Page 12 of All Wrapped Up
‘I’ve got three couples successfully together so far,’ Joanne carried on telling me while ignoring her boss, ‘and I’ve already decided that the happy ever afters are going to be my legacy to the town…’
Well, she certainly didn’t need to get any ideas about amusing herself in that department where I was concerned, unless she was in the market for further boredom and a dose of dis-appointment.
‘Never mind bugging Clemmie about all that,’ Lizzie said dismissively and Joanne walked away without taking my order. ‘What can we get you, Clemmie? And more to the point,pleasesay you’ve come to tell me you’ve had a change of heart about taking on the festival idea?’
The autumnal additions to the menu weren’t in place yet, so I ordered a coffee and toasted panini. I also told Lizzie that I hadn’t changed my mind about offering to be in charge of organising and running the festival, but conceded that I would volunteer a little time to help out if, by some miracle, the idea that Moses had was realised.
With my mental mood board from the day before still floating about in my mind, it was impossible not to offer to do something, even though I’d been telling myself that slow and steady was the safest way forward on the social front.
‘That’s very kind,’ Lizzie smiled sadly, ‘but actually, we had a quick meeting about it in the pub on Monday and no one stepped forward. I did mention what you’d said about not wanting a newcomer to take up the cause, but just as I suspected, no one objected to that or the fact that you’d never met Moses, either.’ I wasn’t sure how I felt about her specifically discussing me. ‘We truly don’t mind who takes it on, just so long as someone does. Or did. It really is too late now.’
‘In that case,’ I said, purposefully pushing away thoughts of pumpkin carving competitions, ‘fingers crossed for next year.’
It wasn’t too busy in the café and I was mostly left alone to enjoy the panini and coffee, take in my surroundings and wonder what the poor grieving pooch, Pixie, looked like. She truly had my every sympathy.
I hadn’t experienced a whole raft of lovely things as a result of my trip into town, but I’d met a few more people and felt both confident and relieved that Lizzie had kept her promise and hadn’t told Jemma or Joanne that I was the person behind AutumnEverything. That alone was enough to make up for the awkwardness I’d felt on my arrival.
‘So, what are your plans for the rest of the week?’ Jemma asked, when she came to clear my table.
‘Chicken research,’ I told her. ‘I’m thinking about having some, but I’m a total novice so I’m doing some studying first. I think it’s too late in the year to get organised enough to take some now, but I can start planning for the spring.’
‘You need to talk to Ash about all that,’ Joanne said eagerly, as she popped a takeaway cakebox featuring the café logo on the table and Ash neatly back into the conversation. ‘He knows his hens.’
‘I think I can find everything I need to know online,’ I told her as I pulled out my phone to pay. ‘But thanks.’
A couple of days later, as I was bent over by the garden gate and pulling up a few weeds I’d previously missed, a truck pulled up with its windows down.
‘Joanne mentioned that you were thinking about getting some hens,’ came a voice from inside, which I instantly recognised as belonging to Ash.
‘Did she?’ I huffed, as I straightened, pushed my glasses back up and the legs of my shorts down so I wasn’t exposing quite so much bare skin.
It was another hot day and it didn’t feel any closer to autumn even though September was now just a few days away.
‘Was she wrong?’ Ash asked, clearly having noticed my irritated response.
‘No, she was right,’ I confirmed, amending my annoyance, because it wasn’t his fault that she’d told him and he had then decided to call and bring it up. ‘But I’ve decided to wait to do anything about it until the spring now.’
‘Oh, that’s a shame.’
‘Why?’ I asked, shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun.
‘Because I was going to offer to get you set up. I’m helping rehome a flock of ex-battery girls next month and hoped you might be interested in taking a couple or even three.’
‘I have been wondering about the rehoming option,’ I pondered, thinking that for some reason he was easier to talk to when he was in shadow in the shade of his cab. ‘That said, I couldn’t cope with three eggs a day, so I’ll probably only go for two.’
‘Well,’ he said, ‘if you are interested in taking a pair on, let me know when you’re ready for them and I’ll give you some dates for future flock allocation.’
‘Thanks. I’d appreciate that.’
There was a sudden noise in the cab that didn’t come from Ash. It sounded like a canine sneeze.
‘That was Pixie,’ he said, with a nod to the passenger seat. ‘She’s supposed to be getting used to a harness, so I can transport her out of her crate, but she’s not keen on it. She’s not keen on anything at the moment.’
‘With good reason,’ I sighed.
‘With very good reason,’ Ash agreed.
I couldn’t resist opening the gate so I could stand on tiptoe and peek in through the window to look at her.
