by Heidi Swain
‘I’ll go and put this on the drinks table,’ I told the pair. ‘But right at the back, so no one opens it.’
‘I wouldn’t if I were you,’ said Anthony, who had silently sidled up. ‘What sort of table have you set up for the drinks, Fliss? It looks to me like it’s beginning to sag in the middle.’
‘Oh bugger,’ I said. ‘I thought it would be okay, but there’s a lot of weight on that one. I hope the rest are going to be all right.’
I looked around and found everyone had taken their seats. The rest of the tables looked fine but then they didn’t have the same number of filled bottles on them.
‘I need to rejig it,’ I flapped, feeling increasingly hot, ‘but it’s time to start serving the food. I don’t want to keep everyone waiting.’
‘We can deal with the drinks table, can’t we?’ Eliot briskly said to Anthony. ‘And Bec and Mum can bring the food from the house while you talk everyone through the menu, Fliss. Sorted. Yes?’
‘Yes,’ I agreed. ‘All right.’
So much for keeping the pair of them on opposite sides of the barn.
‘Right,’ said Bec, ‘let’s get this show on the road.’
Talking through the dessert dishes and watching everyone tuck in, while Eliot helpfully topped up their glasses was the easiest part of the whole event. Everything tasted delicious and the cool evening temperature meant there was no melted chocolate or warm drinks.
‘That semifreddo,’ said Jemma, closing her eyes, ‘was the best I’ve ever had. Where did you get the recipe and more to the point, do you want a job in the café? I could do with an extra member of staff who can whip up dishes like that.’
I felt myself flush under her praise.
‘My nonna in Italy taught me how to make it,’ I explained to her and Amber who was also listening. ‘I’ve got a whole head full of her recipes, so if the supper club doesn’t work out Jemma, I might take you up on that offer.’
‘Oh, there’s no chance of you taking her on then, Jem,’ Amber smiled. ‘This place is going to be a hit. Jake and I are already planning winter supper dishes we could serve here.’
‘Are you?’ I gasped.
Amber nodded.
‘We are,’ Jake chimed in, ‘and we want you to add a wood burner to your list,’
‘It’s already on there,’ I said, feeling slightly dazed. ‘Are you really going to pick Fenview Farm over your other venue?’
‘There’s no contest,’ he told me. ‘The barn is beautiful and the added attraction of Bill’s collection is the ultimate cherry on the cake.’
My head began to spin and I’d barely had a sip to drink.
‘And Bill took me to look at the washhouse and other outbuildings earlier,’ said Tom, joining in, ‘and I can’t imagine there would be any objection to you putting in a kitchen and cloakroom. There’s more than enough space for both.’
I didn’t know what to say. I’d always had faith in the idea, but listening to everyone else’s approval made it suddenly feel very real. The Fenview Farm supper club was going to happen. I couldn’t wait to tell Grandad what everyone was saying. And the Rossis. Nonna would be cock-a-hoop to know how fast her semifreddo had vanished.
The limited money in my savings account sprang to mind again and I hoped I would be able to find a way to make the vision I, and everyone else, imagined the place could be, a reality. Tears then filled my eyes as I wondered what Mum would have made of it all. She had been delighted by what I’d done for the Rossis and I wondered if she would have felt even more proud here because Fenview was our very own family farm.
‘And you know we’ll help,’ said Bec, cranking my emotion up another notch. ‘Won’t we, Eliot?’
‘Of course,’ he nodded, leaning in to refill Jemma’s glass. ‘I can wield a sledgehammer as well as the next man.’
‘I’m not sure we’ll need anything knocking down,’ I quickly said, but nonetheless felt extremely grateful they were both so willing to get stuck in.
‘Well, a paintbrush then,’ he smiled.
‘Hey,’ said Bec, swatting his arm. ‘That’s my line.’
We were all in fine spirits by then and it was a relief to see Eliot smiling again. I was just about to tell Bec my plans to offer wall space to local artists when Anthony announced he had to leave but couldn’t get his car out because of how everyone was parked. Considering he’d been put in charge of parking, I felt a bit miffed about that, but at least his early departure put paid to him saying anything untoward to Eliot.
‘I was hoping we would have more time to chat,’ he said, when I saw him out.
‘Well, I did tell you it was going to be a busy research evening, didn’t I?’ I reminded him.
‘You can get your car out now,’ said Eliot, who had untangled the mess Anthony had made of arranging the vehicles.
Anthony didn’t acknowledge him, but pulled me into his arms and kissed me firmly on the lips. I was furious and rigidly unresponsive.
‘I’ll call you tomorrow,’ he said, releasing me. ‘We’ll go to that wine bar and talk all this through. I’ll give you the benefit of my business knowledge.’
I didn’t want the benefit of his business knowledge and I hadn’t wanted that kiss either. He had no right to go around pressing his lips where they weren’t wanted. I took out a tissue and wiped my mouth.
‘So much for him not being your boyfriend,’ Eliot glowered.
‘He’s not,’ I said. ‘He’s really not.’
‘Well, you better tell him that then hadn’t you,’ he said walking away, ‘because that kiss suggested otherwise and so did what he said to me earlier.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘When we were taking those bottles off the table,’ he said spinning round to face me, ‘which, by the way, there was absolutely nothing wrong with, Anthony made it very clear that you and he were an item and that if I’d got any romantic feelings for you, then I should forget about them as soon as possible.’
Chapter 25
I tried not to dwell on what else Anthony might have said to Eliot in the brief time they had been thrown together and, as no one else was in a rush to leave, turned the music up a little before going around with my notebook to talk over how the evening had gone. It turned out that Eliot wasn’t the only person Anthony had had a quiet word with and my resolve not to get distracted by his comments was soon tested to its limit.
By all accounts the evening was a huge success and both Jemma and Jake were going to be among the first to book events, much to mine and Grandad’s delight and relief, but they did have a couple of issues for me to iron out. As did practically everyone else.
Thankfully, all of the problems were easily solved, minor things which were simple to address and the largest, the safety of the barn itself, was soon dismissed by Tom and Jake. However, the one thing practically all of the issues had in common was that they had been flagged up by Anthony.
As I made my way around, I realised that he’d had a word in everyone’s ear, and he seemed to have contributed little that was positive to balance out his gripes. That, added to what he’d said to Eliot about steering clear of me and his gaslighting over the strength of the drinks table, combined to leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Considering the sweetness of the menu, that was quite an accomplishment.
Once the last of the guests had left, Grandad and I cheerfully talked about the success the evening had been, along with what we should plan to do next, and then he left me and the Randalls to tidy away. I didn’t mention Anthony’s antics and as I watched him walk back to the house, I knew one of us was guaranteed sweet dreams.
‘So,’ said Bec, when we’d almost finished. ‘Have you talked to the Rossis yet? Eliot said you’ve finally got the broadband connected now.’
‘Yes,’ I smiled, ‘thanks to your brother we have and yes, I have talked to them.’
As we gathered the last few glasses and dishes together, I gave her a description of Marco, explaining how I
thought she and him would be the perfect match and she was enthralled. Even more so when Eliot asked if he was the hunk he’d seen on the photo in the library. Bec was someone else who wouldn’t be having nightmares. I on the other hand…
I fell into bed feeling exhausted but I hardly slept. Earlier in the day, I had imagined I would be too excited to sleep and would lay until dawn mulling over how well things had gone, but instead I was wondering why Anthony had gone out of his way to try and sabotage everything.
First thing the following morning, I used the house phone to call him and made arrangements to meet.
‘This is a pleasant surprise,’ he said, when I arrived in town. ‘I thought you’d be too busy clearing up to even think of me.’ Given his interference, I’d thought of little else. ‘Does this mean you’ll have time for the wine bar later?’ he hopefully added.
‘We tidied and sorted last night,’ I brusquely told him, ‘but none the more for that, I won’t be going to the wine bar with you. Is there somewhere we can talk?’
It was bank holiday Sunday and still early, and as the town was having some sort of event in the park the next day, it looked like everyone was making the most of the day of rest. There was no sign of life anywhere other than the newsagents and that was hardly the spot to have the kind of conversation I had in mind.
‘Actually,’ I said, climbing back into the Land Rover, ‘we can talk here. At least saying it behind closed doors will keep it private.’
Anthony looked rather taken aback.
‘We could drive on to Peterborough,’ he suggested. ‘There’s bound to be a coffee shop open there.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I haven’t got time for that.’
‘Sit in my car, then,’ he tried. ‘I can put the air con on.’
‘No thanks,’ I said, wanting to keep the conversation on my turf. ‘We can open the windows. It’s not that hot and don’t worry, the seats are clean. You won’t mess up your trousers.’
Sensing that I meant business, he got in and I cracked the windows open a little further. His aftershave was rather overpowering for so early in the day but then he was always dressed for business and smelt ready for action whatever the hour. He never had a loose thread or a hair out of place, unlike Eliot who constantly had mussed up hair thanks to his bike helmet and clothes full of comfortable creases to match.
‘So,’ Anthony said, when I didn’t say anything.
‘So,’ I echoed back, pushing thoughts of Eliot’s hair and wardrobe aside.
I’d rehearsed what I was going to say a hundred times between asking him to meet me and arriving in the market square, but now it seemed rather dramatic. In the cold light of day and faced with the fact that he clearly had no idea why I had summoned him, I began to wonder if I’d got his words and actions a little out of proportion.
But then I reminded myself how he’d made a point of talking to everyone, including Eliot, and not only about the supper club, and I knew that if I didn’t have it out with him, I’d always wonder.
‘About last night,’ I began.
‘A roaring success,’ he beamed. ‘I don’t think it could have gone any better, could it?’
I turned to face him.
‘Or not?’ he questioned, taking me in. ‘Did something happen after I left? I’m sorry I had to duck out just as it was getting going and I know I messed up with the parking. That sort of thing really isn’t my forte, I’m afraid. I did try and tell your grandad. I hope it didn’t cause too much of a rumpus.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘It didn’t.’
‘Thank goodness for that,’ he sounded genuinely relieved. ‘So, what is it then? You don’t look like someone who’s just successfully unveiled a business idea, Fliss.’
‘The thing is,’ I said, launching before I lost the nerve, ‘when I went around, after you’d gone, and asked everyone about the venue and how they felt the evening was going, they all had a bit of a niggle.’
‘Right.’
‘Nothing major and all easily addressed.’
‘So that was good then, wasn’t it?’
‘Well, yes,’ I said. ‘But the thing was…’
‘The thing was what?’ he asked when I faltered.
‘The thing was,’ I said, taking a deep breath, ‘that all of the problems I had to address had been pointed out by you.’
He looked at me and blinked.
‘And what I want to know,’ I said, my voice getting louder, ‘is why? Why did you put those doubts in everyone’s heads, when you knew how desperately I wanted the evening to be a success? You know how much I want the supper club to work and yet you went around disrupting it.’
There, I’d said it.
‘I’m sorry, what?’ Anthony asked, shaking his head.
‘I want to know why you tried to mess it up?’
‘Mess it up,’ he repeated, sounding perplexed. ‘Fliss, you told me the evening was supposed to be a fact-finding event, didn’t you? Or have I misremembered that?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘you’re right. I did say that. That was the point of having a trial run.’
‘Okay, so the focus of the evening was to iron out and address any problems before you invested any money, right?’
‘Right,’ I swallowed.
‘You put the event on, not only with the intention of showing everyone how great your idea could be and what a good cook you are, but also to find out if you had missed any issues in your planning that might later trip you up, yes?’
‘Yes,’ I squeaked.
‘You didn’t really want everyone to just tell you how clever you were and not look beyond the pretty flowers, delicious food and twinkly lights, did you?’
I mulled that over for a moment.
‘No,’ I then huskily answered. ‘Of course not.’
Anthony lifted his hands and let them drop in his lap.
‘And yet you’re accusing me of messing things up when all I really did was take an objective look at the situation and talk to your guests in the hope that you might take the opportunity to resolve any issues that those exchanges flagged up.’
I chewed my lip and looked out of the window. At the pub, Jim was watering the colourful flower baskets and Evelyn was putting out the chalkboard.
‘I thought I was being helpful,’ Anthony said, sounding hurt and I realised I could hardly blame him.
As far as highlighting any potential problems was concerned, he’d achieved that. I was the one actually at fault because I’d got caught up looking at everything through rose-tinted specs.
‘But what about what you said to Eliot?’ I pointed out, remembering that Anthony’s comments hadn’t been all business. ‘He said you warned him off me.’
‘I think warned him off is a bit strong,’ Anthony tutted. ‘I just let him know I’m looking out for you. I know you said that I’d got him all wrong, but watching the pair of you last night, showed me how he’s wormed his way into your affections and I’m sorry, but I still don’t trust him. I know that will make you angry, but it’s the truth.’
I hadn’t realised he’d been watching us.
‘And I suppose, although it pains me to admit it,’ Anthony carried on when I didn’t comment, ‘I was a bit jealous.’
‘Jealous?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I’d give anything for you to look at me the way you look at him.’
‘Oh.’
I hadn’t realised I did look at Eliot in a certain way. I hoped no one else had noticed whatever expression I had on my face when our eyes met.
‘But that,’ Anthony added, ‘had nothing to do with any of what I said to everyone else. I didn’t have some sort of ulterior motive, even though you’ve just suggested otherwise.’
Now it was his turn to stare out of the window.
‘Oh Anthony,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry.’
Even though we weren’t on the same page about the heroic carer, I did now feel bad for using him in my failed attempt to make Eliot think that I’d moved on. Not tha
t I was about to reveal that. Now I knew Anthony harboured genuinely romantic feelings for me, coming clean would only make him feel even worse, and me even more guilty.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ he shrugged, but his tone implied it did. ‘Your response to my kiss last night was a clear enough indication that you don’t feel the same way about me, and as far as the other stuff’s concerned, it was just my business head talking. I’m so driven, I do come across a bit strong because I don’t know how to switch off. I never should have said anything. I’m the one who’s sorry.’
‘No,’ I said, ‘you don’t have to apologise, I do. I’m pleased you said what you did. You made sure the evening fulfilled its purpose. I learnt loads and I have a much clearer understanding of how I can make it all happen now. I’m grateful to you, I really am.’
Although I still wasn’t grateful about what he’d said to Eliot of course.
‘Well, that’s good then,’ he sighed. ‘Even if you don’t fancy me.’
‘I’m sorry about that too.’ I further apologised.
I reached over to squeeze his hand and as he moved his fingers to grasp mine, the cuff of his shirt slipped back. Before I could take another breath, my mouth had gone dry, my heart had missed a beat and my shoulders were back up around my ears.
‘Where did you get that watch?’ I gasped, completely distracted from what I had planned to say next.
He, however, wasn’t at all perturbed by the sudden subject change. It was like he’d flicked some sort of internal switch.
‘Isn’t it a beauty?’ he commented, twisting his wrist so I could see it properly. ‘I found it yesterday in the jewellers in the courtyard. Second hand obviously, which isn’t something I usually go for, but it isn’t every day that you find one of these.’
‘No,’ I said, trying to lubricate my painfully dry throat by swallowing hard. ‘I don’t imagine it is.’
‘I paid a pretty penny for it, but it was worth it. To be honest, to begin with, I couldn’t believe that something like this would turn up in a town like Wynbridge. It’s vintage, rare and in immaculate condition. It was even boxed. Can you believe it?’
