Page 37 of The Second Chance Supper Club

The sun was shining – yippee! – as Will pulled the car into the parking area behind the sand dunes.

It was Sunday, and he’d offered to take Cath, Nikki and Lily along to the beach, to save them all separately driving the twenty minutes to the coast. He was a steady driver, experienced, and Cath had felt in safe hands in the front passenger seat cruising along the winding country lanes.

Andreas, Dan and terrier Shirley were making their way in their own vehicle – which was apparently ‘loaded to the gills’ with food, drink and beach entertainment (whatever that meant? !).

Oh, crikey, she’d hoped a dip in the sea was not on the cards. As a precaution, no swimwear had been packed in her bag of beach goodies. The most she was prepared to reveal, or get cold or wet, was her ankles. This was the North Sea not the Mediterranean, after all.

By the time they arrived, the car was smelling delicious with Cath’s still-warm homemade sausage rolls (baked using fragrant sage from Reggie’s bush) and Lily’s freshly baked croissants on board.

Though the lads had said they were happy to provide the whole picnic for everyone, the others wanted to help out too, bringing various snacks and drinks between them.

A ‘Blooming-Marvellous Bamburgh Beach Picnic’ was the theme for today, with a non-alcoholic drinks menu in support of the drivers and a clear head.

The four of them, piled up with picnic fare, trailed their way down to the beach along a narrow track through the marram grass.

Seeing them snake their way in front of her towards the sands made Cath smile; they looked kind of like a family.

Lily could be her daughter, Nikki her sister, and Will …

ooh, she stopped in her tracks, both physically and mentally.

She needed to stop this train of thought right here.

But her mind kept on going … What if someone like Will had been her husband, what if she and Trevor had never happened?

Would she have got to the same impasse with someone else, the same mid-life crossroads, her husband having a fuck-you-after-thirty-years-fling, a relationship breakdown, and a crushing sense of failure?

Or, might she have had a son and perhaps a daughter too with someone else, who knew …

Okay, stop it, stop it right now. Her sensible head took over.

She certainly didn’t need to be thinking about any of that.

Those crazy little echoes of questions wriggling back from the past. She had her wonderful son, Adam, even if he was noisy and messy – but that was pretty much the norm for his age.

And she had been happy with Trevor, for many years at least. The past was what it was.

It was the future she needed to focus on. The here and the now.

And right now, with the sun warm on her back, the beach and some picnic fun with her friends were calling her. She caught up with the others on the sands, as they glanced about looking to find Andreas and Dan. It didn’t take long.

‘There they are!’ Lily pointed to their left, at a sheltered spot tucked next to the dunes just before the rock pools started. The pair of them were standing out in their brightly coloured clothes.

‘Over here,’ Dan shouted, delighted to see the rest of the gang, the lads’ sense of fun and joie de vivre so apparent. Shirley was excited and barking, spotting the group approach. The terrier then started digging, pushing up a shower of sand on the just-laid picnic rug.

‘For goodness’ sake, Shirley. You can stop that right now, madam, or you’ll be kept on your lead.’

The dog gave a haughty look but packed it in, hedging her bets on having a good time free roaming with lots of stray snacks from the group.

‘Well, we wouldn’t have missed seeing you two,’ Nikki giggled, as they arrived at the picnic spot. ‘Dan, you look like a stripy stick of pink rock, and Andreas, your T-shirt pretty much matches the bright blue-and-white windbreak.’ ‘Hey, cheeky. We’ve dressed for the occasion, haven’t we, Dan?’

‘We have indeed, even Shirley is sporting her spotted neckerchief. Coastal chic, this is. Very à la mode, isn’t it, petal?’ Dan looked to Cath, with a wink, for approval.

‘I love it!’ she agreed.

They were soon tucking in to freshly squeezed orange juice and delicious Greek-style honey cake – care of Andreas – and flakily melting mini croissants and pains au chocolat, served with little cups of strong coffee, thanks to Lily.

‘Brunch on the beach,’ announced Will. ‘This is great, thank you. I feel my offerings are a little under par,’ he apologised.

‘Hey, we are all at different stages of our culinary careers,’ said Andreas. ‘Everyone is welcome, old hands, aspiring chefs or beginners. And don’t worry, we’ll bring you on in time, it’s all in the grand Supper Club plan.’

‘It is?’ Will looked up anxiously.

Cath had no idea what Andreas was referring to. There was no plan.

‘Well, it’s been Cath, then Nikki, and it’s our turn now. Other than Lily doing a Bake Off special, which could be delightful, I think that means it’s your turn next.’

‘Oh …’ Will had paled.

‘Never fear, we can help,’ added Dan.

‘Or, there’s always good old M&S or a takeaway.’ Will was clutching at straws.

‘Give him a break, lads,’ Nikki interjected. ‘We can help, of course we can. And no one needs to feel pressured here. Fish and chips from the van at Kirkton will do me fine … with a glass of Prosecco. Perfect.’

‘Fish, chips and fizz sounds pretty good to me, too,’ added Cath with a smile.

‘Phew.’ Will visibly relaxed.

‘We can’t let him off the hook that easily,’ said Andreas, still grinning. ‘Hook … fish and chips …’

The group groaned in unison.

‘Talking of fizz, anyone for a No-secco at this point?’ offered Nikki.

‘Or, I’ve got some elderflower no-gin cocktails, I can make up too,’ offered Cath. It was actually nice to have an alcohol-free occasion. With all the stress of these past months, she wondered if she’d been using the wine a little too much as a crutch, lately.

‘Ooh, spoilt for choice.’

‘Elderflower for me.’

‘And I’ll try a No-secco.’

The group relaxed with their fizz in the sunshine, chatting away and enjoying the day.

A short stroll along the sands towards the imposingly stunning stone castle preceded lunch, which was a fab foray of picnic treats.

Dan and Andreas did themselves proud with smoked salmon or local ham sandwiches, Greek-style feta and spinach parcels, olives, nuts and nibbles, including freshly baked cheese straws, and for later, there was still plenty of Andreas’s honey cake.

The savoury snacks, accompanied by Cath’s delicious herby sage-and-onion sausage rolls, went down a treat.

And the grand finale was Will’s strawberries and raspberries served with Lily’s scrumptiously light and creamy chocolate-topped profiteroles.

Tummies were contentedly full. Even Shirley’s, who’d had ham sandwich crusts and a sausage roll or two tossed her way.

Her behaviour was now impeccable, except for the odd bark aimed at any canine interloper who dared get near her picnic-munching human pack.

After all that food, the group had to have a brief lie-down behind the windbreak. Cath lay enjoying the sun and the feel of the gentle wind on her face. Will lay just a hand-stretch away. Hmmm. I feel it in my fingers … began strumming away in her mind. Giving her a secret inner smile.

All too soon, however, there was a call to action.

‘Right, enough of the lazing about. It’s rounders time,’ announced Dan.

‘Really?’ Nikki’s mouth dropped open. ‘I dash around all the bloody time. This is bliss. I could lie here all afternoon.’

‘Well, I’m up for a game.’ Lily was up on her feet, with a smattering of sand hitting those still prone. A groan or two came in response.

‘Okay, me too.’ Sporty Will jumped up and was ready to play.

‘Can I be umpire?’ Nikki asked, apparently in a bid to maintain her current position.

‘We don’t need an umpire. We need a team. Three on each side, I’ll toss a coin,’ Andreas announced.

So that was it, Cath scrambled to her feet too, and a pitch was marked out with a stick-line in the sand and a couple of pullovers as base-stumps.

A bat and tennis ball appeared out of one of Dan’s bags.

Teams were allocated – Cath, Will and Dan versus Andreas, Nikki and Lily – and the game commenced, with Cath in as first batsman.

She was relieved to at least hit the ball with a satisfying thwack , and dashed to first base with a grin.

It was all a bit of fun in the sun. But it got more competitive when each team (Dan’s Devils versus Andreas’s Angels) had won one game, and they went for a third to decide the overall winner.

The bowling by Dan upped the ante, with the ball now moving at the speed of light – well, bruise-worthy, put it that way.

At one point, Shirley stole the ball and made off with it, which Will declared an unfair advantage.

And they couldn’t help but laugh as Nikki ended up in a heap in the sand trying to get to third base, before the airborne ball hit the fleece-top marker.

It was then that Andreas’s mobile rang. His smile dropped immediately as he answered.

Cath couldn’t help but overhear. ‘Oh, oh, I see … How is she? Where are they sending her?’

It didn’t sound good.

‘Is it your mum?’ Dan asked, concerned.

Andreas nodded seriously as he listened for a few seconds more. ‘Okay, thank you for letting me know. I’ll get there as soon as I can.’

The group were quiet as he closed the call. ‘I’m sorry, we’ve got to go. Right now. It’s Mama …’

‘What’s happened, love?’ Dan spoke gently.

‘She’s had a fall …’ Andreas bit his lip, and gave a sad shake of his head. ‘That was the care home. She’s not so good. They think she might have broken her arm … and it’s all been a big shock for her, of course.’

‘Oh, Andreas. Bless her,’ said Cath.

‘Poor Maria,’ Nikki said.

‘Where are they taking her? Have they got an ambulance?’ Dan asked.

‘Yes, she’s on her way to A&E at Cramlington, right now.

We need to go.’

‘Of course.’ His partner was already gathering up their essentials.

‘It’s okay, we’ll sort out everything here.’ Cath stepped in. ‘Yes, that’s no problem,’ Lily said.

‘Is there anything you need us to do? Anything we can help with?’ Will offered, empathy filling his voice.

‘Shall I take Shirley home with me? In case you’re a while at the hospital?’ Cath suggested. ‘It’s no problem.’

‘Oh, would you really … ? I don’t know how long we might be. That would be such a help.’ Andreas was grateful.

‘So, there’s a key under the big stone by the back step. Dog food’s in the kitchen cupboard,’ Dan swiftly explained.

‘Great. I’ll sort it.’

‘Go on then … get yourselves away. Do what you need,’ Nikki encouraged.

‘And let us know if there’s anything else we can do to help later,’ Will added.

‘Thank you so much,’ said Dan.

And off they set, looking a little dazed. Concern for Andreas’s elderly mother clouding his previously happy face. Blimey, you never knew what was next on the horizon. One minute enjoying a sunny fun-filled day, the other in a hospital dash.

‘Shall we pack up now, too?’ Cath suggested. It somehow seemed wrong to stay there, eating and sunbathing, the magic of the day having been broken by the sad news.

‘Yes, that sounds a good idea,’ Will agreed.

‘It’s been a lovely day though up to now,’ Lily said.

‘Yeah, it really has.’

‘Fingers crossed she’ll be okay,’ Nikki said.

‘Yeah, bless her. What a worry for the lads,’ added Will. ‘Come on then, Shirley. Let’s get this show back on the road to Tilldale.’

They gathered up bags and Tupperware boxes, bottles and cans, the rounders set, folded rugs back into squares, and pulled out the windbreaks, rolling them tight. Will’s car was going to be loaded to the gills.

Shirley looked up at them packing up and gave a small whine, as though she understood something was up with her owners now gone. ‘Here, you can carry the ball back.’ Cath offered the terrier the green tennis ball, which the dog took and held proudly in her mouth.

Loaded like sherpas, and rather sweaty by the time they reached Will’s hatchback in the car park, they opened the doors wide with a blast of stuffy heat, and then began to pile it high.

Shirley sat in the front footwell for the way back, curling up in a slightly damp, sandy, and warm white-grey ball at Cath’s sandalled feet.

Cath patted her head now and again comfortingly, as much for her as the dog.

She couldn’t help but worry for the elderly lady and the lads.

It was such a shame for them all. It had been so very close to being the perfect day there on the beach, filled with friendship and summer-picnic fun.

Why did things always have to go wrong? Cath mused with a touch of melancholy.

But that was just life , another voice in her head piped up, you never know when the peaks and troughs are going to fall .

Which was probably as well. But it was your friends who buoyed you back up.

They needed to be there ready to support Andreas and Dan in their time of trouble. And they would be.