Page 11 of The Second Chance Supper Club

‘Hi, lovely.’

‘Hey, Suz.’

‘Just seeing how you are?’

‘Oh.’ They’d only spoken yesterday, but perhaps Susie had picked up on the nuance of her tone, and sussed that she was feeling a bit down. Cath’s sigh slipped out slowly. ‘Yeah, you’re on to me. Feeling a bit fed up.’

‘What’s up, chicken?’ Her sister reverted to her childhood term of endearment, spoken as Mum and Dad would have said it, filled with warmth and love. Cath was ‘chicken’, and Susie ‘petal’. Come to think of it, hers wasn’t particularly flattering, was it? But that realisation only made her lips crease into a small smile.

‘Ah, it’s nothing much really,’ she started. ‘Been a long day, and well, I’ve had this plan of doing up the garden shed … and I’ve set myself a big task,’ she confided. ‘And it’s rained like billy-o today. The back steps turned into a bloody fountain, and it’s gone and flooded my kitchen. And now it’s too wet to finish painting the damned shed … and well, the dinner party’s tomorrow.’ It all came out in a blurt.

‘What? You’re having a dinner party? I mean, oh shit, about the flood and stuff … but wow, that’s great, who’s coming?’ Of course, she hadn’t told her sister about any of this as yet. ‘Ah, just a few from the village. The guys from the shop, a woman with a youngish family who runs a cleaning company …’ She stalled at mentioning the widower, no need to give her sister that snippet of information to feed on just yet. ‘And I don’t really know them very well, so I just wanted it to all go off well. You know, make a good start. And now this …’

She puffed out a heavy sigh.

‘Well, that’s great that you’re making friends already. After all, you’ve only been there a couple of weeks, Cath. And I’m sure you can dry out the kitchen in time …’

And there it was, suddenly back in perspective. Yes, the bigger picture was that she had new friends coming around. Susie was always great at pointing out the positives, whilst not making you feel bad for getting in a flap.

‘Oh, and I also happen to look like someone whose been pulled through a hedge backwards,’ Cath added, letting it all spill out.

‘Oo-kay …’

‘Need a haircut … badly.’

‘Well, I did wonder …’ She could hear a hint of laughter in her sister’s tone, not at her but with her. ‘That last selfie you sent, you did look a bit … rustic, sort of windswept.’

Well, that brought her right back down to earth. ‘Hah, the country life, hey. Rustic, you cheeky madam.’

‘Just telling it as it is. You’ve evidently noticed yourself now, anyhow. It’s about time you embraced being fabulous in your fifties, Cath, not frumpy.’

‘Gee, thanks. Now I’m feeling soo much better about this dinner party. I’ve failed at fixing the shed up, and I look like a frump too,’ she said huffily.

‘Soz, I was only trying to cheer you up, chicken.’

Cath took a breath; Susie wasn’t telling her anything she hadn’t seen for herself. ‘I know, it’s just, catching sight of the bird’s-nest hair was the straw that broke the camel’s back. This whole new life. Have I gone and bitten off more than I can chew, Suz? New house, new area, new friends – well, hopefully, if tomorrow goes okay …’ She tried to put her emotions into words. ‘When it all went tits-up, should I at least have stayed where I knew people, where I had some roots? This is a whole new chapter, Susie … but I’m worried I’m not up to it. Not that I’ve got a lot of choice now.’ Cath gave a heavy sigh.

‘Hey, you’ve been brave and bold. Listened to your heart, going to a place you love, and good for you. Yes, it’s a new chapter, a new beginning, and you know what, it sometimes takes lots of pages to get into a new book, doesn’t it. Even when the book’s a brilliant one. One page at a time, one day at a time, and then suddenly it all begins to make sense …’

‘When did you become so wise?’ Cath jibed, whilst appreciating her sister’s words.

‘It comes with age.’

‘Hah, well you are older than me.’

And, of course, Susie knew all about new beginnings and getting on with life, with one failed marriage behind her, being left at only twenty-nine with two young children to bring up single-handedly, and what a brilliant job she’d done of that. That was all before meeting Mark, who’d then taken on Beth and Hannah as if they were his own.

‘Aw, thanks Suz … I’m feeling a bit better already.’

‘You’re welcome. And hey, call anytime, that’s what I’m here for.’

Her sister’s words stayed with her well into the night, settling in her mind like drifting blossom. Cath lay awake in bed in the early hours, looking forward to, yet inevitably still anxious about, tomorrow’s supper hosting. She was indeed only in the first pages of a whole new story. She had to be patient and give it more time.

Chapter 9

So, this was it! Supper club day had arrived. There was no going back now. She just had to buckle up, enjoy the ride, and do her utmost to make it a success.

The dining shed was almost ready, despite the heavy rains of yesterday, which had stalled Cath’s well-laid plans. Thankfully, the roof had held firm overnight without any leaks. She’d checked it first thing this morning. Unable to wait, she’d headed out to the garden in her dressing gown and wellies. An apparition for the elderly couple next door, should they have happened to look over the fence.