Chapter Twenty-Nine

The weather, as everybody kept saying, could not be more perfect and the organisers of the Tilsham Village Fête could once again breathe a collective sigh of relief that the event wasn’t going to be ruined by a downpour.

As always, Naomi was in charge of the cake stall and as soon as the vicar had declared the fête open, a rush – a veritable stampede – descended upon the heavily laden trestle tables to snap up the best baked goods. The more determined and experienced had placed themselves close by to be sure of not missing out.

For the last hour, and with occasional help from Katie Murdoch and Linsey Bales, Naomi had been so busy serving customers there had been no time for her to worry about the task that lay ahead for her that weekend – that of finding the right moment to tell Martha and Willow about her plans to marry Ellis. Their arrival this morning at Anchor House had been taken up with them settling in and having a drink before coming here to help set everything out. But later, when the distraction of the fête was gone, she would have to break the news to them.

She was aware that many people would question the very idea of marriage; why not simply live together? It was certainly an option, but she genuinely liked the thought of being married to Ellis. She wanted to make that commitment to him, just as he did to her. As he said, it just felt so right, as though they should always have been together.

Ellis was sure that Martha would insist on Naomi having a pre-nup; in fact he had suggested it was something they should arrange themselves anyway, that they should pre-empt matters.

‘If we have everything buttoned down nice and tight,’ he’d said, ‘it will help to put Martha and Willow’s minds at rest that I’m marrying you for all the right reasons and not material gain.’

With the barbershop quartet belting out a medley of songs over by the ornamental fishpond, Naomi took a handful of hot sticky coins from a young girl in exchange for a paper plate of fairy cakes wrapped in clingfilm. When the girl had gone, Naomi scanned the surrounding stalls for any sign of Martha and Willow. The last she’d seen of them was when they’d met up with some old friends from the village who, like them, were down for the weekend. As a group, they had gone in search of a drink, probably a glass of Jennifer’s famously potent Pimm’s which she made herself. It didn’t matter how many times she was asked for the recipe, Jennifer refused to divulge the exact ingredients and quantities used. All anyone knew was that its strength was not to be underestimated.

When the barbershop quartet came to the end of their set, the tannoy system burst into life with a loud crackle and Ellis announced that there were now donkey rides available in the orchard and the tug of war to look forward to, followed by the Punch and Judy show, and the three-legged race, as well as plenty of raffle tickets on sale to buy.