Page 28 of The Matchmaker
“Katie,” Nush presses.
“What?” I ask, turning to her. There’s a look on her face that’s nothing short of zealous.
“I’m in.”
“What?” My tone softens by about ninety percent. “Really?”
“Yes,” she says, beaming. “I love a long con.”
“It’s not a…well, okay, it’s a bit of a con, but—”
“You’re not serious,” Gemma interrupts.
“I’m deadly serious,” Nush says. “Katie’s right; nothing else has worked. Plus, I’m really good at projects. I’m a very goal-oriented person.”
Gemma mutters something under her breath, and I swing back to her.
“I can do it without you,” I say. “But I don’t want to.”
“It’s not that I’m okay with what they’re doing,” she says. “But it’s going to be a lot harder than you think to pull off something like this.”
“So help me. Help Adam. He’ll get behind it if you will.”
“How does that check out?”
“You have an air of authority.”
She scoffs, but I can see the indecision in her eyes. Behind her, the washing machine starts spinning so rapidly it begins to shake, and Nush pouts, widening her eyes until Gemma sighs.
“This might not work,” she says. “You need to be aware of that.”
“Is this your way of telling me you’re in?”
“I… fine. Yes. I’m in.Don’thug me,” she adds, as I go to do just that. “Adam wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he lost that pub. I’d be a shit friend if I did nothing about it.”
I grin at her, placing my hand into the center of our little circle. Nush immediately places hers on top.
Gemma just looks at me. “Really?”
“Don’t be lame,” I moan. “Join the dream team.”
“You guys are ridiculous,” she mutters, but she puts her hand on top anyway, and the pact is complete.
I sit back, not realizing how nervous I’d been that she’d say no. “And that’s the hard part done.”
“I’mthe hard part?” she asks, sounding insulted.
“The hardest,” I shrug. “You’re a natural cynic. Now that I’ve got you and, by extension, Adam on my side, everyone else will fall in line.”
Simple.
* * *
“But the festival hasn’t run in years.”
I meet the eye of John Joe Byrne at the back of the room and force down a sigh. We’ve been having the same conversation in various guises for the past ten minutes, and I’m running out of ways to spin this thing.
After I convinced the girls, Nush threw out the agenda for the village’s usual Friday meeting so we could discuss our latest emergency. I knew the threat to Kelly’s would be the last straw for many of us, but I have to admit, I thought they’d be a little quicker to jump aboard the festival train. Even after my explanation and then downright pleading, I still see more than one unconvinced face in front of me.
