Her heart sank as she realised it wasn’t Kam. Of course it wasn’t. They had stopped texting after she hadnotgot the letter he had written. It was Polly who had been away for the weekend and clearly only just landed back at home.
Well, of course. That’s her job. Did you have a good time at the festival? Back to walking and talking yet?
Noooooooooo! And you’re meant to be here helping with the pasty and you’re not so she’s trying to get me out of bed and I feel like I haven’t slept for four days and my eyes are literally going to bleed out of my face if I don’t get some rest soon. Rescue me. Please. Best Sisterever.
Pippa jumped out of bed. There was no time to get sucked into maudlin self-pity for cocking up what could have been one of the best relationships in the history of forever. No time for running over to Newquay, because today was pasty competition day and the most important afternoon of her mum’s year. Every summer Jan was determined – desperate – to win, and like every year it was far more likely that Julie would carry the trophy home again. Her pasties were quite simply unbeatable. She had even won at the World Pasty Championship when it was held at the Eden Project, and if she could beat entrants from five continents it was highly probable she would beat Jan for the umpteenth year.
Several hours, an awful lot of flour, butter, beef skirt, and shooing Tatters away with a tea-towel led to Pippa and Jan standing in the church hall behind a table as the Feast committee were about to begin wandering from table to table tasting each entry. It was so hot and sticky today, she was beginning to worry that the pasties themselves were about to slide off the table and slink sink-wards for a glug of water.
In between waving at everyone already there and wondering how much longer this might take, she spotted Lottie racing through the door with a pasty in hand. Lottie? Baking? Whilst her flatmate could now stuff a stoat one handed (she had improved greatly in recent weeks), the thought of her turning her hand to baking was something that almost didn’t bear thinking about. Especially as Pippa knew for a fact that the hand wash in the kitchen had run out at some point last week and neither of them had got around to replacing it yet.
‘Am I too late to enter?’ Lottie gasped as she fell through the door, a wooden board in her hands with one of Pippa’s gingham tea-towels on top
There was a fair bit of tutting from some of the panel and the odd contestant, but Lynne’s Dave wasn’t having any of that.
‘You come share my table, maid. It’s a l’il bit of fun. I’m sure no one will mind you turning up a fraction late.’
‘Thanks, Dave. How are Lynne and the baby?’
‘Yup, both are good. The baby had just fallen asleep as I was leaving so Lynne decided she’d have a quick nap as well. Hopefully she’ll pop by later and you can say a quick hello to baby Egbert.’
‘Dave!’ Pippa reprimanded as she left her mum and came to help Lottie arrange space on Dave’s table. ‘You know Lynne’s going to be really cross if you tell people that the baby is called Egbert!’
Dave grinned quite unrepentantly. ‘And how do you know he’s not, huh?’
‘Cos I was around last week, and Dan nipped in to talk about the christening. At no point did either of them refer to Piran as anything else, and certainly not Egbert.’
‘Aye, but she may come around yet.’ Pippa couldn’t help but laugh at Dave’s conviction, as several members of the WI frowned at their rowdiness.
As expected, Julie won hands down, and then the event became more relaxed with everyone wandering around having a taste of all the different pasties on offer. Pippa felt a bit mean, but she wasn’t going to risk Lottie’s. She sat with her instead, and with Lynne who had just arrived, drinking tea in little cups and saucers the like of which were spotted in every church hall across the land, as Lottie and Lynne pestered her to know what her plans were for the long summer holidays.
‘So, this summer I’m going to… oh for goodness sake, I can’t keep it quiet any more. Lynne, Lottie already knows about this, but I slept with Kam at half term, and I know I shouldn’t have’ – Lynne’s mouth dropped open but she had the grace to stay silent and let Pippa continue to speak – ‘but I did, then afterwards I thought he had lost interest and I’ve had a bit of a shit last half of term. But it was all just a misunderstanding and pretty much all Sheila’s fault and now everything is a mess and I don’t know how to fix it. I need to spend my summer making it right and you have to help me! Argggghhh.’
‘What do you mean a misunderstanding? How could there be a misunderstanding? You came home on cloud nine, then he froze you out. That’s fairly simple. Nothing to misunderstand at all,’ Lottie stated, in that tone of someone who had heard it too many times.
Pippa told them all about the letter – her words falling over themselves – desperate to get the story out as quickly and as fairly as possible. Lynne and Lottie listened agog to all that Pippa had to tell.
‘This is better than Eastenders,’ Lynne, who had miraculously stayed silent during the whole retelling, finally commented.
‘This is my life.’ Pippa wasn’t sure she wanted her life to be more dramatic than a soap opera.
‘That poor boy, all term sitting there, having declared his love and waiting for an answer, any answer at all.’ Lynne made a aw-bless-him face.
‘That’s not really helping.’
‘Well, the solution is simple. It’s not rocket science. You just have to tell him,’ Lottie advised.
‘I know that, but how?’
‘You don’t normally need any help to talk,’ Lynne chimed in as she hoiked her top up and put Piran onto her breast to feed.
‘Cheers.’
‘Hey, hey. Look, Pips, that letter sounds pretty lush. You can’t change what’s passed but you can shape the future. You just have to find the courage, and bearing in mind how you dress’ – Lottie quickly nodded at her friend’s outfit, which was a definite nod to America’s mid-west today and matched the tea-towel Lottie had pinched – ‘courage is not something you’re short off. But just because you found out last night doesn’t mean you need to rush over and declare undying love today. He gave that letter some thought and it’s a real shame that you didn’t get it when he intended but, you know what, a couple of days now shouldn’t make too much difference. Let’s put our heads together and we’ll come up with a plan, a grand gesture, something that makes it clear how important he is to you.’
‘Do you think?’
‘I do. We’ll come up with something, promise.’
