Down in the garden, everyone was still watching the recently-spitted meat-girl as she began to roast, watched over attentively by the caterers who basted her as she turned with a thick, rich, deep-red honey barbecue sauce. Amelia had found her way back to Josh and was hanging possessively on his arm while asking her questions of the caterers who were well aware that they were booked to prepare her in the same way in a few months’ time.

“Oh, there you are!” Laura chuckled as Ryan rejoined them, his hair looking rather mussed and his cheeks flushed pink. “What have you been up to?”

“Amelia reckoned you’d gone for a wank!” Erin teased him before he had a chance to answer.

“Not exactly!” he grinned a little sheepishly, feeling his cheeks start to burn.

“Oh don’t tease him!” Laura shook her head in amusement. “As long as you’re having fun?” Ryan nodded emphatically. “Good.” she smiled. “I think Better said there were going to be some games in a minute that everyone could join in with?” She looked around for the host but it seemed that she was also looking for them, getting Josh’s attention first then ushering him over, her granddaughter still firmly attached, over to rejoin the rest of his family so that she could talk to them all. “Is everything okay?” Laura asked.

“Oh yes!” Better smiled warmly. “I was just going to say that we have plenty of space so if you wanted to stay over until morning, you’d be more than welcome to.”

“Oh, well…” Laura looked at her husband.

“Please stay!” Amelia begged him, tugging on his arm. Laura couldn’t hold back a little smirk and Josh gave her an apologetic half-smile.

“How about Josh stays with Amelia,” she suggested, “and I take these two home. You two can do something together tomorrow and maybe the five of us can have dinner somewhere together in the evening then we can drop Amelia back to her parents. Sound good to everyone?” There was agreement all around, especially from Amelia.

“As long as you don’t mind driving?” Josh asked, somewhat apologetically.

“No it’s all good!” Laura assured him. “I’ve only had the two glasses of wine and we’re going to be eating in a little while.” She looked over to the still very much alive young girl turning on her spit over the glowing coals. “Besides, it’s not even nine o’clock yet and I’m sure it will be half past twelve at least, probably closer to one, before we’re thinking of making a move!” And so it was settled, with Amelia very happy indeed that not only did she get to keep her man all night but they would be spending most of the next day together as well.

With that settled, Betty called everyone into the living room, making sure they all picked up fresh drinks or got their topped up on the way across the patio and encouraged them to divide into teams for the games. Couples who knew each other teamed up and families formed ready-made groups with Amelia, of course, joining the Martins and, for the games where they are asked to split into twos, making sure that she was paired with Josh. As Laura had anticipated, he was really her date for the evening and she did not resent it.

The time passed quickly with lots of fun and laughter and it was eleven o’clock before any realised and the caterers came in to tell them that the food was ready to serve. A large table had been set out with salads of various kinds, crisps and nacho chips, warm apple sauce, slices of sage and onion stuffing and lots of other condiments. At the end of the table was a stack of paper plates and a huge platter of bread rolls. The guests were invited to line up and collect a plate then fill it with whatever extras they wanted before being served with meat straight off the spit.


To be continued...