Page 80 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
We all nod, touched at Amber’s emotional speech, but at the same time mystified.
‘Right then, my round!’ she announces in a tight voice. ‘Same again, everyone?’
Without waiting for an answer, Amber leaps up and heads off to the bar.
‘Is she OK?’ Woody asks, looking worriedly after her. ‘She seems a bit upset.’
I watch Amber at the bar as she waits to order from Rita.
‘Yes, I think so,’ I say, remembering what my mother said on the phone yesterday. ‘But I have a feeling there might be a bit more to our Amber than a few crystal beads and some incense. I think she’s hiding something.’
‘What sort of something?’ Jake asks, looking up at Amber waiting at the bar.
‘I’m not sure. But knowing St Felix, whatever it is, I bet being here is already making it better.’
Twenty-seven
Lobelia – Malevolence
Amber and I stand together in the ballroom of Trecarlan, the evening sun filtering through the windows and highlighting the dust covering every surface, and the cobwebs hanging from each corner of the room.
‘I didn’t know it was this bad,’ Amber says, looking around her. ‘How are we going to transform this into a wedding venue?’
‘We will. I’ve already had numerous offers of help from people in St Felix.’
The offers had started coming in that night at the pub. As soon as we’d told Rita and Richie what we were hoping to do for Katie and Jonathan, they’d immediately begun putting the word out with their customers. News spreads fast around St Felix, and I’d been inundated with people volunteering to help with the cleaning-up process, or offering to lend a hand with the décor, music and catering.
So all I had to do now was turn the offers into something concrete and we’d be away. I’d called an emergency meeting of the Parish Council to discuss what I wanted to do, and we were meeting with them on Thursday to get the go-ahead.
‘We’re only here today,’ I tell Amber, ‘to work out exactly how we’re going to run this. I’ve never done anything like it before, have you?’
Amber shakes her head. ‘And to think a couple of days ago I was worrying about a few flowers! Now you’ve got us organising the whole wedding. How did that happen?’
‘I don’t know.’ I shrug. ‘This really isn’t my sort of thing at all. I just wanted to help them, you know. They seem such a lovely couple.’
‘Ahh…’ Amber points to my chest. ‘I told you there was a heart in there somewhere, and I think we’ve finally found it!’
‘You’re hilarious,’ I tell her, rolling my eyes. ‘How about you get that pad out of your handbag while I stop laughing, then we can start making some notes.’
‘Don’t bother, Amber!’ A shrill voice which sounds worryingly like Caroline’s calls across the ballroom. ‘Because no wedding is going to be held here.’
We both turn to see Caroline striding across the ballroom floor wearing a navy Barbour jacket and green Hunter wellington boots.
‘What makes you think you can tell us what to do?’ I snap, annoyed that she’s already trying to ruin things. Caroline and I haven’t had much to do with each other since my first night here in St Felix, but I’ve bumped into her enough around the town, and heard so many negative things about her from people that I know her reputation is well deserved. She could make real trouble for us if she put her mind to it.
‘Because the Parish Council simply won’t allow it,’ Caroline says, untying a paisley scarf from her head. ‘You don’t have a licence, for one thing.’
‘A licence?’ Amber asks, bewildered.
‘Yes, my American friend,’ Caroline gloats, patting her hair into place. ‘A building here in England needs to be approved by the local council to make it legal to hold a civil wedding ceremony on the premises. If you try to hold your wedding here it will be illegal and I shall have you arrested.’
‘Oh really?’ I ask, trying not to look smug.
‘Yes, I think you’ll find that’s the law,’ Caroline smirks, folding her arms in front of her tiny chest.
I smile back at her with equal warmth. ‘Except, Caroline, we don’t want to hold the ceremony here, only the reception. Andthat, as far as I’m aware, does not require express permission from the council, and is most certainlynotillegal, now is it?’
Caroline’s body stiffens slightly but she continues unabated.
