cold. Moving into the cottage just after Christmas, it was freezing! I’ve just about got the hang of it now. Candle ends are good.’
‘So, what’s your cottage like, Beth?’ asked Rachel, possibly wanting to direct the conversation away from her failures as a countrywoman.
‘It’s a bit soulless, to be honest,’ said Beth. ‘Very like a lot of holiday accommodation. But it’s free and I’m very grateful to have it to live in.’
‘What you really need is dry kindling,’ said Lindy, still thinking about Rachel’s need to learn about firelighting. ‘One day I’ll take you to my favourite kindling place with the boys. But I’ll try and drop some over to you before.’
‘We really ought to use every spare minute to do the hall,’ said Rachel. ‘I can’t worry about fires now. So don’t worry if you don’t have time.’
‘I’ll ring April,’ said Beth, ‘and tell you when she can meet us.’
‘You mean our Boracic Bride?’ Lindy couldn’t resist.
‘We must stop calling her that!’ said Beth.
‘Otherwise I’m bound to do it to her face.’
‘I wouldn’t want to take the boys to that meeting. Can we wait until the weekend?’ said Lindy. ‘And would we go to her or should she come to us?’
‘I think we should go to her,’ said Rachel. ‘Otherwise she might want to see the hall and then she’d take away her thirty pounds and have her wedding somewhere else.’
‘But is thirty quid worth worrying about?’ said Beth. ‘It’s such a tiny amount. I can’t believe we couldn’t get more for it, even as it is.’ She took an iPad out of her bag. ‘Excuse me. Do you mind if I do a bit of research?’
Lindy suddenly felt downhearted. ‘I’ve just had a thought. If we kill ourselves to get the hall into some sort of decent state we’ll only get thirty pounds for it. Wouldn’t it be better to turn down the wedding and give ourselves a proper length of time to do it?’
‘It would be letting your mum down, though,’ said Beth, still looking at her iPad. ‘It would be good to have a target. And I know it doesn’t sit well with Rachel, but it really doesn’t have to be perfect.’
She looked up from the screen. ‘It seems you can rent village halls very cheaply but we really must make sure ours is wonderful. Then that’s one less thing we have to worry about when Helena’s wedding comes around.’
‘And I bet ours has better architectural features. Painted, it could look gorgeous. Imagine it filled with flowers,’ said Rachel.
‘Garlands!’ said Lindy. ‘Bunting, of course, but it’s a bit – well – overdone these days, don’t you think?’
‘Garlands would be lovely for a wedding,’ said Beth. ‘I wonder if we could buy them cheaply?’
Lindy shook her head. ‘No. If we have garlands we make them. For nothing.’
‘We’re not all good with our hands,’ said Beth. ‘I’m good at computers and eBaying but otherwise I’m fairly useless. Although I did like art at school.’
‘Oh,’ said a voice from behind them. ‘That’s a shame. I was wondering if any of you wanted a job?’
‘Me, please,’ said Beth, putting up her hand the moment she saw it was Sukey, licensee of the Prince Albert, who had asked the question. ‘I can do bar work.’
‘Brilliant!’ said Sukey. ‘Milly is leaving and I know we’re going to be really busy. We’ve got several music nights coming up. When can you start?’
‘Whenever you want me!’ said Beth.
‘I was going to say yes, too,’ said Rachel. ‘But I do have a day job.’
‘I could keep you in reserve, if we get very busy. Have you got experience?’
‘A little bit. And I’m a very quick learner,’ said Rachel.
‘She’s an accountant,’ said Beth. ‘She can probably do the change thing.’
‘Well, I’ll keep you in mind if it looks like I need you. Being a single-handed licensee means things can get busy. So as long as you can wash glasses, you’ll be fine,’ said Sukey easily, heading
‘So, what’s your cottage like, Beth?’ asked Rachel, possibly wanting to direct the conversation away from her failures as a countrywoman.
‘It’s a bit soulless, to be honest,’ said Beth. ‘Very like a lot of holiday accommodation. But it’s free and I’m very grateful to have it to live in.’
‘What you really need is dry kindling,’ said Lindy, still thinking about Rachel’s need to learn about firelighting. ‘One day I’ll take you to my favourite kindling place with the boys. But I’ll try and drop some over to you before.’
‘We really ought to use every spare minute to do the hall,’ said Rachel. ‘I can’t worry about fires now. So don’t worry if you don’t have time.’
‘I’ll ring April,’ said Beth, ‘and tell you when she can meet us.’
‘You mean our Boracic Bride?’ Lindy couldn’t resist.
‘We must stop calling her that!’ said Beth.
‘Otherwise I’m bound to do it to her face.’
‘I wouldn’t want to take the boys to that meeting. Can we wait until the weekend?’ said Lindy. ‘And would we go to her or should she come to us?’
‘I think we should go to her,’ said Rachel. ‘Otherwise she might want to see the hall and then she’d take away her thirty pounds and have her wedding somewhere else.’
‘But is thirty quid worth worrying about?’ said Beth. ‘It’s such a tiny amount. I can’t believe we couldn’t get more for it, even as it is.’ She took an iPad out of her bag. ‘Excuse me. Do you mind if I do a bit of research?’
Lindy suddenly felt downhearted. ‘I’ve just had a thought. If we kill ourselves to get the hall into some sort of decent state we’ll only get thirty pounds for it. Wouldn’t it be better to turn down the wedding and give ourselves a proper length of time to do it?’
‘It would be letting your mum down, though,’ said Beth, still looking at her iPad. ‘It would be good to have a target. And I know it doesn’t sit well with Rachel, but it really doesn’t have to be perfect.’
She looked up from the screen. ‘It seems you can rent village halls very cheaply but we really must make sure ours is wonderful. Then that’s one less thing we have to worry about when Helena’s wedding comes around.’
‘And I bet ours has better architectural features. Painted, it could look gorgeous. Imagine it filled with flowers,’ said Rachel.
‘Garlands!’ said Lindy. ‘Bunting, of course, but it’s a bit – well – overdone these days, don’t you think?’
‘Garlands would be lovely for a wedding,’ said Beth. ‘I wonder if we could buy them cheaply?’
Lindy shook her head. ‘No. If we have garlands we make them. For nothing.’
‘We’re not all good with our hands,’ said Beth. ‘I’m good at computers and eBaying but otherwise I’m fairly useless. Although I did like art at school.’
‘Oh,’ said a voice from behind them. ‘That’s a shame. I was wondering if any of you wanted a job?’
‘Me, please,’ said Beth, putting up her hand the moment she saw it was Sukey, licensee of the Prince Albert, who had asked the question. ‘I can do bar work.’
‘Brilliant!’ said Sukey. ‘Milly is leaving and I know we’re going to be really busy. We’ve got several music nights coming up. When can you start?’
‘Whenever you want me!’ said Beth.
‘I was going to say yes, too,’ said Rachel. ‘But I do have a day job.’
‘I could keep you in reserve, if we get very busy. Have you got experience?’
‘A little bit. And I’m a very quick learner,’ said Rachel.
‘She’s an accountant,’ said Beth. ‘She can probably do the change thing.’
‘Well, I’ll keep you in mind if it looks like I need you. Being a single-handed licensee means things can get busy. So as long as you can wash glasses, you’ll be fine,’ said Sukey easily, heading
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