Page 95 of The Cornish Cream Tea Bookshop
‘Right,’ Thea said. ‘We have posters, social media, phone calls to the customers who’ve already bought Sophia tickets. Whoever is doing the social media mans the till, too.’
‘Posters.’ Becky put her hand up. ‘I’ll print them and go round town, slapping them on everything. Marcus Belrose will have to have at least three up in the Happy Shack: I won’t take no for an answer.’
‘I’ll do the phone calls,’ Thea said. ‘Just because some of the people who’ve bought tickets are customers I know quite well.’
‘Or the Port Karadow glitterati,’ Ollie added, opening the box of doughnuts.
Thea rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t you start. You’re as bad as Adrian, who thinks this town has its own set of socialites.’
‘Oh, Liam’s told me all about them,’ Ollie said. ‘We need themallto come to our grand event.’
Thea waggled the bookshop phone. ‘That’s what I’m planning. Though maybe I should leave it to you, seeing as how you persuaded Li— Bryan to change his mind.’
‘I think it was Becky’s speech that did that,’ Ollie said, taking a doughnut when nobody else did.
‘No way,’ Becky replied. ‘It was your outfit, and that reading.’ She guffawed. ‘I wished I’d recorded it. If things don’t work out here, you can always join the Truro am-dram society, work your way into the Minack theatre group. Hey.’ She turned to Thea. ‘Isn’t Finn’s aunt an actor?’
Thea nodded. ‘She’s inEstelle, actually. The new series is starting on the BBC on New Year’s Day.’
‘Whoa, really?’ Ollie said, through a mouthful of doughnut. ‘That’s proper stardom.’
‘And I’ve met Sam Magee and Lila Forest,’ Thea went on, her expression uncharacteristically smug. ‘Meredith’s quite friendly with Charlie, Lila’s cousin, and Charlie owns the Cornish Cream Tea Bus, which is based in Porthgolow—’
‘Great cream teas,’ Becky cut in. ‘I take the kids there sometimes for a treat.’
‘And Charlie’s husband, Daniel, owns Crystal Waters, the spa hotel on top of the cliff.’
‘I did yoga there with Max,’ Ollie said, her brain fuzzing at the bombardment of information. ‘Wait, hang on – this is too many connections. What do these people, Charlie and Daniel, have to do with what we’re talking about?’ She rubbed her eyes. ‘Sorry, I’m still trying to catch up on sleep.’
Becky squeezed her arm. ‘You’ve had a rough few days. And I know I didn’t help, at the hospital. I’m really sorry, Ollie. And I didn’t thank you for letting Dylan see Max. It was so kind of you: Dylan commented on it, too.’
Ollie smiled. ‘Luckily for us, there’s enough Max to go around.’
‘And I think the original point was,’ Becky went on, ‘that your reading was really something. You should extend your role: participate in Book Wars, not just introduce it.’ She stretched along the counter, reaching for a doughnut. ‘What did Max think of your Santa outfit? I assume you sent him the photo?’ She waggled her eyebrows, and Ollie took a moment to marvel at the about-face Becky had done. Perhaps the other woman had simply wanted her to show some vulnerability, prove that there was more beneath the surface.
‘He was quite taken with it,’ she admitted.
Becky laughed. ‘I’ll bet.’
‘What did he say?’ Thea asked. ‘Sorry, that’s probably really personal, but—’
‘He made a terrible, obvious joke about having a heart attack,’ Ollie said, ‘which I told him off for, then he said it was a shame I wasn’t keeping it. Which reminds me, Thea, I’ve got a personal delivery coming here today. I hope that’s OK?’ She hadn’t wanted to risk her Victoria’s Secret purchases being gathered in by Liam or Marion, when she knew the branding would be on the box.
‘I bet it’s a kinky maid’s outfit,’ Becky said. ‘You’d look great in black and white, with all your red hair piled up. Scarlet bra strap showing. I can see that.’ She nodded sagely, and Ollie doubled over.
‘What the hell, Becky?’
Becky grinned. ‘You would, though!’
‘This is a lot classier than a maid’s outfit. I’ll show you when it arrives, if you like?’
‘I’d love,’ Becky said. ‘I’ve got a third date with a guy, Jerry, who I really like. I need some ideas.’
‘Oooh, who’s Jerry?’ Thea asked.
‘I met him at this—’ Becky sighed. ‘Shit. Should we do this later? We really need to start promoting Secret Bryan, or we’re going to have a lot of pissed-off customers.’
Thea grimaced. ‘You’re right. Let’s make a start, then we can reconvene at twelve for a quick strategy update, coffee and doughnuts, and you can tell us about Jerry. OK?’
