Page 45 of Summer in Sunset Harbour
‘You’ve got to wear a dress,’ Geoffrey said. ‘What about bright red? Something that’ll crash the ships out in the Channel.’
‘Don’t be silly.’
Geoffrey grinned. ‘What about we celebrate how we met and you wear a grass skirt?’
‘We were only dressing like that because we were off the grid,’ Lindsay said.
‘What about something cotton? That’s a plant? Call it a compromise.’
‘Gets my vote,’ Barney said. ‘You know, as best man and everything.’
‘You’re the best man?’ Josie asked.
Lindsay smiled. Josie stared at her a moment, still unable to come to terms with the change. Lindsay was shedding years on a daily basis. She was talking regularly to her family via video call and had introduced them to Geoffrey and Barney. Even Josie and Tiffany had said a quick hello.
‘We’d like you to be a bridesmaid,’ Lindsay said.
Josie nearly choked. ‘What?’
‘At our wedding. We’d like you, Tiffany and Hilda to all be bridesmaids.’
Josie lifted an eyebrow. ‘Is that an acceptable average age for bridesmaids?’
‘It’s is now. Tiffany said she can’t wait to start shopping for matching dresses, although she was a little disappointed when I said she couldn’t wear a hat. Maybe a tiara or something. I think you’d all look lovely with them.’
Josie grimaced. ‘Right. Well, I need to go and have a word with her. Thanks for doing the flowers.’
She found Tiffany in the reception cabin, hunched over the computer.
‘What’s this about commercial radio use?’ Josie said.
Tiffany looked up and grinned. ‘Oh, that. I had a look online, and picked the only station that doesn’t have Dad’s song on its A-playlist. I thought you’d appreciate it.’
‘Ha, thanks. You shouldn’t lie to the staff, though.’
‘Radio South Coast Cornwall has the best music anyway. A mixture of dodgy eighties hits and sea shanties.’
‘Sounds wonderful. And what about going dress shopping?’
‘Lindsay’s going a little crazy over this wedding thing. I thought it would be great if we had matching dresses. Perhaps we can even make them ourselves?’
‘We have less than a month.’
‘Yeah, not so likely.’ Tiffany’s smile dropped. ‘So … do you want the bad news?’
‘It’s about the hole, isn’t it?’
‘Uh huh.’ Tiffany sighed. ‘I’ve gone through the historical records, and can’t find anything about a mine on this site, but that just means an actual working mine. There were speculatory shafts and tunnels dug all over the place, looking for ore seams, many of which aren’t registered anywhere. What it does mean is that we’ll need a land survey done, to make sure. Otherwise, if we open the campsite and there’s an accident, we’ll be in big trouble. At the very least we’ll get shut down.’
‘And let me guess … it’s expensive?’
Tiffany whistled through her teeth and rubbed her fingers together. ‘Did you know, Dad’s song is now number one in France. Perhaps we could ask him for a loan?’
‘I’d rather sell my underwear.’
Tiffany gave her a sour look. ‘I doubt that’ll pay for a survey, Mum.’
‘So, what do we do?’
