Page 121 of The Little Teashop of Lost and Found
‘I expect we will,’ I said, but didn’t add that that might not necessarily be together …
He sighed heavily. ‘I’ve decided to drive back to London after lunch.’
‘But I thought you were staying till tomorrow,’ I said, and added, even though the news was a relief, ‘I mean, I’ve hardly seen you yet.’
‘Well, that wasn’t my fault, was it?’ he said, the nobility slipping and an aggrieved note shoving its way in. ‘Anyway, since I can see there’s no point in my hanging about now, I thought I might as well get back to Wimbledon.’
I didn’t try to dissuade him and we ended our tête-à-tête with a hug.
It was just unfortunate that Nile chose that moment to put his head into the library to tell us that lunch was ready.
Nile’s brooding thundercloud look lasted until Robbie told everyone that he was leaving after lunch, after which the sun came out.
Evidently it wasn’t news to Zelda, because she said, ‘Yes, and I’m going with him: he’s going to drop me off in Camden, which will be easier than my staying tonight and struggling with the Sunday trains. This whole journey’s been a pointless waste of time.’
‘Oh, I hope not, because we love seeing you, darling,’ Sheila told her kindly, even though I was sure she was as relieved as the rest of us to hear she was going. ‘And Robbie’s always welcome to visit us again, too.’
I think she meant it; but I’m certain the rest of us were hoping they never darkened the doors of Oldstone again.
‘Back to normal once more,’ Sheila said with a sigh of satisfaction as we finally waved Robbie’s hired car off.
We all agreed … though, actually, normal at the Giddingses’ isn’t the same as normal anywhere else, and Sheila had me, Bel and Nilesanding down the banisters on the small back staircase practically before the dust of the car had vanished down the drive.
Teddy, Geeta and the baby were out for the day, so there were only the four of us at dinner that night.
I think we were limp with relief after breasting all the crosscurrents, for we slipped back into discussing the waffle house plans and what I still needed to do during my mad dash to get the teashop ready to open on 4 November, as if the last couple of days and all the emotional upsets hadn’t happened. And The Fat Rascal opening was now not much more than a week away!
‘I’m going to invite some special guests for the opening tea, so leave the date free,’ I told Sheila. ‘I’m reserving the big table in the window for you and the family, because I really want you all to be there.’
‘Of course we’ll be there, darling,’ she said, ‘but I intended booking us in for it anyway. We’ll be your first paying customers.’
It took me a while to persuade her out of this resolution and then Nile asked me who the other special guests would be.
‘Well. . . Thom Carey, for one.’
‘Then I’d better sit with him, because there won’t be room at the big table for another person,’ Bel said quickly.
‘I’ll make a note of that when I do the seating plan. . . which reminds me that I’ve ordered some small reserved signs for the tables and they haven’t arrived yet, so I must chase them up.’
I got a sheet off Sheila’s shopping list pad and made a couple of notes.
‘I’ll invite Jack and his wife, and Ross too, if he’d like to come. And then I did wonder about asking Eleri and Henry Godet … but then, Henry might criticize my food, so perhaps not! I’m definitely inviting Henry’s cousin George, though he did say teashops weren’t his thing. And Emily Rhymer and her husband.’
‘What about the reporter who interviewed you this morning?’ Bel suggested.
So much had happened that it seemed like days since this morning!
‘Oh, yes – good idea! He might even write it up again, if he comes.’
‘I thought the teashop was nearly ready and just needed a few tweaks,but it sounds as if you’re going to be frantically busy right up until you open,’ Bel said.
‘I will,’ I said, ‘but at least now I don’t have to juggle it with trying to finish writing a book!’
Sheila spent next morning in her studio, while Bel and I cooked lunch for a change, with Nile as skivvy. I think we’d all had more than enough of emotional scenes and explanations for the moment, so it was nice to do something so ordinary.
When Thom arrived he brought yet more cake stands and we loaded them straight into Nile’s car, which was roomier than mine, so he could drop them off for me later. I now had almost enough … and Thom said he was getting to the point where he was having willow-pattern nightmares.
He was really nice and he and Bel seemed to hit it off so well. By the time I left, she was showing him the plans for the waffle house and then she was going to take him round the studios.
