Natalie Kleinman - Escape to the Cotswolds

Reluctantly she turned her back on it. A glance at the ticket had told her the price and there was no way she could justify spending that much money on something that wasn’t a necessity. Gordon wasn’t a fool. He summed up the situation without her uttering a word.

‘I could give you first refusal if anyone shows any interest.’

It sounded like Mrs Foster all over again.

‘I wish, and thank you but no.’

She moved from one beautiful piece of furniture to another, this being mainly what the back area was given over to. More than once she ran her hand over smooth wood, marvelling at how it could feel cool and warm at the same time.

‘You’re so lucky to work with such fabulous craftsmanship. How can you bear to part with any of it? I’d go under in no time because I’d never be able to let any of it go.’

‘So what do you do when someone wants to buy one of your paintings or any other piece of artwork that you’ve made with your own fair hands; put your heart and soul into?’

He had a point. He also had chairs! Exactly what she wanted, six of them and at a price that made her wince but which she could afford. She didn’t haggle but he still gave her a discount, insisting that he’d have done the same for any customer who tried to push the price down. It was how his business worked. People expected him to be beaten down and he built it into his asking price. He also promised to deliver them.

‘How about this evening, after I close?’

‘Thank you. That would be fantastic.’

Then she remembered that Emma and Tom and the boys were coming for supper, so of course she asked Gordon if he would like to come too and she was delighted when he said yes. The twinkle in his eyes that she’d seen at Kate and Charlie’s was back. Interesting.

As it was close on lunchtime and supper was going to be early Holly thought she’d better go home and start preparing, particularly as Gordon was coming as well. He was her first new grown-up visitor and she felt one should try to make a good impression. Who did she think she was kidding? Then she thought of Harry again and the bleakness returned as she remembered the dinner parties they’d had with friends, how proud he’d always seemed to be of her, how badly he’d let her down. She gave herself a mental shake. I’m moving on now. I’ll have my own dinner parties.

***

It was a fantastic evening! As Easter wasn’t too far away, Holly had cut some yellow cardboard into egg shapes and drawn a line just below the middle to represent a belt. Using different coloured card, buttons, and paints, she’d put everything on the newspaper-covered studio table, together with scissors, glue, and cotton wool.

Gordon was the first to arrive and together they unloaded the chairs and set them around the table. Holly was delighted with them and grabbed a couple of scatter cushions from the parlour to raise the seats for the twins. Being little herself she knew how uncomfortable it was if you couldn’t quite reach. They’d just finished organising the furniture when the Carters arrived.

‘Come on, this way, you’ll have to work for your dinner,’ Holly said, herding them into the studio. ‘We can’t eat without tablemats,’ she declared seriously, totally ignoring the fact that the table was already engraved with her childhood carvings. ‘As I haven’t got any, we’ll have to make them. We’ve got half an hour before dinner will be ready, so let’s get to it.’

After Holly tied an apron around the neck of each twin to save Emma washing their clothes …

‘No chance. If it’s not paint, it’ll be dinner.’

… they all spent a hilarious half an hour cutting and pasting and painting until each had a Humpty Dumpty, though no two were alike, and one definitely had a squint!

‘Okay, dinner’s ready. Sorry it’s paper plates and plastic cutlery. I haven’t got the real thing yet. I’m still waiting for Mummy to take me shopping.’

‘I’m ready whenever you are.’

‘After half-term then. It’s probably not a good idea to go while school’s out. Can you do a Sunday?’

‘Tom?’ Emma queried, looking across at her husband.

‘No problem.’

‘No problem, the man said. We’ll get it done.’

‘Wonderful. In the meantime let’s get this mess off the table and eat. Oh, and by the way, here are some I prepared earlier,’ Holly said, pulling out some tablemats she brought to the Cotswolds because Harry had never liked them.

‘But you said you didn’t have any.’

How do you tell a six-year-old that you lied, without saying that you lied?

‘I know, Jamie. But I knew the ones you made would still be wet, and in any case they are for you to take home.’

‘You told a fib!’

‘Er, well yes, I’m afraid I did.’

He looked thoughtful. Everyone else was thoroughly enjoying the exchange … everyone except Holly.

‘It’s naughty to tell fibs.’

This was getting worse!

‘Yes, but it’s okay,’ he said, brightening. ‘Mummy says it’s all right sometimes to tell a white lie if it’s for a surprise or something. Why is it called a white lie?’

Holly was rapidly getting out of her depth.

‘Do you know, I have absolutely no idea? I bet Mummy knows. Why don’t you ask her? I’ll go and get dinner.’

And she escaped to the kitchen, somewhere between panic and giggles. Dinner was really delicious! You can’t go wrong with meatballs in gravy, can you? And Holly was almost ashamed of the number of desserts she’d made, but she knew from staying with Emma and Tom that she wasn’t the only one with a sweet tooth.

It’s amazing how six people can all talk at once and still listen to everyone else’s conversation. It was noisy and hilarious but it seemed that everyone had a lovely time. Holly certainly did. Sure enough, somewhere around half past eight, Jake and Jamie became suddenly quiet and turned a bit pale and Emma started looking concerned.

‘I think it’s time we went home, don’t you, Tom?’

They spent a few minutes arguing over which Humpty belonged to whom and, when they were all happy that they’d got their own masterpiece, there were hugs and kisses all round and they left. All except Gordon. He insisted on staying to help clear up the mess, but instead they sat in the parlour and polished off the rest of the wine.

‘Thank goodness you brought the chairs. What I hope will eventually be my dining room is full of clutter and in any case I don’t have the furniture to go in there. It’s certainly not big enough to take the table I’ve got.’

‘Isn’t it? I don’t know the house at all. I never came when the Fosters lived here.’

‘Come on, then. I’ll show you. If you’re interested, that is.’

‘Of course I’m interested. Homes, well furnishing them, is a large part of my business.’

‘I wasn’t inviting you to buy anything. Just to have a look.’

They went straight across the hall from the parlour into the room that was destined to be the dining room. Though Holly had complained about Mrs Foster’s junk in the extension, this room was practically full to the ceiling with hers, most of it canvases and other art materials so not junk really.

‘Sorry about the mess.’

‘No worries. You’ve only just moved in. I can see what you mean, though. It’s a lovely room but a bit cosy.’

‘Are you always this polite?’

‘Okay, it’s small. But it’s big enough for a dining room. It’d be different if you wanted to put a three-piece suite in here.’

‘Do you want to see the rest or is that just a girly thing?’

‘It absolutely isn’t. I can be just as nosy as the next person.’

They went into the kitchen and Gordon said he liked the way they’d put the door on the side so it led straight into the studio. ‘Much nicer than knocking a hole in the parlour wall.’