Practically Perfect (30 page)

‘It’s busy,’ said Anna, surprised.

‘It’s always very well attended. As you’ll notice, it isn’t only the commuters and their house guests, there are real locals here.’

Anna had noticed a few flat caps and hairy tweeds in among the linen jackets, brightly coloured corduroy trousers and cut-glass accents. The Boden catalogue was well represented as were those catalogues attached to old-fashioned men’s outfitters that sold red socks, pink shirts and very expensive brogues. She looked up at Rob, her eyes sparkling with enjoyment. He smiled back and then said, ‘Let’s have a whiz round the stalls before we find Cassie. There’s always an amazing tombola with fantastic prizes, but if we don’t get there early, we’ll only win a scented candle.’

‘A scented candle is a very nice prize,’ said Anna, following him through the crowd.

‘But not as good as an antique gilded cherub, worth two hundred pounds.’

‘Oh, I don’t know, I’m not sure a cherub would fit into my house,’ she said quickly.

The man running the stall was flamboyant, dashing and
extremely
amusing. He sold Rob ten pounds’ worth of tickets, convincing him he was getting a bargain. He won, not a scented candle, but a curtain tie-back that wouldn’t have looked out of place at Buckingham Palace. ‘I think Cassie would like this,’ he said, having seen Anna’s expression of shock and awe at the thought she might find a home for it in her cottage. ‘We’d better find her now or she’ll think we haven’t bothered to come.’

His sister looked very like him. She was tall and handsome, wearing a linen skirt with roses on it and a cashmere cardigan with a V-neck. Round her neck she wore a very beautiful silver necklace. ‘Something in the City’ possibly gave good presents.

‘Hi, Rob, and you must be Anna.’ She pecked them both on the cheek. ‘I’m Cassie. So glad you could come, Anna. I want you both to sell ice cream. Definitely a two-man job.’

‘I love ice cream,’ said Anna.

‘Good. I’ll lend you a tabard. We’ve got some somewhere. Otherwise you’ll get covered in the stuff. Here’s a price list.’ She was obviously well practised at this. ‘It’s only one scoop or two, so not complicated. I’m off to do teas in the house.’ And she hurried away.

‘The house’ was a heavenly Cotswold vicarage, big enough for several curates and dozens of children. It was just visible through a stand of cedars and could have starred in any costume drama for its timeless beauty.

‘Cassie and Marcus don’t live there,’ said Rob, somewhat to Anna’s relief. ‘They have something a bit smaller a little way out of the village.’

‘Oh good,’ said Anna without thinking.

‘They do have an indoor swimming pool though,’ he added.

‘Ah!’

* * *

Rob dealt with the money and Anna did the ice cream. It was difficult but satisfying trying to make the blobs completely round. She chatted to the children as she gave them their cones, adding a bit here and there when she thought they were being short-changed.

‘Hurry up, there’s a queue,’ said Rob, as Anna tenderly smoothed off a perfect sphere for a little girl who definitely appreciated it. She had a puppy with her, all legs and tongue and, pound for pound, about the same size as the child.

‘We’re going in for Best Mixed Breed Handled by a Child,’ said the girl. ‘Mummy’s helping.’

Given that the puppy in question seemed to have a lot of greyhound in him, and was extremely boisterous, Anna thought this just as well. ‘Oh well, I must try and watch you. When is that class on?’

‘In about ten minutes, Mummy says.’ The little girl indicated her mother, who, in tight pony-skin trousers and a very revealing top, was one of the many women present definable as a yummy mummy.

The child had long fair hair, curled for the occasion, and the puppy had a ribbon round his neck. Anna wisely refused Rob’s bet on the chances of this ribbon staying on long enough for it to appear in the show ring. It was, she declared, too long and too silky to stay. Rob, who had hoped to win ten pence from her, was disappointed.

‘I can manage on my own now,’ said Rob, when they seemed to have sold ice cream to absolutely everyone. ‘You have a look round. It’s a lovely event.’

It was, Anna decided; a mixture of the immensely wealthy, who leant over the rope watching the puppies, discussing the virtues or otherwise of their new stable girls, and the true country people, who had leather gaiters, hair springing from every orifice and the sort of terriers that made one feel sorry for rats. They mingled happily,
admiring
each other’s dogs. Were all these animals – the stately lurchers, pure-bred Labradors, springers and field spaniels, cockers and cavaliers, the latter as dumb as they were beautiful – going to enter for something? It was possible. A glance at the programme told her that Veterans, Novices, Mixed Breed and Pedigree all had classes. She watched the Best Mixed Breed Handled by a Child and noticed her ex-customer with the puppy who gambolled along like a young lamb. He was very good and, given the cute factor, which was less apparent in the other competitors, Anna felt she had a good chance. One puppy wearing a Little Bo Peep outfit trotted behind a little girl with plaits, but most of the other puppies were in charge, and led their owners round the ring at a cracking pace. Mothers occasionally rushed into the ring to rescue a child from being dragged along on the grass, or admonish the dogs, but mostly the children managed on their own. Fathers followed the scene through the lenses of video cameras, and proud grannies held babies and begged them to ‘Look at Lulu with Andromeda – isn’t she good?’

Rob joined her while she watched the Dog with the Waggiest Tail competition, which was straight after the child and puppy event. Lots of the entrants were the same, and Anna had high hopes for the lurcher whose rope-like tail had already caused visible bruising on the legs of its diminutive handler, and that was before he had been called on to really perform.

‘I’ve sold out of ice cream,’ he said. ‘I won’t tell Cassie until I’ve had a chance to look round. I fancy guessing how high the bottle of whisky is.’

Anna turned round. ‘What?’

‘See over there?’ He pointed. ‘There’s a bottle of whisky hanging from a rope on a tree. Well, I did that stall last year and I know how high the branch is.’

‘That’s cheating!’ protested Anna, following him in the direction of the stall.

‘I know. I will share.’ He smiled and Anna laughed back. She didn’t have to think about what she was saying with Rob. Being with him was so easy somehow, possibly because she could just be herself and not feel she had to compete with Max’s urbane and worldly-wise friends.

When Rob had made his guess he took Anna to the cake stall. ‘Hooray! They’ve got fudge again. It is fantastic. Worth having all your teeth drop out for.’

‘It’s not hard fudge,’ said the woman selling it, affronted. ‘I made it myself.’

‘It is delicious,’ said Rob consolingly. ‘Just too wicked. Here, Anna, open wide.’

As he put a square of fudge into her mouth she had a sudden flashback to Max and the oyster. In theory oysters were much sexier than fudge, given their reputation as an aphrodisiac, but she decided she preferred the fudge.

‘It’s wonderful! I’ll buy Chloe some,’ she said, digging out her purse.

They both ate another piece, then said, more or less together: ‘Time for a cup of tea.’

The teas were excellent: Home-made cakes and scones; tea made fresh every few moments. Anna and Rob took theirs to a bench under an enormous cedar tree. ‘I feel I should be wearing a long white lacy dress and a picture hat,’ said Anna dreamily. ‘It’s that sort of place.’

‘You look fine to me just as you are,’ said Rob. His eyes were half closed against the sun and Anna couldn’t tell if he was smiling, or just warding off the dazzle. He did have rather good eyelashes, she noticed.

‘Oh my goodness, look what we’re missing!’ he suddenly exclaimed.

‘What?’ Anna sat up straight and looked around.

‘Over there. My favourite thing. The best bow-front!’

Anna stared at him, uncomprehending. ‘Rob, you’re not telling me they get out their chests of drawers and commodes, stuff like that, and compare them, are you? I suppose there are some jolly nice antiques in some of these houses but—’

Rob was laughing so hard he couldn’t speak. He just shook his head weakly. ‘They’re dogs!’

‘Dogs? How can furniture be dogs?’

‘Bow-fronts: dogs with bow legs, like corgis, some terriers, dogs that dig. Sorry to laugh, but the idea of dragging the Sheraton on to the lawn is quite funny.’

Anna thought it was quite funny too but was determined not to laugh.

‘You’d have men off the
Antiques Roadshow
wearing long white coats, looking at them,’ he said.

‘And then getting the very posh owners to drag some of them to the front,’ said Anna, joining in with the spirit of things.

‘And then –’ Rob could hardly speak – ‘the winner would have to do a lap of honour.’

Anna couldn’t hold it back any longer. She laughed until she felt weak.

Cassie found them before the last smear of jam had been licked off their fingers.

‘Just the people I need!’ she declared. ‘I’ve got Smalls running all over the garden collecting dirty crockery and no one to wash it up. Into the kitchen with you both!’

Rob looked doubtfully at Anna. ‘But Anna’s hardly had time to finish—’

Cassie fielded Anna’s cup before she could put it down. ‘You don’t mind donning the Marigolds, do you?’ She smiled sweetly, obviously used to getting her own way.

‘Of course not! It’s all right, Rob,’ Anna said reassuringly. ‘We are here to help.’

Anna enjoyed the washing up mostly because of the cheerful flutter Rob’s presence in the kitchen caused. As the only man he was the object of a lot of light-hearted joshing, which he handled with great good humour. The final cup had finally been dried and put in its plastic box, and the helpers were just finishing off the last crumbs of cake and scones, when Anna heard her mobile.

‘Oh, sorry!’ she said to the room in general and hoiked it out of the bag that she’d left in a corner. It was Mike.

‘It’s Chloe,’ he said. ‘She’s in hospital.’

‘Oh my God!’ said Anna, sitting down on a chair and feeling suddenly sick.

‘What is it?’ said Rob, and everyone else in the room too.

Anna shook her head and signalled for them all to be quiet.

‘What’s the matter?’ She demanded, fearing the worst.

‘They don’t know.’ Mike sounded close to tears. ‘It’s just some unspecified pain, really, really bad. Could you get here as soon as you can to look after the boys while I go to Chloe? We’ve rung both sets of grandparents and another friend of Chloe’s, but no one can get here until six. I thought you might be nearer.’

‘Yes of course, I’ll come immediately.’

‘Thank you, thank you, Anna. I’ll tell the others.’ Anna heard the relief in his voice and, disconnecting, turned to Rob. ‘We have to go, Chloe’s in hospital,’ she said, her voice shaking.

‘God, what’s wrong …?’ he asked.

‘I’ll tell you in the car, we need to go now. How long will it take us to get home?’

‘About forty minutes, less if we don’t get caught
behind
anything.’ And he was already heading for the door.

Rob sped along the lanes at a speed that was terrifying. Anna’s heart was racing, her feelings divided between sympathy for Chloe, her little boys and Mike.

‘We’ll be there in less than half an hour now,’ Rob said, his steady gaze not wavering from the road ahead. Although he was driving very fast, she had got used to the speed and felt perfectly safe. Supposing she’d been with Max when that call had come? Would he have reacted like Rob had? She could almost hear him say, ‘Darling, she’s only a neighbour. There must be someone else she can ask.’

Anna watched the passing scenery and decided it was unfair to make that assumption. Max might have been just as supportive and heroic as Rob.

Anna ran down the lane while Rob parked the car. Mike was on the doorstep, jigging from foot to foot, beside himself with anxiety.

‘Thank God you’re here!’ he said. ‘I must go to her. I’ve tried to keep calm in front of the boys, but it’s not easy.’

Anna touched his arm. ‘What have you told them?’ she asked.

‘I said that Mummy had bad tummy-ache – which they saw for themselves – but that the doctor will make her better. They seem quite satisfied with that but I’m not sure they really understand.’ He looked stricken.

‘We’ll explain again,’ said Rob, who had joined them. ‘We’ll have a great time together.’

Anna turned to him. ‘There’s no need for you to stay, Rob. I can manage.’ She said the words because she felt she ought to, but really hoped he wouldn’t believe them.

‘Nonsense,’ he said after a quick glance. ‘We’re in this together.’

‘I’m terribly grateful to you both,’ said Mike. ‘I suppose I’d better organise some things for Chloe.’ He attempted a smile. ‘I don’t suppose I’ll need her birth plan and music-to-give-birth-by tape.’

‘I’ll just quickly check on Caroline and come and help you,’ said Anna.

‘I’ll see to the boys,’ said Rob. ‘They’re a bit too young for poker, I suppose?’

Mike nodded. ‘But they’ll have the shirt off your back at snap.’

If Mike felt able to joke then perhaps Chloe wasn’t as seriously ill as they feared, Anna thought as she hurried next door.

When Anna had seen to Caroline she ran straight back. ‘Hi, guys! It looks like we’ll be looking after you for now,’ she said brightly.

The three little boys, who had been staring up at Rob with round and anxious eyes, relaxed when they saw Anna. She always let them do things their mother wouldn’t allow, and would probably let Caroline come over. Harry came up and put his arms round her legs. She picked him up, and he buried his face in her neck.

‘Can we make fudge again?’ asked Bruno, who was better at making a positive out of a negative than his brothers.

Anna glanced at Mike. The fudge-making episode was the sort of thing that made anxious parents doubt she was capable of looking after children. He shrugged and headed for the stairs.

Anna looked down at three expectant little faces. ‘Possibly,’ she said. ‘But we’d have to do extra good tooth-brushing afterwards.’ Then, hearing sounds of cupboard doors being opened and shut, she said, ‘Right, I’ll go up and see how Daddy’s getting on. Why don’t you boys
show
Mr Hunter – Rob – where the snakes and ladders is and we can play?’