Page 28 of Trust in Truth
There was just enough time to grab a cup of peppermint tea before a van pulled into the car park. She pushed the feeling of guilt away that she still hadn’t been in to see Gloria. She greeted the two chaps who were installing the signage and set them about their work with a promise of coffee to follow.
They had settled on laser-engraved wooden signage. It would be a more natural fit with the site, and the outline sketch of the barn would work well in that style. They had ordered a very large slice of wood to go in the ground. The top section had a laser engraving of the barn logo and underneath the name “Abbey Barn” with an arrow pointing along the path. Once in place, the earth would be built up around it and a rockery added to help support it and cover the concrete base.
The sign for the barn itself was more subtle. A smaller wooden slice was engraved in the same way, without the arrow, and was to be hung from an ornate, wrought-iron bracket seated on the corner of the barn.
She gave the two workers an hour before taking some coffee to them. The crunch of snow underfoot told her it would be well received. It reminded her she would need to wear her thermals when she changed later for the event.
Clipboard in hand, ready for a site walk, she arrived just in time to see the sign standing and the rockery nearing completion. The frozen ground had given way when faced with two determined men with spades. A couple of well-placed solar-powered lights would ensure it was well lit.
She hoped the trustees would be impressed when they saw it that evening. She knew most of the trustees were on her side; Katherine had said as much. She just needed to impress them one final time to seal the deal on the job. Not that it would be the worst thing in the world if she went back to her tour supervisor position; they had a couple of great tour guides returning for the season. However, her work over the past month had cemented her passion and determination to return to her roots. She wasn’t sure how she would handle watching someone else do what she saw as her job, or if she’d even be able to stay at the abbey to watch.
The abbey staff were due to arrive at seven o’clock when the caterers did; their own cafe staff would be assisting them and running the bars. Until then it was down to her — and Katherine, when she arrived — to get the site ready. The band would arrive at five to set up their gear and would then disappear until ten. Anna was then hoping to get home for a bath, a change of clothes, and some food. Although the buffet supplied by the caterers looked delightful, she couldn’t be sure she’d have five minutes to eat any of it.
Guests weren’t due onsite until nine. She hoped they would have enough to entertain them until the fireworks at midnight, after which she planned for them to disperse. She’d hired a magician to do a walkabout to keep the guests amused and an artist to draw caricatures.
She heard the front door of Abbey House closing. The delightful naked-lady knocker always gave a loud clunk when it was closed. Katherine crossed the drive and entered the abbey gate. Their eyes locked as Katherine approached Anna, and their lips widened at sight of each other. Their hands found each other seconds before their lips.
“The signage is looking great. I love the engraving.” Katherine ran her fingers along the grooves, then stood back and admired it. “You can’t miss it either.”
“I’m just going to do a run-through. Can you sanity check me?”
“Of course, I am at your disposal.”
Anna turned in the direction of the carpark. “Right, everyone arriving by car will be met and directed by Carrie and the tour guides. They will need to clear some of the snow from the carpark before people arrive. Once the carpark is full, they will spill over into the village. The tour guides said they will come early to clear and salt the carpark and paths for us.”
“Great, one less job for us!” Katherine replied with relief.
Anna walked Katherine through the abbey site to the far end, running through every minute detail and checking for health and safety issues.
“We’ll need to set the gazebos up for the members and trustee VIP tent here and we’ll need to lay out a serving area for the bar and buffet inside.” Anna turned away from Katherine and pointed as she spoke. She soon realised she had lost Katherine’s attention as a snowball hit her firmly on the back.
“Oh, it’s like that is it?” Anna bent down to scoop up some snow. A snowball flew over her head just missing her. She turned quickly and threw a snowball at Katherine, a scream told her she’d hit her target and she scooped up more.
“That got me in the face.” Katherine spat as she wiped her face.
Anna was quick off the mark again as she managed to catch Katherine off guard, throwing another at her body.
“Okay, okay, you win,” Katherine shouted, raising her hands. “I should have known better than to pick a fight with you.”
Anna approached her and kissed her. “Yes, you should know better.” She smirked as she dropped a snowball on the top of Katherine’s head.
“Unfair! I’d surrendered. You’re a dirty player.”
Anna held her hands up. “Okay, let’s call it quits before we exhaust ourselves, we have a lot to do.”
They arrived back at the carpark with a long list of additional jobs scribbled on the bottom of Anna’s already long list.
“Carrie’s parking team will have Abbey Barn leaflets to hand out once everyone is onsite. Can you find some membership forms to go with them? I think they are in the cupboard in your office. Leave them by the entrance with some high-vis jackets.”
“Of course, Miss Walker. Is there anything else you require?” Katherine asked playfully.
Anna’s phone rang; she extracted it from her coat pocket. “Hold that thought, it’s the hospital.” Anna shoved the clipboard at Katherine. She hadn’t been expecting a call from them and hesitated before she answered it.
Katherine took her hand and squeezed it. “It’s okay — we’ll deal with it — whatever it is, together.”
After a few moments of silence she gave Katherine a thumbs up. Katherine wrapped her arm around Anna’s shoulder and squeezed her; Anna noticed her subtly wipe away a tear as she did.
“He’s going home,” Anna sang out as she hung up. “The nurse said he still has a long recovery ahead of him, and there’s no reason he can’t be cared for at Baycroft. They are releasing him tomorrow morning.”
