Page 19 of The Second Chance Supper Club

‘Hi, Nikki. Have you heard from Dan and Andreas?’

‘Ah no, I’ve been out, doing my cleaning jobs and then it was straight into Hamish’s football practice. My feet have hardly touched the ground. Jeez, am I looking forward to tonight.’

‘Well, that’s just it. There isn’t going to be a tonight.’

‘Oh … ?’

‘It’s Maria, Andreas’s mum. She’s been rushed into hospital, bless her. The lads have followed her down.’

‘Oh, I see. Poor Maria, oh, and the boys will be so worried.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Ah, what a shame all round. Of course, I’m gutted for them.

I really hope she’ll be okay. But boy, was I ready for an evening off.

I’ve got Kev all lined up looking after the kids and everything.

He’s quite happy for a change, too, as there’s some big footie match on the telly, and he’s letting Hamish stay up with him, once the other two have gone to bed. ’

Cath was at a loose end herself. Hmm, and she did have the wonderful Greek feta bake all ready to go …

‘Well, I suppose I could do something here …’ The idea was forming as she said the words.

Just an easy supper. The feta dish, and then some kind of simple-to-make main.

She must have something she could concoct from the contents of her fridge and freezer.

A girlie night in, just her and Nikki, perhaps?

But then she thought of Will, all on his own up the street, missing out on his supper night too.

It didn’t seem fair. ‘You don’t happen to have Will’s number, do you?

I mean, it’ll just be something casual … ’

She didn’t give herself time to think about whether it was a good idea to have ‘Marti Pellow’ around, even after the way he’d looked in that Lycra. She just dived in, made the call, and that was that. Will said he’d ‘love to come along’, Nikki was delighted, and supper at Cath’s Round Two was on.

After launching in with her last-minute invite, Cath had only a couple of hours to get organised.

Not particularly wanting to get in the car for a trip to the shops – the village stores of course being closed – she rummaged in the freezer to see what foodie inspirations she might find.

A pack of minced beef, one chicken breast, some pitta breads.

There were plenty of veggies in the pantry, including potatoes, and a bag of salad leaves in the fridge.

Dried herbs and spices, lots of those to hand in the cupboard, and a clove of fresh garlic.

She had Reggie’s rosemary plant in the garden, too.

She suddenly felt like she was on that programme Ready, Steady, Cook , having been given several ingredients and left to her own devices to create a masterpiece in an hour.

It was all adding up to … ta-dah … koftas.

Spiced minced beef koftas with salad and grilled veggies all in a pitta wrap.

Wow, she’d even impressed herself. She could prepare the koftas this afternoon and griddle them later once the guests were here, served with a Mediterranean-style veggie oven bake on the side.

Hmm, the only other thing she might need was a dip.

Ah hah, there was her fresh mint recently planted, she could take a few sprigs off that, and she had natural yoghurt in the fridge that she liked to have with honey for breakfast. That was supper sorted, then!

Checking her phone app, she saw that the weather forecast was a bit mixed.

Once again, they were due sunshine and showers, and the temperature was relatively cool for June.

Would the shed work this time? It was indeed pretty up there and a unique space.

She’d worked so hard on revamping it, too.

Okay, a plan was forming: early evening drinks at the summerhouse, unless it was pouring it down as the duo arrived, and then she’d see how things went.

With it just being the three of them, her kitchen-diner would work fine to eat in, too.

She took another look at the gathering clouds and decided to prepare both areas, just in case.

She really hoped Andreas and Dan were getting on okay at the hospital, and sent a brief message wishing them and Maria well.

Saying she was thinking of them, and again, offering to help where she could.

In the midst of setting up the garden shed for drinks and nibbles, the phone in her pocket started vibrating.

‘Hiya, Mum.’

Ah, wow. ‘Hey, Adam. How are you, my love?’ Seeing her son again, even if it was via a WhatsApp video call from the other side of the world, never failed to make her heart swell.

‘Great, yeah, all cool here. I’m in Thailand, well, on the island of Koh Samui actually – really chilled vibe. Loving it.’

‘Oh, it sounds lovely. Beautiful beaches, I bet?’

‘Yeah, golden sands and warm blue sea. Island life is pretty cool. Hey, you’ll never guess what we saw on the golf course yesterday.

A massive lizard, I mean like mammoth. Some kind of minotaur – nah, not minotaur, though that thing was pretty scary too, a monitor lizard.

Shit, you wouldn’t wanna upset him. He was as big as a croc. Epic. I’ll send you a pic.’

‘Sounds frightening.’

‘He looked it, but I think they’re pretty chilled as long as you don’t go too near.’

‘Amazing.’ She was glad her son was making the most of his travels. Life was full of adventures, new places, people, cultures. Perhaps she ought to get her own travelling shoes back on soon.

‘Mu-um.’ Adam’s tone became more serious. ‘Is Dad okay? It’s just … he was on the phone last night, and well, he didn’t sound right. Bit low, I think.’

So, the rose-tinted glasses were getting steamed up, were they? It all added up with what Helen had been telling her.

‘Well, we don’t exactly have many cosy chats these days, Adam. The only conversations we’ve had lately are about financial or legal matters.’

‘Ah, yeah. I suppose …’

‘But from what I gather from Helen – you know, our old friends from down the road. She stayed over last weekend – from what I heard, I don’t think things are going so well with the new woman.’

‘Yeah, Steph. That makes sense then …’

Cath took a breath. He knew her evidently.

Had they all been out for a cosy meal at some point?

A getting-to-know-you-drink before he’d headed off on his travels?

Even though Adam was an adult himself, and she might have guessed that’d happen, the thought of the three of them palling up made her feel awfully raw.

‘He made his bed …’ With his bloody floozie , Cath didn’t add, trying hard not to draw her son into her negative emotions. He shouldn’t have to feel he needed to take sides.

‘Yep, I know how much he hurt you, Mum.’

‘Well, it’s all water under the bridge …

’ She was reverting to clichés, but Cath really didn’t want the conversation to turn dour, not when he was calling her from the other side of the world.

‘So where to next? Are you staying in Asia?’ She switched the subject.

‘Maybe another week or two tops … want to see Hong Kong.

And then, I have to confess the funds are running low, so it’ll soon be time to book a flight back to the UK.’ His voice dipped as though he was reluctant to return, to leave the adventures behind. The world of work and a sensible life loomed for him on an English horizon.

‘Oh well, it’ll be wonderful to see you again.’

‘Yeah, you too, Mum. Right, better go, Carl’s just got me a beer, and in this heat, it’ll be warm before I know it.’

‘Hah, get your priorities right, son.’ Cath laughed. ‘No worries, you enjoy it. Look forward to seeing you soon.’

‘You too. Love you, Mum.’

‘Love you. Cheers. Oh, and send me some pics. Including that minotaur.’

He gave a thumbs up along with a big grin, scanning his phone camera across the bay to show her the scene of the palmthatched-roof bar and a sun-glinting azure sea. A little piece of paradise. Then, he disappeared from the screen. Thousands of miles away, and yet always held close in her heart.