‘Cher!’ It was Sybs, wearing pajamas and wellies with her red curls flailing out behind her as she came running across the village green. ‘Sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I had to wait for April to come and sit with the twins, and the road from Orchard Cottage was closed off to let the fire engines and ambulance through and so she had to go the long way around via Stoneley. Are you OK?’
‘I honestly don’t know,’ Cher cried, falling into her best friend’s arms before letting out an almighty sob.
By six o’clock in the morning, they were all sitting in stunned silence in The Spotted Pig café. Kitty had woken up on hearing the commotion with the fire engines arriving and a police car moments later and so had opened up the café earlier than usual and invited them all in for cups of tea and big breakfast bacon butties.
Sonny and Cher were sitting in a booth with Sybs and Dr Ben. Molly, the butcher’s wife had arrived too and was giving Kitty a hand to make enough trays of tea and butties for all the fire fighters and police officers who had arrived. Plus a big group of villagers who had come to see if they could help out.
‘There you go, my love,’ Molly said warmly as she placed a large mug of tea in Cher’s shaking hands, gently helping her to clasp it securely when it looked like Cher might drop the mug. ‘Oh dear, you’ve had such almighty shock. And is it any wonder. It’s not every night you have to evacuate your own home, thank God. But we are all here for you and Sonny. And our lovely village pub, we’ll get it all sorted out in no time, you’ll see,’ she reassured, even though Cher still didn’t know exactly what had happened. ‘In the meantime, Lawrence who runs the B&B is having you and Sonny to stay as his guests.’
‘That’s so kind of him, but we can’t impose at such short notice. And certainly not for free-.’
‘No buts, my love. It’s all sorted out. Lawrence insists and is getting a nice room ready for you both as we speak, that’s why he isn’t here. He’s coming to fetch you in a bit. I imagine you’ll be wanting a nice shower and some sleep.’ And after giving Cher’s shoulder a motherly pat, she bustled back off to the kitchen to make more teas.
‘So have they told you what caused the fire yet?’ Sybs asked gently.
‘No,’ Cher sniffed, ‘they have to investigate, the fire department and someone from our insurance company has to come and look too … I have no idea how or why this has happened but one thing I do know is that our wedding is ruined … we can’t even go inside the pub because the smoke damage is everywhere, let alone use the bar for the party after the church ceremony. And how are we going to feed everyone when we can’t use the kitchen? The Chief Fire officer has seen the damage inside and has already told Sonny that the pub could be out of use for weeks, maybe months as it’s all covered in black soot from the smoke in the cellar and so we are never going to get everything fixed in time before the wedding …. ’
‘Oh Cher, I’m so sorry.’
‘And that’s not all. I know it sounds trivial in the grand scheme of things, seeing as we should just be grateful to be alive ….’ Cher stopped talking to take a sip of her tea, not wanting to catastrophise or think about what might have been if she hadn’t woken up, or if Dr Ben hadn’t spotted the smoke.
‘Go on,’ Sybs prompted.
‘Our wedding cake was in the beer cellar. Sonny had been feeding it sherry for weeks to make it taste amazing on the big day. But now it’ll just be a charred mess and not fit for human consumption.’ And she sniffed before blowing her nose into a tissue which Sonny quickly handed to her across the table.
‘I’ll make another cake, love,’ Sonny soothed.
‘You can’t without a kitchen to use, it all has to be properly cleaned and the insurance company will need to investigate first, and … oh, it’s just so blooming awful,’ she said, working herself up now as she realised how bad the situation really was. ‘Our whole livelihood has been destroyed.’ She dropped her head into her hands.
‘But it will get sorted out. That’s why we have the insurance. And I’ll just buy a cake if I have to,’ Sonny assured her.
‘No need for that,’ Kitty appeared. ‘You can use my kitchen here in the café. Or I’d love to make a beautiful wedding cake for you. A wedding gift from me,’ she added with a consolatory smile.
‘Thank you, Kitty. You’re so kind and I know you mean well, but I really can’t see how the wedding can possibly go ahead now ….’ Cher replied, trying not to cry again, then after Kitty had gone to see to another table, she leaned across to Sonny and said softly,
‘It really wouldn’t be the same, the figurines from my mum and dad’s cake were in a little box beside the bottle of sherry, they’ll be ruined too. I put them there for … safekeeping,’ and she couldn’t hold the tears in any longer.
‘Oh, love, please don’t cry. We’ll fix this mess, I promise. Come on, we don’t have to let what’s happened stop us from getting married,’ Sonny tried, but then, ‘Oh God-.’ He stopped abruptly and placed both hands on the table.
‘What is it?’ Dr Ben asked. Sonny bowed his head, seeming to have the weight of the world on his shoulders when he looked up and opened his mouth again to speak. Closing his mouth, he stared intently at the table as if weighing up whether to say anything more or not.
‘Come on, Sonny, whatever it is I’m sure we can sort it out.’ It was Sybs who spoke next, looking across the table and giving Sonny a reassuring smile.
‘I’ve just realised!’ Sonny inhaled sharply before letting out a long sigh.
‘Please, just tell me,’ Cher pleaded, putting down her mug of tea.
‘It wasn’t just the figurines that were in the cellar ….’ He started hesitantly.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Love, I’m so sorry. I really am,’ he shook his head and closed his eyes momentarily. ‘We left your wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses in the cellar too.’
Silence followed.
Cher swallowed and blinked as she struggled to process what he was saying.
Sybs gulped.
And Dr Ben pushed his glasses back further on his nose.
‘Cher, please, don’t go … ,’ Sybs said quietly when Cher stood up, her face crumpling and her shoulders dropping in despair as she went to walk away. ‘We really can sort this out, your insurance company will cover all your losses and you’ll be able to get a new dress,’ she added, swiftly, but Cher wasn’t listening. Instead she rounded on Sonny and after placing both palms on the table top she stared at him for a few seconds before saying,
‘You said it would be OK. You promised we would bring the dresses back upstairs as soon as the rush had died down!’
‘I know, love, and I’m really sorry we didn’t,’ he pleaded. ‘We were both so busy, I was trying to get Barry sorted out, you were holding the fort in the bar and then that coach party arrived at exactly the same time as the woman from the wedding dress shop …. ’ He paused and shook his head. ‘It was only supposed to be for a short while ….’ Then looking at Sybs and Dr Ben as if to explain, he added, ‘There’s a smaller room off the main beer cellar and the dresses were all in protective covers zipped up safely so we knew they wouldn’t end up smelling of beer, not in such a short time. We unloaded the dresses from the woman’s car right outside the cellar door and were going to move the dresses upstairs to the spare bedroom as soon as the lunchtime rush was