Page 73 of All Wrapped Up
‘Well, you needn’t sound so surprised!’
‘You say that, but I am surprised. Publicly organising the festival and now helping out in here today, has been a hugeleap from being home alone and focusing on nothing other than the cottage renovation for so long. I’ve really had fun, but I’m tired out from it all, too.’
‘Oh, my goodness,’ Lizzie responded with a gasp, ‘I didn’t even think of that. I’m so sorry, Clemmie. I really shouldn’t have asked you to help today, should I?’
‘No, honestly,’ I told her, wishing I hadn’t said anything because she looked so upset. ‘It’s fine. I’ve really loved it.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘One hundred per cent. It’s done me the world of good, but now I feel like I need a bit of a break.’
‘Okay,’ she said, letting out a relieved breath. ‘You did look as though you were enjoying yourself and I have to say, you took to the role like a duck to water. You knew just what the customers needed, especially with a nod to styling, but then I already knew you had a great eye for detail, didn’t I?’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I suppose you did and thank you for not letting anything slip when AutumnEverything unexpectedly came up in conversation.’
‘I promised you I wouldn’t and I still stand by that. Now, can I tempt you to tea and cake?’
‘That’s kind,’ I said, checking the time, ‘but I’m feeling zonked now and my parking ticket is about to run out, so I’d better head off.’
I was relieved I’d remembered to extend it earlier in the day.
‘You must let me pay for your parking,’ Lizzie insisted. ‘It’s the least I can do.’
‘Absolutely not,’ I said, holding up the pumpkins I’d decor-ated and which she had said I could keep. ‘You’ve already paid me in pumpkins.’
‘You better not post those on your Insta,’ she laughed, ‘otherwise you won’t have to worry about me outing you because you’ll have done it yourself.’
‘I’d already thought of that,’ I smiled back.
‘Right,’ she said, looking around again while I attached Pixie’s lead, ‘you head off. And thank you again, Clemmie. After all this today, I hope you’re going to assign your deputy to attend the library book club launch in your place tomorrow.’
‘No, I’ll be there,’ I told her. ‘I might not stay for the whole thing, but I’ll be popping in for Kay’s opening speech and I can’t rope Ash in anyway, because he’s in Bakewell visiting his family.’
‘Is he?’ Lizzie frowned. ‘I didn’t know that. I hope everything’s okay.’
‘He went yesterday and as far as I know, there’s nothing wrong.’
‘But that means you’re flying the festival flag solo again,’ she tutted.
‘I am,’ I smiled, ‘but for now I can manage.’
On the drive back into town for the first book club meeting the next morning, I took a detour to admire some of the fields of pumpkins which looked to me like they were swelling by the hour. As I pulled on to a concrete pad on the edge of one of the fields, I thought about what had recently happened to Jake and Amber at Skylark Farm and hoped the festival would turn their pumpkin disaster into a helpful windfall.
They had only been able to offer the festival a field for pumpkin picking because the buyer who should have taken their crop had a last-minute change of heart regarding howmany pumpkins they wanted. Not only had this left the farm with a whole field full of a crop that was no longer wanted, but it also left the couple out of pocket while they took legal action because the buyer was in breach of contract.
Hopefully, however, if all went well, and the newly created Skylark Farm Pumpkin Patch, which we’d discussed via a Zoom call when I was finalising the festival details, was a success, it might become an annual tradition with part of their crop being sold directly to the public on a pick your own basis, rather than to a third-party buyer.
I was fast learning that farming was a financially precarious business and I was also mindful that I needed to take care of my own financial future, too. As I had no intention of moving, I wouldn’t be making a penny out of the Rowan Cottage renovation.
Callum and I had had big plans to buy, renovate, sell and move quickly up the property ladder, and we had been well on our way, but I had no interest in pursuing that path on my own and even though I had no current financial concerns, I knew I didn’t have enough put by to live on forever. I would have to set my mind to properly planning my future now I was beginning to feel like I had a worthwhile one.
I took a few photos of the field, then set off to town with my new library card in my bag and wondering if the careers section had full shelves.
‘Hello, you,’ said Lizzie, who sidled up to me in the queue to take books out after Kay had told everyone what the plans for the autumn book club were. ‘I see you’ve got some of the same titles as I have.’
Kay and her staff had distributed the recommended autumnreading list and then arranged the meeting to discuss the first book. I had decided not to commit to reading a book in a fortnight, but opted instead to read some of the other titles I liked the sound of, at my own pace.
After a day of festival checking and organising, curled up with Pixie next to the fire with some cosy fiction felt like a wonderful way to spend autumn evenings as the nights started to draw in and it became too chilly to sit out. An accompanying milky drink, fleece blanket and soft lighting completed the image in my head and I couldn’t wait to make a start.
