Page 130 of The Wedding Dress Repair Shop
We didn’t make any terribly exciting discoveries, but at least all the trotting to and fro and dragging furniture about must have burned off some of the calories.
Mind you, when Viv produced some Eccles cakes she’d been trying her hand at baking for the first time, we fell on them as if we hadn’t eaten for a week. They were irresistibly delicious, too: golden and crispy on top and moist with fruit inside. And we still managed to do justice to an Indian takeaway later, so I suspect my calorie intake for the day was the equivalent of what I usually eat in a week.
We’d been sitting around the kitchen table chatting generally and I was feeling full, happy and a bit sleepy, when Honey startled me awake by saying, brightly, ‘Just think, only two weeks tomorrow until the museum opens!’
I groaned. ‘I’ve been tryingnotto think about it, because it seems to be rushing towards me.’
‘I know – it’s very exciting!’ she said enthusiastically. ‘I’m finalizing the arrangements for the day and I’ve decided to invite selected guests for a champagne reception at half past eleven in the foyer, before opening the doors to the public at twelve thirty. Kay and Ella suggested admittance should be free for the first afternoon, which seems a good idea.’
‘I suppose the private event will give the TV people a chance to film us with guests,’ I said. ‘Then the closing shots when the public come in.’
‘Yes, I think it should work very well, and I’ll invite some press, too.’
‘Who else are you asking to this private reception?’ Pearl asked.
‘All of you, of course, the Rev. Jo-Jo, the mayor and lots of local people, including Baz and Derek, Ginny, the Marinos from the puppet theatre if they’re around then, the landlord of the Sun in Splendour and his wife, and Rani from the Minimart,’ she listed. ‘And, of course, your friend George from the V&A, Garland, who I hope will stay a night or two.’
‘He’s been so involved with the collection, I’m sure he’ll want to be here,’ I said.
‘Sonia Weston will be there too, of course … and I know I’ve forgotten to mention several people just now, but I’ve got a list,’ Honey said. ‘I hope all the local shopkeepers come because the museum should attract more visitors to spend money in the town.’
‘I hadn’t thought about that, but you’re right, it could be good for local businesses,’ said Pearl eagerly. ‘Hmm … I must think about a special display in the bookshop window, although, of course, I’ll have to close for part of the day if I come to the drinks party.’
‘You can put a sign on the door, saying when you’ll be back,’ suggested Simon.
‘I hope Georgecanmake it,’ I said. ‘It’s ages since I last saw him.’
‘I expect he will, and we’ll also have another guest staying with us, because I’ve invited Lyn Kirk, my and Viv’s agent, as well.’
‘You share an agent?’ Thom said to Viv, looking surprised. ‘I would have thought agents who represented poets were very specialized?’
As always when Thom spoke or even just looked directly at her, Viv went pink and seemed to shrink into her chair, as if trying to become invisible. The fork dropped from her hand and she dived under the table to retrieve it.
Rory was lurking under there, and I could hear him enthusiastically welcoming her. She emerged looking ruffled.
‘It’s unusual for an agent who represents novelists to also take on a poet, but Lyn was at university with us, so it’s just a favour, when Viv needs any advice or representation,’ explained Honey. ‘In fact, when we were students, the three of us used to hole up in a cottage and write during the summer vacations, but then Lyn decided her forte was more in looking after authors’ interests than being one.’
I remembered something she’d once told me. ‘Wasn’t your agent originally your ex-fiancé, Honey?’
‘He was. That’s how we met. I chose him out ofThe Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, because he specialized in thrillers and psychological suspense, but of course, after he jilted me, I switched my business to Lyn, who by then had set up her own agency.’
‘Are you going to invite your ex-fiancé to the opening event, too?’ asked Thom, curiously.
‘Oh, I think so –andhis partner. It seems only fair when I’mgoing to reveal the full story of why he jilted me, along with my wedding dress!’
I think we all looked expectant, because she laughed and said she supposed she could tell us the whole tale now.
‘Some of the circumstances were a little humiliating at the time, so I kept them quiet.’
Of course, I’d already heard most of it before: how, when the groom didn’t turn up at the church, she’d jumped into her car and hared off to the best man’s cottage, where they had both been staying, to see what had happened to them.
‘The door was wide open and when I went in, there were bloodstains everywhere and no sign of Nick Riddick, my fiancé. Then I heard groaning and found the best man, Charlie Neston, lying on the bed with a bad head wound.
‘The owner of the estate the cottage was on, a cousin of Charlie’s, turned up and rang the police and it all got a bit confusing once they arrived, because there I was with the front of my wedding dress covered in blood, although actually most of that came from a wet towel Nick must have been trying to clean up the head wound with.’
‘The police actually thought you’d bashed the best man?’ asked Simon, with interest.
‘Only briefly. Luckily, before they carted Charlie off in an ambulance, he said he’d had a fight with Nick and kept asking for him.’
