Fiona Phippen approached St Clara’s and was surprised to find her friend Jeannette Kenny among the congregants.
Jeannette was from the
mainland and was staying at the Seaview Hotel on St Giles as she had an
interview on Monday morning at the Meteorological Station
“What are you doing here? I
thought we weren’t getting together until lunchtime” she said and embraced her,
“Simon came with me as moral
support for the interview, and he didn’t want to miss Church and as they only
have the chapel on St Giles, we got the water taxi early and thought St Clara’s
would fit the bill, so here we are” she said and then almost as an afterthought
added
“Oh, by the way this is my
brother Simon” And gestured to the tall good-looking man a year or two older
than her, and there was an almost instant mutual attraction and to be quite
honest Jeannette might just as well not have been there.
Simon was as different from
Jeannette as it was possible to get, he was stocky to her slim, the tall to her
short, and the quiet to her outgoing.
But in one obvious way there
was no difference at all, he also had a friendly open face, and a kind heart.
As they came out the church
Jeannette said
“I rather enjoyed that”
“So, you’re not a regular
churchgoer?” Fiona asked
“That’s right, not for years,
I don’t know why I lapsed” she replied, “Simon is a regular though”
For Reverend Cheryl Mackender
the third weekend of advent was a test of endurance with the success of St
Lucy’s day already under her belt earlier in the week, Christingle on Friday,
and the Carol Concert on Saturday night.
Part of the success was the
refurbed sound system, which was excellent, and the new visual displays which
came into their own.
It meant after another
success with the morning service and the lighting of the third candle of advent
going off without a hitch.
So by Sunday lunchtime it was
over, Cheryl had got through the Christmas marathon, St Lucy’s Day,
Christingle, The Christmas Concert and two advent services had all been
completed and she looked visibly relieved and hugged Lee who had been on hand
at every stage of the proceedings, watching, supporting and worshipping.
It certainly had been an
eventful week, a week in which Steve Sharpe had saved the day with his
technical expertise, as well as her sanity and she had found her soulmate in
Lee Barnaby.
So there was just time for a
light lunch before she was off again with renewed vigour as the fourth Sunday of
Advent, Midnight Mass and Christmas Morning were still on the horizon.
Later at lunch in Philips
Folly, the conversation turned back to the upcoming interview.
“So how are you feeling?”
Fiona asked
“You know me, I’m not an
optimist and over confidence would be very out of character,” she said “But I’m
feeling very confident”
“No worries” Simon said, “I
like your chances”
“Good” Jeannette said, “It’s
good to have your support”
“I think so too” Fiona said
Adrian Greig’s return to the
island was a cause of celebration and at lunchtime on the Third Sunday of Advent
there was a big family Sunday Lunch at Beales family home with Adrian as the
guest of honour.
It
was a noisy and raucous occasion fuelled in no small measure by the liberal
consumption of some homemade wine.
By
2 o’clock dinner was served, and Lily’s mother had done them proud with the
table groaning under the weight of the celebratory fare.
It
was no mean feat to cook such a sumptuous feast for 9 people, but as usual it
was achieved effortlessly, which was made all the more remarkable, as her
mother appeared not to have a single hair out of place, and everyone enthused
at the magnificence of the spread and all the trimmings and subsequently all
the plates were cleared.
Finally,
the pudding was served, a New York Cheesecake, which was Adrian’s favourite,
and then as the final scrapes of spoons on China echoed around the room Adrian
stood up and called for order, and when he finally had everyone’s attention, he
firstly proposed a toast to the cook, then to the master brewer and finally he
proposed to Lily.
“Wha…?”
she said
“Will
you marry me?” he repeated holding the ring box out to her
“Of
course, I’ll marry you, you fool” she said and wrapped her loving arms around
his neck and kissed him.
No comments:
Post a Comment