Page 107 of The Last Saturday In July
‘But she’s your best friend, Jess, I can’t believe you’re just ...’
‘I’m not just anything.’ Jess was fierce. ‘Trust me.’
There was a charged silence. Finally, Simon turned back to his laptop. ‘It looks like I don’t have a choice.’
Jess stared at the ingredients on the counter. Her life was a ball of twine that had started to unravel the night she’d met Adam. She and Simon might eventually move past this, but she wasn’t sure if she and Kate ever would. Crucially, their delicate three-way friendship would be broken forever.
But what if Kate could find a way back into their lives? How would she feel, knowing that Kate wanted more than friendship from Simon? For the moment, at least, despite Simon’s feelings for Kate and Luke, he guessed his relationship with Jess was too fragile to mess up. For the first time in ages, it seemed they were on exactly the same page.
Chapter 42
THE celebrity wedding was the lead item on the news the following day. Jess felt a small thrill as she watched coverage of TV crews descending on the small village of Linford, as national and international journalists interviewed the locals and did to-camera reports from outside the gates of the castle. It was exactly the kind of publicity they needed.
She and Simon had booked their flights and hotel for the last two weeks in September. After swearing for so long that he wanted a short winter break, he’d agreed that Rome in September would be perfect. Maybe he’d guessed that his parents wanted to make them a present of their honeymoon. Or he simply had more time now he hadn’t made partner, Jess thought a bit guiltily. Either way, their wedding suddenly felt much more real.
Jess was on the bus to work when she got a text from Ian to check out the latest story on iNews. With a feeling of dread, she clicked onto the site.
Vegas Entertainers forced to pull out of Dinardia/Deneuve fairy-tale Irish Wedding
American dance troupe Joie de Vivre has been forced to pull out of the celebrity wedding of American reality TV star, Chelsea Deneuve to Vegas casino king Leo Dinardia, after eighteen of the thirty-strong group were hospitalised when the coach in which they were travelling overturned on the highway. All of the injured are reported to be in a stable condition.
The troupe, which performs regularly at Leo’s Vegas hotels, had been due to arrive in Ireland today.
Jess skipped past the details of the wedding, Chelsea’s last abandoned wedding in Vegas, and her and Leo’s recent problems, to read the last paragraph.
All of this has fuelled speculation that the celebrity couple could become the latest victims of the Linford Curse ...
She stopped reading and quickly checked the other news sites, knowing that the Linford Curse would be all across the media again.
She rang Ian as she took the stairs to her office. ‘Any idea what Leo and Chelsea are planning to do?’
Ian sighed. ‘Not a clue. Sure look, there have to be hundreds of professional dance troupes that could do the job, but the way Angel’s going on, you’d swear the world was about to end. I know they’ll have less than two days’ notice, and Leo and Chelsea might have to compromise a bit, but I sometimes wonder whose side Angel is on.’
Jess shouldered open her office door. ‘Listen, I might have another idea. Leave it with me.’ She hung up and rang Moira who picked up on the final ring. ‘Hi, Nana, is this a good time?’
‘Jess, how are you? Always a good time to talk to one of my favourite granddaughters. But I get the feeling that you’re not phoning for a chat.’
‘I promise I’ll phone you this evening.’ Jess smiled. ‘I need to talk to Finn if he’s there.’
‘He’s bringing in my shopping.’ Jess heard her call him. ‘Here he is now, pet.’
‘Jess?’ Finn sounded worried. ‘Is Zoe all right?’
‘She’s fine, this isn’t about Zoe.’ Maybe she’d been a bit hard on Finn. ‘I have a proposition for you. For your whole troupe, actually. But you’d have to do an awful lot of work very quickly.’
‘What’s it for?’
‘The Linford celebrity wedding. It’s in two days’ time, but we’re really stuck.’
‘Weren’t they supposed to have a troupe of Vegas dancers at their wedding?’
‘They’ve been in an accident. Look, can you wing it? Adapt some of yourum, performances? We’d supply all the costumes. ThinkMoulin Rougecostumes with French music from the thirties and forties.’
There was a short silence on the phone. Then Finn gave a snort of laughter. ‘Not exactly ground-breaking stuff. We’ve all done loads of improv, so it’ll be no bother. What’s the money like?’
Jess released a breath. ‘That’s the best part. But we’re not there yet. I still have to convince the guy calling the shots.’
Chapter 43
