Page 53 of It's Now or Never

‘Hmmm, well…’ He pulled a face, his mouth contorting awkwardly and I was just beginning to feel a bit uneasy about this whole thing when Matt pulled out his phone and pulled up a screenshot. ‘Look, let me show you.’

‘Yes, perfect,’ I said, feeling the same warm swell of pride I experienced every time I viewed any of my posts. I’d spent ages deciding on the background and was delighted when I found the pretty ivy design. It looked just as I’d intended it to; pretty, fresh and clean.

‘Over here on the side, Jen,’ he said, completely ignoring my pretty design and pointing to the photo of the jars of chilli jam. Ilooked at them, bemused. It took a moment, but then the penny dropped.

‘You are kidding me, no!’ I threw his phone back at him and jumped out of my seat, standing with my back against the cooker, putting as much distance as I possibly could between me and the phone. ‘No, oh no. Shit, shit, shit. No.’

I broke into a run there on the spot, swinging my arms across my chest as though I was warming up for a sprint. In fact that was probably the best idea right at that moment. To start running and never to stop. Ever again.

‘Oh God, Matt, please tell me it isn’t so?’

‘’Fraid so,’ he said, unable to hide the smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

I sat back down, took a deep breath and prepared to look at the phone again. Maybe it wouldn’t look quite so bad second time around. Wrong! If anything, it looked a hundred times worse. There, in the corner of my lovely picture of the chilli jams, was me, reflected in the mirror of my wardrobe, wearing only the skimpiest of underwear, holding my camera up to capture my handiwork. And a whole lot more besides, I realised now.

‘Look, it could have been worse,’ said Matt.

‘How?’ I said, close to tears now. ‘How could it possibly be any worse?’

‘Well, you could have been in the nuddy nude. Just think how embarrassing that would have been.’

‘Oh god, I suppose, can you imagine,’ I said, with a sigh, wondering how I’d ever be able to set foot outside my home again. ‘At least I was in my best matching underwear,’ I said, with a reluctant smile.

Matt stood up to give me a hug. ‘Look you know what they say, all publicity is good publicity. And it does mean you have a very big fan base now. They’re calling youThe Red Hot Chilli Girl.’

‘That’s awful, just awful. I’ll take the photo down.’ I grabbed my phone and my fingers fumbled to delete the offending post with a flourish. ‘There!’ I said, as if that made everything better.

‘Trouble is I think you’ve probably been saved onto a thousand hard drives by now. Just brazen it out, Jen. Use it as a positive and build on your success. Honestly, it will be absolutely fine. And one day, you’ll look back on all this and laugh.’

Ha, ha. I was practising, but no, I couldn’t ever see that day coming soon.

Matt walked over to the door to leave. ‘Have a think about what I said about doing those workshops. Today’s probably not the best day for you to make a decision on that, but I think it would be a great opportunity for you and Browns. You’ve created quite a demand now, Jen, and there’s nothing like striking while the iron’s hot.’

As soon as Matt left, I slumped against the door, cradling my head in my arms, before breaking into uncontrollable fits of laughter there on my kitchen floor. What a numpty I’d been. Still, there was nothing I could do about it now. Matt was absolutely right; I needed to make the most of the situation and strike while the iron was hot. I would definitely be taking him up on his offer to run some workshops at the garden centre. Why not? These last few weeks had taught me that I needed to take my chances when I could get them and, along with all the work opportunities coming my way, there was one other big opportunity that I had no intention of overlooking.

I stood and picked up my phone, tapping in the number.

Be bold, be brave, love more!

‘Hi Alex,’ I said, when he picked up, my heart fluttering at the sound of his voice. ‘It’s Jen. There’s something I wanted to ask you…’

25

We must have looked at every wedding venue in town, from the cute and quaint to the chic and sophisticated. What we decided on very early on was that we wanted something fairly intimate, for about forty guests, and in the end, after looking much further afield, we plumped for the local Royal British Legion Club, just down the road, familiar and cosy.

The room was transformed from a fairly standard function hall into a magical romantic oasis by the addition of cream silk roof drapes, a fairy light canopy, roses and peonies along the length of the tables and twinkling topiary trees. Even if I said so myself, I’d done a pretty amazing job.

‘Have I told you, you look absolutely gorgeous today,’ said Gramps, coming up to me for a hug as I took a moment to look around and appreciate that, despite all my worries, the sleepless nights and the last minute panics over the table decorations, the day had been a roaring success. It was the first time I’d been able to properly relax all day, but now that the formalities were over, people had their plates piled high from the amazing buffet provided by a catering friend and the wine and beer were flowing,I was determined to enjoy every single last moment of this happy occasion.

‘Do you really think so?’ I said, giving him a twirl. I’d tried on every dress within a twenty-mile radius of home and discarded each of them before deciding on a two-piece cream flared trouser suit. I hoped it gave off just the right impression. I hadn’t wanted anything too frilly, flouncy or frou frou. I was going for feminine and understated, and judging by the complimentary comments I’d already received I think I’d achieved it.

‘Beautiful! And what you’ve done here, it’s just simply amazing. Marcia couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw it. You really are such a talented and lovely girl. I’m so lucky to have you as my granddaughter, you mean the world to me, you know that. And Marcia too.’

‘Aw, Gramps, you’re looking pretty dapper yourself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you looking so smart. And I’m the lucky one having you as my Gramps.’

‘Well, you know,’ he said, his voice giving a little wobble, ‘I didn’t want to let anyone down today.’

‘What? Are you kidding me? You could never do that, Gramps.’ I gazed up into his moistened eyes and then straightened up the flower in his buttonhole. ‘Don’t you dare go all soppy on me. I’m just about holding it together as it is.’

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