‘She did?’ He wiped a hand along the thigh of his trousers, and Frankie noticed his leg was jigging up and down.
‘Alex?’
He swallowed hard. ‘Yes?’
‘Relax. I’m only teasing.’ She did smile now, placing a hand on his arm. Wow, he really was anxious about this date.
‘Oh.’ He flashed her a sheepish grin, looking boyish suddenly. ‘Sorry. It really has been a while.’
‘I’m sorry. I’ll stop messing with you now.’ She took a sip of her drink as she mulled over the situation. She’d expected to feel out of her depth during this date, but Alex’s outward edginess made her feel like she was, by comparison, in control of her emotions. She could do this. She could enjoy this date and see where it took them.
They were seated at a table by the window, overlooking the harbour, which was beautiful as the sky had started to turn inky, reflecting the little lights strung between the Victorian-style lampposts dotted along the harbour wall.
‘Have you eaten here before?’ Frankie asked as she opened her menu. It all sounded delicious, so she would have welcomed some recommendations.
But Alex shook his head. ‘I’m pretty new to the area. I moved up here for work about six months ago.’
Frankie closed her menu and placed it down on the table so she could rest a hand on her chest. ‘I’m quite new to the area too. It’s been around a year for me.’
‘Did you move for work too?’
Frankie shook her head. ‘I’d already gone freelance by then. I work from home now so no commute at all, unless you count bedroom to dining room.’
‘That sounds heavenly, though my commute isn’t bad; I only live behind All Saints’ church?’ His eyebrows raised in question, and Frankie nodded.
‘I know All Saints. My…’ She was about to say her kids went to the nursery across the road but stopped herself just in time. ‘…house is on the other side of the park.’ She picked up her menu and burrowed her face behind it to mask the flush her almost-blunder had caused. ‘Where is it you work?’
‘I’m the manager of The Royal.’
Frankie lowered her menu, her head tilting to one side. ‘Nice. It’s a gorgeous hotel. Not that I’ve been inside, but you can tell just by looking at it from the outside that it’s posh inside.’
‘What do you do in your dining room?’ Alex asked.
‘I’m a brand designer.’
‘Ah, a creative. I like it.’
Frankie gave a faux-modest shrug. ‘I try.’ She giggled. ‘Actually, I love my job.’
‘I’ll drink to that.’ Alex raised his glass, so Frankie did the same, allowing it to gently clink against Alex’s. ‘So, if work didn’t bring you to Clifton-on-Sea, what did?’
Frankie took a long sip of her drink, and when she placed her glass down on the table, she buried her nose in her menu again. Opening the Bradley can of worms was too deep for a first date. ‘It was my brother. Well, he moved here first, for work, funnily enough, and I fell in love with the place.’
‘How could you not?’
‘Exactly. I love the beach – when it isn’t cold enough to freeze you half to death – and I love how bustling it feels during the summer. I know a lot of people complain about tourists…’
‘Not me.’ Alex winked and raised his glass again, and Frankie laughed.
‘Obviously not you.’
‘How did you find being new to the area?’ The jitters from earlier seemed to have evaporated as Alex chatted easily to her. ‘Leaving everything behind and starting again?’
Frankie placed the menu down on the table and glanced up at the ceiling as she considered the question. ‘It was tough, but I needed the fresh start.’
Alex gave a slow nod. ‘Yeah, me too. I had a messy break up, so getting away was the right thing to do. We both needed a bit of space. Luckily the position at The Royal came up so I applied. Within a couple of weeks I was renting a new home and starting a new job.’ He shook his head. ‘It was a bit mad, but I think I’m starting to settle in now.’
‘Me too.’ It had taken a while; Frankie hadn’t really felt part of the community until she’d met Katie and George. Aside from Isaac, she hadn’t connected with anybody from Clifton-on-Sea, which was quite isolating. But she felt like this could be her home now. Somewhere she could be happy again.
‘Are you ready to order?’
Frankie jumped. She hadn’t even noticed the waiter approaching. ‘Oh. Um…’ She was already holding the menu, but her eyes roamed the array of dishes in a panic now.
‘Could we have a few more minutes?’ Alex asked. ‘It seems we’ve been a bit too busy chatting.’
The waiter started to back away. ‘No problem. I’ll pop back in a couple of minutes.’
‘Thank you.’ Alex picked up his menu, but they didn’t get the chance to order as Frankie’s phone started to ring from inside her handbag. She hadn’t switched it off in case the twins needed her.
‘I’m really sorry. I have to keep it on in case of emergencies.’ She reached under the table and fumbled in her bag for the phone. She frowned when she saw the name on the screen. Susan? Who was…? She gasped and accepted the call, pressing the phone to her ear. ‘Susan? Is everything okay?’
She’d programmed the phone number of her mum’s neighbour into her phone after Christina’s last fall, just in case. And it was a good job she had.
‘What is it? What’s happened?’ Alex asked as she scraped back her chair.
‘I’m really sorry, Alex, but I have to go.’ She dropped the phone into her handbag and hooked it over her shoulder. ‘It’s my mum. She’s been taken to hospital. I need to…’ She indicated the door with a flap of her hand.
‘Of course. Do you need me to do anything? Call you a taxi? Anything?’
‘That’s really sweet of you.’ She was already edging her way around the table. ‘But I’ll be fine. I really am sorry about this.’
And then she was gone, the door banging shut behind her as she burst from the restaurant. Her brother only lived a few streets away from the harbour, so she ran as fast as she could in her heels, praying the whole way that her mum was alright.
Chapter Twenty
George
It was half-term, so the picnic club had swelled in numbers, with Thomas, Finn, Skye and Lizzie joining in the festivities (Elliot had flat-out refused to partake and was instead hanging around the arcades and pier with his mates). Katie had also invited Jack and the little ones to become honorary members for the week, boosting their numbers to eleven. George didn’t mind having to make additional portions to accommodate; in fact, she’d revelled in the task and had given herself even more work to do by creating a theme for that week’s picnic. In honour of the little ones, she was hosting a teddy bear’s picnic, complete with teddy bear ears for all, which she’d created with plastic headbands and felt, which was probably going overboard a bit, but it filled George with joy. She’d really thrown herself into the theme, baking and icing batches of cupcakes and topping them with little teddy bears she’d cut out of sugar paste using a cookie cutter and piped on smiley faces, and she’d made simple goody bags for the kids by sticking teddy bear faces onto brown paper bags and filling them with treats.
She’d kept the rest of the food simple: sandwiches filled with ham, cheese, or strawberry jam, mini sausage rolls, slices of quiche, and cold tuna pasta. Frankie had offered to pop over to help her carry the food and drinks over to the park, and she was also supplying a second blanket to house the extra picnic participants.
‘How many people were you expecting?’ Frankie asked as she lugged two tote bags filled with food off the kitchen table. ‘It’s a good job Jack offered to help too – I don’t think the two of us could have managed it.’
‘It’s better to be prepared.’ George grabbed a couple of bags herself while Jack grabbed the heaviest of the bags, which contained several bottles of sugar free pop. ‘Shall we get going? I dread to think how Katie’s coping with all tho
se children single-handedly.’
While Frankie and Jack had offered to help transport the picnic, Katie had stayed behind at the park with the six children. Only Thomas had yet to join in the fun, so he was eager to get going too. He skipped ahead of the grown-ups as they lugged the picnic goodies the short distance to the park, and he upped his pace into a full-on sprint as soon as they reached the gates, ready to play with his new friends. It was the first time the children had met up to play en masse, but they seemed to have hit it off and had migrated to the playground, with Jack’s oldest daughter Ellie relishing her role as supervisor of the twins, while Leo and Thomas had formed a twosome and had set up camp on the climbing frame. Lizzie was gently pushing Vevie on the swing, who was giggling every time she reached the peak of her ascent.
‘How have they been?’ Frankie asked Katie as they started to set out the picnic on the outskirts of the children’s play area. ‘Not too chaotic, I hope?’
‘Surprisingly not.’ Katie shook out the first of the blankets and lay it down on the ground. The grass was soft, still slightly damp despite the dry, mild day ‘They tore off towards the playground and have been keeping each other occupied since. I’ve been reading my book.’ She nodded at the paperback resting on top of her bag, an old receipt poking from the pages as it acted as a bookmark.
‘They’re happy burning off some energy.’ George smiled as she watched her son charging across the climbing frame, whooping as he flung himself down the slide. ‘And hopefully building up an appetite.’ She shook out the second blanket and started to unpack the teddy bear’s picnic, placing a pair of felt ears on her head as she came across them.
‘Did you make these?’ Frankie picked up a headband and slipped it on. Katie did the same, and though Jack rolled his eyes, he did allow George to slide a pair onto his head.
‘It’s just a bit of felt.’ George shrugged, but she was secretly pleased at the admiration in Frankie’s tone.
Frankie reached up to touch the soft ears. ‘I couldn’t do it. I’m useless with a needle and thread.’
‘My granny taught me, which came in handy when I took over the haberdashery shop for a while.’
‘Is this the same granny who taught you to bake?’ Frankie gave a tut as she thumped her arms across her chest. ‘Why didn’t I get a granny like yours? The only thing my gran taught me was how to hide bottles of gin and to always have a pack of mints to hand.’
George felt a flush of pride. Granny P had been amazing and George had been extremely lucky to learn so much from her.
‘Oh my God, George, these are so cute.’ Katie pulled out the tin of teddy bear cupcakes. ‘Did you actually make these yourself too?’
The corners of George’s lips flickered into a smile, but she pushed them down again. ‘Now, they really were very easy. They’re just simple cupcakes with some ready-to-roll sugar paste.’
Katie laughed and shook her head. ‘I’d be tripped up by the “simple” cupcakes. I can ruin those packet mixes. You know the ones where you just add an egg? The ones the kids are supposed to help you with?’ She shook her head again. ‘I’m dangerous with a whisk.’
George smoothed the corner of the blanket. ‘They really were easy.’
‘Nope.’ Frankie shook her head. ‘You’re talented, lady. Don’t downplay it.’
Katie gasped. ‘Look at these too!’ She held up one of the teddy bear goody bags. ‘You should do this professionally.’
‘What?’ George laughed. ‘Picnics?’
‘Absolutely.’ Katie placed the goody bag down on the blanket. ‘You could cater for children’s parties. Or deliver picnics down on the beach. You’d be great at it.’
George could feel her cheeks starting to burn. ‘I did once dream of starting my own catering business.’ She busied herself with arranging the goody bags in the centre of the blanket so she didn’t have to look at the others. ‘But I’m not sure I could do it.’
‘Why not?’ Katie swept a hand over the blanket to indicate the picnic that was starting to build up in front of them. ‘Look at what you’ve created. You could totally start your own catering business.’
Frankie nodded. ‘You really could. I’ve never seen anybody put so much thought into a picnic before I met you, and your food is to die for.’
George felt a shiver of pleasure run up her spine at the compliments. But… ‘I couldn’t possibly start my own business.’
Frankie frowned. ‘Why not? You have the catering experience, don’t you?’
‘That was a long time ago…’
‘But you’re amazing, George,’ Katie said. ‘You clearly haven’t lost your touch.’
‘But I’ve never run a business of my own.’ George reached into one of the bags and started to arrange the sandwiches. ‘I wouldn’t know where to start.’
Katie helped out with the sandwiches, while Frankie and Jack organised the drinks and cups. ‘I can help with your accounts, help you get up and running.’
‘And I can help you with branding and promotion,’ Frankie said. ‘And I know it isn’t the same as a catering service, but I’m self-employed and handle the business side myself, so I can give you some tips.’
‘Me too.’ Katie wrinkled her nose. ‘Sort of. I let my parents’ old house out, so I have to do my own paperwork and stuff for that. And Jack!’ Katie pointed at her neighbour. ‘He runs his own business. You can offer advice too, can’t you?’
Jack nodded. ‘I’m in a totally different field to catering, but I’ll help out any way I can.’
Frankie placed an arm around George’s shoulders. ‘You should go for it, George. You’d be so good at it.’
Would she? George wasn’t sure about that, but her pulse had quickened at the prospect. Was this something she could do, with the help of her new friends? Was she even capable of doing something like this? She really wasn’t sure, but that didn’t stop the ideas popping into her head and exploding like fireworks as she imagined menus and themes and the happy faces her creations would generate.
It was a mild day – not exactly warm, but it wasn’t raining or finger-numbing cold – and the residents of Clifton-on-Sea were making the most of the fair weather. Families had flocked to the park, with children filling up the play area, swinging and climbing and chasing, their squeals and laughter filling the air with delight. Babies in prams were still tucked in with fleecy blankets and padded coats with fur-lined hoods were still in abundance but the promise of friendlier seasons made hunched shoulders relax and smiles more forthcoming. A group of pre-teens practised dance routines in the bandstand ahead, the tinny sounds of an Ariana Grande song filtering over from the mobile phone balancing on the wooden rail, while a high-spirited game of football was being played out on the field. Everybody seemed in good spirits apart from one child, who was being dragged away from the ice cream parlour, empty-handed and clearly displeased by this, their angry cries carrying over to the picnic area.
The kids were coaxed off the playground with the promise of cake and goody bags and there was just enough room to squeeze picnic and people on the blankets. George distributed the remaining teddy bear ears while Katie, Frankie and Jack filled paper plates with food.
‘This looks fun.’
George turned at the sound of a familiar voice, and she smiled when she saw one of her cleaning clients wandering along the path, a newspaper tucked under one arm and a paper bag with a nearby baker’s logo printed on its front.
‘You’re welcome to join us.’ George indicated the array of food. ‘There’s plenty to go round.’
Katie nudged Frankie and stage-whispered, ‘There’s plenty to go round the entire park.’ She grinned at George as she was rewarded with a mock-stern look.
‘I would but…’ Cecily held up the paper bag. ‘Thanks for the invite though.’ Holding up her free hand, she set off again, following the path towards the boating lake.
‘Wasn’t that Cecily Graham?’ Frankie asked once she was out of earshot.
‘Who?
’ Katie tore off the corner of a ham sandwich while Frankie gaped at her.
‘Cecily Graham? She was a mega-famous model in the Seventies?’ Frankie tutted when she was met by a shrug from Katie. ‘She does TV work now and has a skincare range out?’ Still nothing. ‘I heard she lived round here. I can’t believe you know her, George. Is she a friend?’
‘Not exactly. I clean her house three mornings a week.’
Frankie pressed her lips together and performed an excited jiggle on the spot. ‘I can’t believe you clean a supermodel’s house! What’s it like? Does she actually use her own skincare products?’
George laughed and shook her head. ‘There’s a thing called client confidentiality, you know.’ It was then, as it wobbled slightly with the head movement, that George realised she’d spoken to her ex-supermodel client while wearing a pair of teddy bear’s ears.
Oh well, it was all in the name of fun.
‘I almost forgot to ask how your date went,’ George said as a tennis ball flew past, followed almost immediately by the blur of a Jack Russell. The children had raced back to the playground once they’d eaten, and Leo and Thomas had convinced Jack to join their ‘club’ (the headquarters of which were set up in the sheltered area between the slide and fireman’s pole, apparently), leaving just the three women behind on the picnic blanket. George paused her clearing up and settled back down on the blanket to hear the juicy gossip.
‘It started well.’ Frankie stretched her legs out in front of her and leaned back on her elbows. ‘He seems like a really nice guy. Easygoing. Fun.’
‘Uh-oh.’ Katie caught George’s eye. ‘I sense a but coming along.’
Frankie gave a sad nod of her head. ‘But the date lasted twenty minutes, max.’
‘Twenty minutes?’ Katie’s brow furrowed. ‘What happened? Did he flirt with the waitress? Order your food for you?’
Frankie shook her head. ‘No, nothing like that. Alex was great.’
George touched Frankie’s hand gently. ‘Then what was it?’
The corners of Frankie’s mouth turned down. ‘It was my mum. She slipped getting out of the bath. Banged her head quite hard.’
The Single Mums' Picnic Club Page 14
