Page 23 of Autumn at the Cornish Garden Café

‘What does he say instead?’ Henry asked.

‘Hitopotamoose and hephalant.’ Johan laughed.

‘Wow! Two new creatures right there.’ Rosa winked. ‘The tale of the hitopotamoose and the hephalant.’

Henry took a seat at the table next to Jasper. They shook hands and swished each other luck.

‘Three. Two. One. Go!’ Pearl clapped her hands and Henry took a deep breath then got to work. He’d thought about what he could do to the pumpkin, but in reality, it was much tougher than he’d imagined. Meanwhile, to his left, Jasper appeared to know what he was doing and to be doing it quickly. Nearby, Ellie and Jasper’s children cheered him on and a crowd gathered around them all. A bead of sweat ran down Henry’s forehead and he shook his head but couldn’t move it. Suddenly, a gentle hand pressed a tissue there and he looked up to find Rosa smiling down at him.

‘Thanks.’ He flashed her a smile.

‘No problem. You need to be able to see what you’re doing.’

‘And I couldn’t use these…’ He looked down at his sticky orange hands and grimaced.

As he worked, Pearl called out how long they had left and he tried to focus. The pumpkin evolved a shape as he tried to carve it to look the way it did in his mind.

‘Go on, Daddy, do that punkin right!’ Alfie shouted.

Henry looked over at Johan and saw that the boy was cheering him on, but in that moment he knew that even if his carving skills were better than Jasper’s, he couldn’t win this. Alfie needed his daddy to win, so that was what would happen. Losing didn’t have to be a bad thing at all and all children needed to learn that at some point. But he suspected Alfie was more emotionally invested in this than Johan anyway, and so he slowed down, held the pumpkin out to look at his handiwork, then tweaked it a bit.

‘And that’s it, guys! Time is up!’ Pearl said loudly and they downed tools and sat back to wait.

‘Wow! Love what you did there.’ Jasper admired Henry’s pumpkin.

‘Yeah but yours is outstanding,’ Henry said, filled with admiration.

‘If the judges can now score the work, please,’ Pearl said, and a few locals walked over to the table and assessed the pumpkins while Henry and Jasper went to wash their hands.

When they came back, Pearl was smiling at them.

‘So, as you know, the winner will get a voucher to bring their family to the café to eat a meal for free. The judges have decided unanimously that the winner is…’

‘Daddy!’ Alfie said and everyone laughed.

‘Yes, indeed. You’re right, Alfie. Your daddy is the winner.’

Alfie ran to Jasper, and he scooped him up and hugged him tight. Henry clapped his hands while trying to swallow the lump in his throat. Alfie’s delight at his daddy’s win was clear, and the love between them was very moving to see. Mabel also ran to Jasper, and he hugged her too, and then Ellie joined them. They were a beautiful little family unit, demonstrating once again, Henry thought, that family didn’t have to be all about blood but about love and compassion, kindness, and support. Ellie wasn’t the children’s biological mother, but she loved them nonetheless.

Henry had once felt pressure to start a family and that others had mapped out his life without his consent. It had made him think that having children wasn’t something he’d ever want or need. Seeing this display of love and solidarity though, now there was no pressure on him, he felt differently. Perhaps one day he would want a family, would want to have children and to be a dad. If he ever got the chance to do that, he would take the best of what his father had done for him and forget the worst, then be the dad he would want for himself and for his children. He would be like Jasper and do everything with his children at the forefront of his mind, be the very best dad he could be and make them proud of him.

He felt like he was being watched, so he turned and found Rosa gazing at him. Something in her eyes made his chest tight, and he struggled to suck in a breath. He saw her dilated pupils and slightly parted lips, realised she was experiencing something too. Had she understood what he was seeing? What he was feeling? What he was thinking? Was it possible that they had a connection strong enough to build into something more?

He was about to go over to her when he saw Vinnie come to her side and whisper something in her ear. Her expression changed, and she turned and crossed the gardens with him and the moment was gone. Johan came to Henry and told him he really liked the shape of a fish that he’d carved into the pumpkin but if he’d been a bit more skilled, he could have carved something like Jasper had done — a mini pumpkin inside the mouth of the bigger pumpkin. Henry simply nodded and agreed because he didn’t have the heart to tell Johan that he hadn’t carved a fish. It was, in fact, a cat — so it seemed his carving skills definitely weren’t up to scratch after all…

14

ROSA

Rosa hurried back to Christopher with Vinnie, and she crouched in front of him.

‘Are you OK?’ she asked.

Christopher had gone very pale and his lips were tight, as if he was in pain.

‘I am absolutely fine,’ he said. ‘Just a bit tired. I’ve had a lot of fresh air today.’

‘You have. Do you want us to take you home now?’ she asked.

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