Page 51 of The Second Chance Supper Club

Cath chatted with the lads, asking after Maria, who Andreas was concerned about again, saying she didn’t seem quite herself. Though her wrist was healing as well as could be expected, she’d mentioned having dizzy spells.

‘Oh, that’s such a worry for you, Andreas. I really did enjoy my visit with her, when you were away. She had so many wonderful stories to tell.’

‘I bet she was full of London life in the Swinging Sixties, was she?’

‘Yes, and it sounded so interesting … oh, and I heard about how you were a plump little angel.’ Cath grinned cheekily.

‘Oh no, not the tales of my puppy fat again?’

They both snorted with laughter.

Cath snuck away, busying herself helping Lily in the kitchen.

She knew she couldn’t avoid the group for long though, as a rather anxious Lily was ready to serve her delicious savoury pastry nibbles.

There were mini cheese and nduja sausage whirls, and Northumberland Nettle Cheese straws.

Now outside in the garden – avoiding the far too cosy constraints of the summerhouse shed for the moment – with a glass of fizz to hand, Cath made sure to stick near Nikki, to avoid being stranded beside Will, who seemed as keen to keep his distance too.

Food and friendship filled the balmy summer air, along with some fun, with the lads telling tales from the Greek Cypriot wedding and their trip to London, but Cath couldn’t help but feel the tension between her and Will all the while.

This was harder than she’d imagined. There was a huge and uncomfortable divide between them.

She just hoped the others didn’t see it.

An hour into the evening, and Nikki went looking for Cath, catching up on the landing outside the cottage’s bathroom.

‘Hey, Cath, what’s up between you and Will? You’ve hardly shared a word all night. And there’s some really odd looks going on? Talk about frosty, it’s like bloody icicles between you.’

‘Ah, don’t worry. It’s nothing, honestly …’ Cath said, unable to stop the heat rising in her cheeks.

‘Which tells me it really is something,’ was her friend’s response.

Damn, Nikki wasn’t going to be fobbed off that easily.

‘It’s a bit complicated, but we’re fine, honestly.

’ She did not want to be talking about this now.

And, she realised, if anyone needed to know their youthful story, and her side of things, then firstly it was Will.

Then perhaps this horrid stand-off might get resolved.

‘He’s not still holding a grudge about that bloody car park thing, is he?’ Nikki hazarded a guess. ‘But you two seemed to have sorted that a while back.’

‘Hah, no, that was ages ago.’ Cath wished it were something that simple. Mind you, it might be a good hook to rest this on. ‘Well, at least I had thought so. But hey, who knows …’ She tried to sound light-hearted.

‘And nothing’s happened between you? Ooh, you haven’t gone and told him you fancy him or something?’

She flushed bright pink. ‘Of course not, Miss Bloody Marple. Enough said, okay.’

‘All right, all right. Keep your hair on.’

‘Anyway, please, just leave it … He might just be feeling a bit off or something.’

‘Sure.’ Nikki pulled a ‘been told-off’ kind of face, as she disappeared into the loo.

Lily walked carefully up the garden steps and into the fairy-lit shed, where the five other supper club members were waiting in mouth-watering anticipation. She came bearing the first of her Puddings and Patisserie platters.

‘Firstly, we have a selection of pastries – there are peaches-and-cream horns, passionfruit-and-lime choux parcels, and summer berry tartlets. I’ve made them all bite-sized, so you can test lots of different things throughout the evening.

’ Lily sounded proud and nervous, all at once.

‘And I want your honest opinion on which ones you think work the best and are the tastiest. You’re the judges, and I’m going to use your favourite trio to replicate in my A Level practical. ’

‘Oh, the pressure’s on, folks,’ said Dan.

The food looked delicious and the presentation was beautiful too; the platter of precisely placed patisserie was scattered delicately with tiny edible viola flowers, and lightly sprinkled over the profiteroles were tiny flakes of gold.

‘Wow, Lily, these look so professional.’ Cath beamed supportively with genuine delight.

‘Oh, MasterChef , here we come,’ added Dan.

‘No, it has to be Bake Off. You can be Prue, Dan. I’ll be Paul. Honestly, you’d blast them out of the park with these, Lily,’ responded Andreas.

‘No soggy bottoms around here, obviously,’ Dan came back with a grin.

‘They look amazing, Lily. Well done, you.’ Will at last was smiling.

Thank heavens for that, Cath mused, a chink in his newfound solid-steel armour had finally been discovered.

‘Well, enough of the looking, can we dive in yet, Lils?’ Nikki was eager to taste. ‘Plates and forks at the ready!’

Lily had made sure there was one of everything for all of them.

Cath placed the choux bun to her lips firstly, tasting the meltingly zingy fruit cream and delicious puff of light pastry. ‘Yum, this is soo good.’

Will had a fruit tartlet to hand. ‘Ooh, fresh strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrant, and then … mmm, that delicate creamy middle. What’s on the base, some kind of custard?’

‘Crème anglaise to be precise,’ answered Lily. ‘But yeah, it’s a French-style custard.’

‘Well, I think this has won me over already,’ said Will.

Cath wished she had a chance left to win him over too, but sadly she felt all her chances were now gone.

‘Don’t jump in too soon,’ warned Andreas. ‘This peach horn is a dream. And, we have a whole evening of goodies to get through.’

‘Oh yes, I’m going to start making notes on my phone,’ said Dan, ‘lest I forget.’

After the delectable pastries came mini cheesecakes …

served with another glass of fizz. Then just as Lily headed back down the garden to plate up her last ‘smorgasbord’ of puddings, as Dan described them, darn it, the plinky sound of raindrops started, which soon turned into a drumming on the shed roof.

‘Oh, we might well be stranded up here,’ observed Dan wryly.

‘No worries, there are worse places to be, we have a full bottle of fizz in the ice bucket,’ responded Nikki. ‘And I don’t know about you, but my tummy needs a little break. I think I’m nearly pudding’d out.’

‘Ooh, they’ve been bloody lovely though, haven’t they?’ sighed a contented Andreas.

‘Absolutely,’ agreed a proud Nikki.

‘Your niece is super talented,’ added Will.

‘Yep, the hard bit will be choosing a favourite,’ Dan said. ‘Okay, so why don’t we each jot down our best three.

I could get a notepad,’ suggested Cath, then looking out at the inky-clouds and pelting rain added, ‘Or even better, let’s send them on the WhatsApp group. And then Lily can look at them in her own time, and see if any firm favourites stand out.’

‘Oh, I’d love to know the overall winner, though.’ Andreas was childlike in his eager tone.

‘Well, I’m sure we can suss that out ourselves by the end of the evening,’ Dan answered. ‘Just do the maths. There’s only five of us, after all.’

‘Okay … smarty pants.’

‘Fizz anyone? Looks like we might be stranded up here for a while …’ Cath intervened. They were used to the lads’ jokey sparring by now. No harm was ever meant by it.

As the rain started to blow inside, they part-closed the doors and shifted their seats a little further back into the shed.

Though it was rather snug in there, it also now felt a tad chilly.

Luckily (well, strategically), Cath had positioned herself two seats away from Will, so they weren’t sitting side by side.

There had still been no real conversation directly between the two of them.

Cath hoped that other than eagle-eyed Nikki, the others hadn’t twigged.

The last thing she wanted was to spoil the evening for them.

‘I’ll go and see if I can help Lily.’ Will got to his feet, slipping out of the small space and into the rain.

‘Oh, you’ll get soaked!’ shouted Dan.

‘No worries, I get soaked on my bike all the time …’ And he was off.

A short while later, the two of them came up the garden path, the rain still pouring.

Will was being gentlemanly, holding one of Cath’s umbrellas – sourced from the coat stand by the front door – over both Lily and yet another tray of her delicious-looking desserts.

Lily stepped inside the shed, mostly dry, and the puds still perfect, whilst Will shook the wet brolly off outside.

His clothes were pretty much drenched, but he didn’t make a fuss.

‘Ah, you’re soaking, mate, come on in and dry out next to us.’ Dan patted the empty seat.

‘It’s fine, it’s nothing worse than I get out on the bike at times.’

‘Yes, but you’re usually in Lycra. Quick drying, and tight.’ Andreas quirked an eyebrow cheekily.

Will shook his head at that, but had to smile. ‘True, but I’ll be fine. And most importantly the puddings are saved.’

The group gave a rowdy ‘hurrah’.

‘Well then, you’ll be the only thing with a soggy bottom,’ quipped Dan.

They all had to chuckle.

The latest display of desserts were all in little pots. ‘These are dark chocolate and chilli mousse, and these are lemon possets,’ Lily announced. ‘And that’s it, that’s your lot.’

‘Oh, thank heavens for that,’ said Dan. ‘I mean they’re all downright delicious, but I don’t think my tummy could take any more.’

Andreas gave Dan’s slight paunch a little pat. ‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that.’

And laughter filled the little hut once again.

The evening rolled on, and so did the thunder, which added some drama to the proceedings. There was no point in going anywhere, so they stayed right there, enjoying the last of the puds and the bubbles, and apart from Will and Cath’s frostiness, the company.

The overall dessert winner was voted to be the passionfruit profiteroles – ‘A mouthful of bliss’ – closely followed by the lemon posset – ‘Creamy, zesty and totally delicious’.

For third place, Lily was going to have to re-check the top three and tally them up to see if there was a runner-up, as everyone seemed to have their own special favourites.

A short while afterwards, as the weather began to ease, Will stood up to go.

It was only just past nine-thirty. ‘Sorry folks, got a big cycle ride tomorrow. Need to get my kip in, and I’ve probably had far too much of this stuff already.

’ He pointed to his now empty fizz flute.

‘It’s been great though. Thanks so much, Lily, Nikki … Cath.’

He aimed a polite nod at Cath, who stood up as the hostess, ready to show him out.

‘Ah, no need to see me out. You stay up here and enjoy yourselves.’

It would save an awkward goodbye, at least. Will then gave a polite, ‘Thank you’ to Cath as he passed.

But it felt to Cath like he’d turned back into Mr Grumpy all over again.

But hey, in the circumstances, she couldn’t really blame him, could she.

The others stayed, chatting, and enjoying the rest of the soiree.

Despite the rain, and huddling in the shed, it had turned out to be a lovely evening of friendship, food and fizz.

Cath hadn’t been able to relax as much as usual, of course, what with the stand-off with Will.

It really had taken the shine off her evening, which was such a shame.

Would other supper clubs in the future be this difficult for the pair of them?

Had it totally altered the dynamics of the group?

Would Will even want to keep coming? Or should it be her to duck out politely?

These concerns weighed upon her.

But it was still about tonight, she reminded herself, and ambitious Lily had done an amazing job.

Cath felt proud of her, managing to achieve all that at such a young age.

She wished her all the best for her baking future, and despite the chasm between her and Will, she really hoped that Lily and the others had had a wonderful time this evening.

It was almost midnight when they took the plunge, ducking out into the renewed showers, to head back inside the cottage. The supper clubbers gathered up coats and belongings in the hallway, getting ready to head home.

Nikki whispered in her ear, as she gave Cath a peck on the cheek.

‘Hey, you need to tell me what’s going on with you two.

No getting out of it… next time I see you.

’ It wasn’t going to be brushed under the carpet that easily, dammit.

‘And thank you so much for hosting. You’ve made Lily’s night,’ Nikki then said louder.

‘I think she’s actually made ours,’ Cath countered. ‘Thank you for such fantastic food. Well done, Lily, that was a huge effort, and you must have put so much time into the menu. I’m sure any of it would go down well as part of your course, but the profiteroles and lemon posset were to die for.’

‘Hey, when your bakery or bistro opens, Lily, let us know,’ said Andreas. ‘We’ll be there!’

‘Aw, thanks guys.’ She looked so proud, bless her. Her confidence was growing.

They gathered at the door. A selection of brollies and rain macs having been borrowed for the short, but inevitably soggy, walk home.

‘Umbrellas at the ready … and we’re off,’ Nikki declared at the doorstep.

‘Never fear, nothing can dampen our spirits. That was a cracker of a night, Lily,’ said Dan.

Cath stood waving and watching them go. And then her heart sank.

Though she’d tried her best to stay chirpy, keeping up the ‘hostess with the mostess’ act, her spirits had been well and truly dampened by Will’s continuing coldness towards her.

Dammit, could things ever be right between her and Will from now on?

Had she and her na?ve and thoughtless antics from years ago ruined the future of the Supper Club group?

Another voice rang out in her mind and tremored in her heart too. Had she totally scuppered any chance of getting to know the real Will anymore? The man that Matty had become? And if so, why did that hurt so much?