suki’s illness.
She took a seat on the sofa opposite a gently snoring Mia, surreptitiously pushing her hands underneath her bottom and starting the counting exercises that her sister Georgina had taught her when her compulsion to clean was at its peak after her breakup with Harry. She knew Matt was aware of her discomfort, but he said nothing for which she was grateful.
One of the reasons she felt so contented in Willerby was because of her attachment to Mia, Matt and Freddie. But was everything she had achieved in overcoming her heartache after leaving London about to be extinguished with a flick of fate, forcing her to move on to somewhere new? If that was the case, she realized with a spasm of guilt, she hadn’t fulfilled her promise to join Matt and Freddie for a day of high-octane shenanigans at Ultimate Adventures, despite their constant cajoling and encouragement. She met Matt’s vivid blue eyes and saw a gentleness that melted her reserve. She suddenly felt as though she could say anything to him and he wouldn’t judge her, especially now that she seemed to have been pulled into another drama that was destined to ruin her life.
All her energy seeped from her veins as uninvited memories of her relationship with Harry began to crowd her thoughts. She saw Matt watching her closely as she chased her indecision down blind alleyways, and suddenly she wanted to open up to him about the reasons why her self-esteem had been at rock bottom when she’d arrived in Willerby.
‘The reason my confidence is battered is because Harry, my ex, told me repeatedly that the only thing I was good at was keeping the little flower shop we ran together in Pimlico organized and spotless. Of course, in a way he was right. I don’t have any formal training in floristry, my educational background is in catering. It took me months of persuasion before he allowed me to design a wedding bouquet for one of our clients and he was so dismissive of my initial attempts that I nearly gave up.’
‘I take it you didn’t?’
Rosie saw Matt’s jaw tighten and was grateful he was on her side. She could have done with a friend like him around when the worst happened. However, simply meandering the memory maze caused the familiar emotions of worthlessness to rear their obnoxious heads, and the muscles in her stomach contracted painfully. Yet, her time at the Windmill Café with Mia’s constant cheerleading ringing in her ears had enabled her to understand that the problems she had experienced had been instigated by Harry’s dismissive behaviour towards her and she was able to look upon the termination of their relationship from a totally different perspective. As her sister Georgina had repeatedly told her, what Harry had done was reprehensible whichever way you looked at it, and this gave her the courage to continue with her story.
‘One of the first flower shop clients I was “let loose” on was a magazine journalist who wanted to renew her wedding vows. I spent hours researching her favourite flowers, peonies, and I managed to find one called “Bride’s Dream” – a gorgeous, frilly white flower that I paired with baby’s-breath and wrapped in glossy dark green foliage. Even if I say so myself, her bouquet was stunning. Harry begrudgingly said it was acceptable.’
Rosie could picture the posy as though it were nestled on the table in front of her. She had loved the photographs that Annika had emailed to her the week after her ‘second honeymoon’ in the Maldives. She had even printed a couple off and framed them, much to Harry’s disapproval.
‘But the best thing was, Annika loved the flowers so much she wrote a special feature on fresh new ideas for bridal flowers and asked me to design three additional bouquets to showcase in her article. I was over the moon! That article increased our business four-fold and as a result we started to get commissions from minor celebrities.’
Rosie paused, unsure whether she could go on. Recalling that painful time was making it difficult to breathe normally and her heart hammered a concerto of distress against her ribcage. Of all the friends she had made in Willerby, only Mia knew about Harry’s infidelity, minus the details about how she found out – it was just too embarrassing. She saw that Matt was listening to every word she said, his expression serious, and she suddenly wanted to get the whole terrible episode out in the open. Maybe if she gave her demons wings, they would fly!
‘I never forget things – it’s one of my, erm… well, my personality quirks. I was on my way to meet a harpist at one of
the West End theatres to discuss ideas for her bridesmaids’ bouquets when she called and asked me to take a few flower samples to show her. I doubled-back to the shop to collect the beautiful white calla lilies that we’d just had delivered that morning and… well, imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon Harry getting more than a little acquainted with one of our brides underneath the chrysanthemums. Talk about saying it with flowers! The two of them were practically screaming it!’
Rosie dashed away a solitary tear in irritation. That sharply focused image had been imprinted on the insides of her eyelids for far too long. What had happened was in the past and she had moved on.
‘Rosie, I’m so sorry.’ Matt reached out to squeeze her hand and an intense burst of his citrusy aftershave made the corners of her lips curl upwards despite her sadness.
‘Thanks,’ she muttered, grateful to see the genuine empathy in his eyes
‘You probably won’t believe this, but I know exactly how you feel.’
‘Really?’ She attempted a weak smile. ‘Did your ex-girlfriend cause the cancellation of a two-hundred-thousand-pound wedding? Because that’s what happened. Heidi was due to say “I do” to a Greek shipping lawyer the following week. She had called into our shop to finalize the guests’ buttonholes and apparently couldn’t resist sampling everything that was on offer. Surprisingly, they’re still together, although Heidi refuses to work alongside Harry in the shop. It was four months ago and whilst I no longer have feelings for Harry, I’m still working on my forgiveness skills.’
She would never forget the first words Harry had said to her when she discovered the two of them together – ‘Oh, Rosie, what a surprise. I wasn’t expecting you back so soon!’. She had later realized that it was indicative of how far her self-confidence had dipped when she’d only just managed to bite her tongue to stop herself from apologizing for her unfortunate timing and inviting him to continue. Instead, she had simply swivelled on her heels and taken the first train down to Hampshire where she had sobbed the whole sorry saga to her sympathetic mother and her furious sister. She had not set eyes on Harry again, despite his pleading for her to return to the shop to ‘fulfil her obligations’.
