Page 53 of Matilda’s Summer of New Beginnings

But that would be unfeasible and, despite how well I felt I fitted into the Padcock community, and how happy this place actually made me, I knew it wasn’t real life. It was just a holiday as I’d said.

For now, anyway, a little voice piped up, and I think that voice was actually my heart . . .

Chapter Nineteen

I had another lovely sleep in the Spatchcock. It was good to know that Jay was once again so very close to me should I need anything, but it didn’t really feel quite as special, because I knew we weren’t the only people inside that evening.

If I heard any tortured wails, it wasn’t going to be a transient spirit of a highwayman. It was more likely to be Elin screaming for a midnight snack.

But I could hold onto the feeling of us being alone last night in my mind, and I swear that helped me drift off to slumberland.

After breakfast, which was once again prepared by, and shared with, Jay — how utterly lovely — I took myself back to the tea room to see how Polly was doing.

She greeted me with a shy smile as she finished making a cappuccino for someone, and I slipped into a vacant table to wait.

She ducked down behind the counter once she was done serving them, and then came out from behind it clutching a carrier bag. She looked nervously at the customer, who was engrossed in a morning newspaper and not in the least concerned about what Polly had with her, then she opened the bag.

‘I’m really pleased you came over,’ she told me. ‘I got these yesterday and wanted to see if you thought they were suitable. You know . . .’ She cast a glance over to the cappuccino man. Then, satisfied that he wasn’t interested in the slightest, she pulled some fabric out of the bag. ‘For the show. If you think it’s not going to work, I’ll keep looking. First thing — jeans.’

‘Ooh,’ I said, because I’m always a sucker for pretty fabric, and this looked very pretty.

Polly had managed to source a pair of faded denim jeans with flowers embroidered from the hem upwards, to about knee height. They weren’t exactly flares, but they were certainly not the skinny jeans I’d seen her wearing either, and were quite spacious from the knee down.

‘Boot cut jeans,’ I said. ‘Nice one.’

‘And I found these tops as well.’ She brought out a floaty, burnt orange round-necked blouse, which just needed a good, deep V-neck creating, and a loosely crocheted poncho thing with big, loopy holes in the pattern, in a sort of rusty colour. ‘Any good?’

I put the two orangey-coloured pieces together and folded the neck of the blouse down into the shape I thought would work best.

I squinted, visualizing a row of buttons down the front, and nodded. ‘Yes. I think we can certainly do something with these. I mean, we’re just going for an interpretation of Stevie Nicks, so I think we can get our point across quite well. How much did it all cost you?’

‘Eleven pounds. The jeans were a fiver and the tops were three pounds each.’

‘Bargain.’ I smiled, approvingly. ‘I get loads of my stuff from the vintage shops and charity shops near me. I like to take the clothes apart and put them back together again differently, just to see what I can create. And I get curtains and bedding and things too. They’re great to cut up for patchwork, if I have any bits left after making what I want.’ Today I was wearing a full-skirted fifties style shirtwaister frock, white with blue yachts on it. It had started life as a duvet cover.

‘You’re so talented.’ Polly looked at me, impressed. ‘All that, and you paint too. And you can run a tea shop and work in a bar.’ She grinned, suddenly. ‘You’ve really got some useful life skills there.’

‘I suppose. I mean, I guess the bar stuff and tea room stuff are all experience, and I do make a mean cocktail. But I didn’t want to do that sort of work forever. Like you, it was to help me through uni, and then it became a way of life.’ I shrugged. ‘Not that I mind — if you can own a place like this, or a place like I work at in London, or get a job somewhere like the Hummingbird Bakery, where you’re surrounded by those delightful cakes all day — well. It’s a pretty nice job to have.’

‘And you can step into the breach in a village like Padcock and help Jay out and help me out. And we do appreciate it.’

‘You’re very welcome.’ I smiled at Polly. ‘You can do this, you know. You’ll manage.’

‘After yesterday, I think I might. You were great — so helpful. I realized I know more than I thought I did. I’ll probably be fine until September, I think. I can make quite a nice little pot of money by doing this full time for a few months — but come September, I don’t know what’ll happen. I couldn’t find a job advert on the computer.’

‘That’s not for you to stress about.’ I patted her hand. ‘Have you got any help lined up for now, to make things easier for you?’

‘My little sister, Sienna.’ She grinned. ‘She’s just done her A-levels, so she’ll be in here over the summer a bit, before she goes to Ibiza anyway. She’ll not like working for me.’

‘At least you have someone,’ I said. And was I jealous? Jealous that Sienna would be here, in Padcock, and I wouldn’t be? Maybe — but this was not the time to explore those feelings. Now was the time to ask Polly to model the clothes. I’d nip out to buy some safety pins (I was sure the corner shop would have some) and we’d get her outfit sorted as much as I could, even though I was miles away from my trusty sewing machine.

‘Okay, I’ll head off and get some bits and pieces from the corner shop,’ I told Polly. ‘Then I’ll come over to help you close up for the day, and we can try the outfit on.’

‘Thanks.’ Polly stuffed the clothes back in the bag, and stood up. She hugged the bag to her and looked a little excited. ‘You and Jay have both been so great about this, I do appreciate it.’

‘You’re welcome. I’m glad you got the clothes today though, because I’m heading back home this evening, and I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Quite possibly not until the Fayre.’ I forced a smile. The Fayre seemed a long way away. And the reality was I couldn’t keep travelling up and down between London and Padcock. I did have a job and commitments at home, and I knew that I had to head home and see Rosie tonight, if nothing else.

‘It must be really exciting. Living in London, I mean.’ Polly seemed so impressed. Oh that sweet, innocent child.