Page 88 of The Only Way Is Up

‘Then I’ll show you round all the stalls,’ said Miriam, either missing or ignoring Daisy’s sarcasm. ‘Introduce you to the volunteers, take some photos. Maybe you could have a go on the tombola, wang a welly on the school field, help build a snowman, that sort of thing.’

‘I’d be delighted.’ Daisy caught Justin’s eye and tried not to laugh.

‘Then at 1 p.m. Stella and Justin will judge the chocolate brownies while you judge the best Victoria sponge cake.’

‘Wait, all the cakes are Victoria sponges?’

‘Yes,’ Miriam nodded. ‘It’s a village tradition.’

‘Don’t all Victoria sponges taste the same?’

Miriam huffed impatiently. ‘Of course not, that’s ridiculous.’ Justin snorted with laughter again. ‘Then it’s prizegiving at two, and everything wraps up at two thirty. Do you need to know anything else?’

‘No,’ Daisy shook her head. ‘I think I’m fully briefed.’

‘Good,’ Miriam beamed. ‘I need to go and speak to the Bishop. He’s brought all kinds of important people from the diocese.’ She smoothed down her black clergy blouse and straightened her dog collar before hurrying off, entirely ignorant of Daisy’s raised eyebrows.

Stella put her hand on Daisy’s arm. ‘She’s in a tizz about the Bishop,’ she explained. ‘He doesn’t normally come to this kind of thing, but everybody expects this fete to be something a bit special. I think Miriam’s feeling the pressure.’

‘She’ll have a seizure if she’s not careful,’ Daisy muttered.

‘A dioceizure,’ Justin whispered, making Daisy snort her coffee.

Daisy asked Stella to accompany her to the staff loos after Justin had gone off to start setting up Cook With Justella in the old domestic science classroom, taking her mother’s arm as they strolled down the school corridors. They were getting a lot of stares.

‘You look lovely. I like your dress, darling.’

Ruby had persuaded Daisy to wear a mustard yellow dress with elbow-length sleeves and tiny embroidered daisies, cinched in at the waist with a fabric belt. There’d been a minor crisis over what footwear was appropriate for a winter fete, but in the end they’d gone with a pair of black fur-lined ankle boots and purple opaque tights that matched her padded coat.

‘Thanks, Mum.’ Daisy gave Stella’s arm a squeeze.

‘But it’s not just the dress that’s making you look lovely. You’re glowing with happiness.’

Daisy gave her a shy smile. ‘I am happy, Mum. It’s early days, but things are good.’

‘It feels like we’ve both turned a corner.’ Stella put her arm around Daisy’s shoulders. ‘We should be very proud of ourselves.’

Daisy swallowed and plunged into her prepared story, feeling terrible about lying to her mother but also wanting to out the mole. ‘I like it around here. I might spend more time here in future. In fact I’ve been asked to turn on the Christmas lights in Stow-on-the-Wold in November, and I’ve said yes.’

‘Really?’ Stella gave a hoot of laughter. ‘Not very fancy for you, but lovely for Stow-on-the-Wold.’

‘Well, maybe I’m tired of fancy.’ Feeling ridiculous, Daisy felt she should defend herself for something that absolutely wasn’t happening. ‘I think I’d quite like to be a bit less fancy sometimes. But it’s a long way off. Don’t tell anyone. It won’t be announced for ages.’

Stella nodded slowly. ‘Of course. Good for you. Are you sure it was Stow-on-the-Wold? Not Bath or Cheltenham or somewhere more impressive?’

Daisy laughed, wondering whether she should now offer to turn on Stow’s Christmas lights just to spite her mother.

After wanging several wellies and guessing the weight of a jar of mint humbugs, Daisy found Reverend Miriam milling about in the hall where the cake competition was being held, making sure all the entries for the chocolate brownie and Victoria sponge competition were properly labelled and aligned in a tidy fashion. She looked stressed and sweaty, her neck glowing pink above her dog collar.

‘Can I help?’ Daisy gave her best celebrity smile.

Miriam beamed back at her. ‘I think we’re fine, Daisy, but thank you. Everything seems to be going well.’

‘Big crowd in the Justella classroom. Heard lots of laughing as I went by. I think they’re a hit.’

Miriam nodded enthusiastically as she secured the clingfilm under a three-tiered sponge. ‘It’s extraordinary, really. I’d imagined that you would be the big draw for the crowds, but actually it’s Stella and Justin. I hope you aren’t disappointed.’

Daisy laughed. ‘God, no! I’ve had my fair share of attention in the past six months. I’m more than happy for someone else to lighten the load.’