Page 100 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
We all stand as quietly as we can, waiting for our signal, and then we hear Jake’s voice.
‘What the hell is going on, Woody? Why have you brought me here?’
‘Go!’ someone shouts, and we all jump out of the powder room calling ‘Surprise!’
But it’s not just Jake who gets a shock. So do we when we see him standing in the middle of the ballroom with his arms handcuffed behind his back.
‘What the hell?’ he cries, seeing us all.
‘Happy birthday, Dad!’ yell Bronte and Charlie, rushing forward to hug him with Miley in their arms.
Jake tries to hug them back, but finds he’s still incapacitated.
‘So this is why you arrested me in my own home!’ Jake exclaims, turning to Woody, as Miley climbs on to his shoulder. ‘I thought you’d lost it!’
‘Sorry, Jake,’ Woody says, pulling a key from his pocket and unlocking the handcuffs. ‘It was my job to get you here without you guessing what was going on, and that was the only thing I could think of that was guaranteed to work.’
‘Arresting me?’ Jake says, rubbing at his wrists.
‘I did check with Bronte and Charlie first,’ Woody says, looking embarrassed. ‘They said you wouldn’t mind.’
‘I bet they did,’ Jake says gruffly, turning to his children. ‘However…’ He stops pretending to be cross and grins. ‘I think I can forgive you. This all looks amazing!’
‘Have a drink, Jake,’ Lou says, thrusting a glass of bubbly into his hand. ‘Happy birthday!’ she says, lifting her own glass.
‘Thank you, Lou.’ Jake turns around to face his guests. ‘Cheers, everyone!’ He lifts his glass in a toast. ‘And thank you all for coming!’
The party is a great success; one of the local bands we had at the wedding is playing, and people soon begin flooding on to the dance floor to boogie the night away. There is plenty of booze (another pop-up bar provided by the Merry Mermaid) and refreshments (provided by St Felix’s new catering team of Richie, Ant and Dec).
‘How fabulous is this?’ I ask Charlie a bit later when I bump into him at the buffet table. ‘You and Bronte have done brilliantly.’
‘We couldn’t have done it without you, Poppy, and the rest of the town chipping in to help,’ he says. ‘Everyone wanted to be involved again, that’s how we ended with so much stuff.’ He gestures to the long table. ‘Even after Ant and Dec offered to cater for us, we still had loads of offers of sandwiches and desserts. We didn’t know what to do with it all.’
‘That’s because your dad is so popular.’ I look at the plates of food set out on the table. ‘It seems to be disappearing rapidly. I don’t think you’ll have a lot left.’
‘I know, the people of St Felix sure are hungry!’
‘My son!’ Jake comes over and wraps his arm around Charlie. It looks as though he’s had quite a few drinks already. ‘Aren’t I the luckiest dad in the world to have two fantastic children?’
‘Yes, without a doubt.’ I smile at Jake. It’s good to see him again. We haven’t seen each other properly since the strange events at his nursery, and I’d wondered if tonight might be a bit awkward. But judging by the look on Jake’s face it’s anything but.
‘And can you believe how old I am today, Poppy?’
I open my mouth to reply, but he continues: ‘Forty! Forty years old – when did that happen?’
I shake my head.
‘I just wish Felicity was here to see all this.’ He throws his arm out to the ballroom. ‘She always loved a party, especially birthdays.’ The happiness in his face changes to sadness.
Charlie puts a hand on his father’s shoulder. ‘I’m sure Mum is here in spirit, Dad.’
Jake nods. ‘Yes, you’re right. Did I ever tell you, Charlie, what a good kid you are?’
Charlie grins. ‘Just a few times tonight.’
‘Good, good,’ Jake says, patting him on the back. ‘Now then, Poppy,’ Jake says, swaying a little as he lets go of Charlie. ‘Do you dance?’
‘Er…’
