The Cosy Christmas Teashop: Cakes, castles and wedding bells – the perfect feel good romance. Caroline Roberts
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you, Mrs Ward,’ his warm, mellow voice spoke into her hair.
She pulled away very slightly to be able to look at him. ‘Love you, too, Mr Ward.’
‘Come on, I’ll get us some dinner started if you want? You look shattered.’
‘Aw, th-anks … I’m just tired.’
‘Well, after a day of working in the kitchens again, I’m sure you’ll want a break from the oven. But … you know the score, if it’s over to me then the repertoire is either pasta, frozen pizza or chili con carne.’
‘Pasta it is then.’ Something warm and comforting would be just fine, especially if it wasn’t cooked by her.
‘I’ll do my creamy chicken sauce one then. I popped out to the Co-op earlier, so I have all the ingredients to hand.’
He had a proud glint in his eye.
How sweet, he must have thought of that after their heart-to-heart on their walk up in the hills yesterday. She didn’t know quite what she had done to deserve him, but she was going to make the most of it.
‘So, put your feet up, madam. And I shall pour you a glass of vino.’ Joe slipped into an over-the-top Italian accent. ‘Rosso or Blanco.’
She had a feeling he was making up his own words, but it made her smile. ‘White would be lovely. Thanks.’
It was nearly time for Coronation Street, her favourite soap opera. So she did as she was told, sat down on the very cosy if worn sofa, slipped her shoes off, and curled up her legs. She was feeling a bit brighter already.
After a supper, eaten casually on their knees on the sofa, she leant in against him. She couldn’t wait for an early night and a bucket-load of sleep. But cuddling up for a little while longer here with Joe would be lovely too. She felt a glow inside, realising how much she loved this gorgeous man beside her. His long lean legs stretched out, his arm angled casually, yet protectively, around her. Heaven knows how Lucy must have felt when she had heard the awful news about her fiancé’s accident; Ellie remembered that sickening lurch in her own stomach like it was yesterday, when Joe had got trapped in that fire in the castle. How easily the things you loved could be taken away.
Five days to go until Bridezilla’s big day.
At the Monday Meeting, where the castle employees got together to discuss the week and tasks ahead, there was a tension in the room that was palpable. This week’s list was particularly long!
‘Have you sorted that bloody unicorn yet, gents?’ Deana asked Malcolm and Derek.
‘Well, we’ve had a brilliant idea, haven’t we, Derek … we just need to test it out.’
‘That sounds ominous,’ Lord Henry quipped with a wry smile. He knew his tour guides only too well. They certainly seemed to get themselves into all sorts of capers.
Ellie really didn’t want to ask what they were up to, but she did need to know that whatever it was, was right, and wouldn’t spoil the start of the big day for the bride. ‘Well, try it out today, and let me know, as soon as. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll need to come up with an alternative, and fast.’
‘Time’s running out,’ added Deana, ‘So it’d better be good.’
‘Anyhow,’ Ellie took up. ‘The orders are all in for the wedding buffet. We’ve got oysters coming across fresh on the day from Lindisfarne, and prawns and dressed crab. The bread’s going to be delivered on the wedding morning from the local bakery. Irene’s helping me make the two hundred mini quiches to go with that, and I’ve got three whole salmons to cook, two gammon joints to boil, which are roughly the size of Usain Bolt’s thighs, as well as a pile of salads and coleslaws to prepare. Most of the catering can’t be done until last minute, so the teashop team are going to have a hectic end of week. We’ve got mini scones to bake for the cream tea for the mid-afternoon, and with the wedding cake being changed last minute to sponge, that will have to be made fresh just two days before, and then iced.’ Ellie felt tired just talking about it all. So much to do, so little time.
‘Wow, you’ll be busy. It all sounds well organized though, so that’s great.’ Joe tried to keep his tone fairly formal at the Monday meeting, addressing Ellie the same as the other staff, rather than as his wife. Ellie preferred it that way.
Joe took a sip from his coffee mug. It had a Batman motif on one side and ‘Kapow!’ the other. He had a bit of a Batman thing, loved all the films, old and new. And if you needed passwords to get into his laptop, a variety of Holy Smoke, Boom or Kapow might just do the trick.
‘Oh,’ Ellie continued, ‘and I’ve got five extra staff recruited for the day before and on the day, to help with food prep and the waiting on. As well as Alan and his team from The Swan who’ll be setting up the bar as per usual in the Drawing Room, and then later in the marquee, plus serving the champagne cocktails on arrival, and for the toasts.’
Wendy, the florist from their neighbouring market town of Kirkton, was at the meeting too. ‘The flowers are all ordered for the bridal and bridesmaid’s bouquets, the chapel, the Great Hall, for the balustrades at the castle entrance, and I have sourced the however-many-hundred white roses I’ll need for the latest petal-scattering demand. And there’s now a rainbow theme going on, after the bride’s sudden switch-about, so it’s been rather interesting changing the bouquets to multi-coloured flowers.’
There was a general eyebrow raise and groan around the room. They were all praying that Bridezilla didn’t have yet another change of plan in the final few days.
‘Let’s just hope a new copy of Hello doesn’t come out in the next couple of days, and give her a load of new ideas.’ Deana voiced their concerns.
‘Hah – well, the castle will be closed to visitors on the day of the wedding, so it’ll be an exclusive here.’ Derek commented drily, ‘Maybe, the Hello team will arrive here to cover the wedding of the decade.’ His tone was ironic.
‘Or more likely the Kirkton Gazette,’ Malcolm quipped.
‘You never know what might happen with Bridezilla, but some press coverage might be likely, actually.’ Joe’s mood was serious, ‘So, we need to make sure everything goes by the book and is absolutely tip-top.’
Lord Henry was obviously still mulling over the initial conversation. ‘A unicorn … I hope you two haven’t come up with a bloody pantomime horse.’
The pair of them looked slightly shady.
Oh, bloody hell, thought Ellie. ‘It’s not, is it, Malcolm?’
‘No, no, it’s a real live animal, that’s all I’m saying ‘til we test it out.’
‘Why does that fill me with a sense of dread?’ added Deana.
The others just laughed, except for Joe and Ellie who were feeling decidedly nervous about the whole event. This could really make or break things at the castle, and their relatively fledgling wedding event venture. They had been up and running for four years now as a wedding venue, but it took a good while to establish a sound reputation. It had been building nicely so far, and they’d had some lovely events and feedback, but a few mistakes, and a disgruntled wedding party, especially one as verbal as this lot, could really spoil all the hard work they’d put in to build themselves a positive profile.
‘Well, the last thing we need is bad-mouthing in the press, or the wedding party holding back on the final balance, so everything has to go smoothly and be spot-on, okay.’ Joe looked deadly serious, cutting the laughter short.
‘Of course, boss,’ replied Derek earnestly. Malcolm was nodding.
‘We’ll pull out all the stops and