Page 19 of The Last Saturday In July
‘Tell me,’ Úna said, ‘are she and her boyfriend still an item?’
Jess guessed that Úna was asking in case someone could be dropped from the bride’s side of the guest list.
‘Finn?’ Carmel pursed her lips. ‘Still very much together.’
‘Simon tells me he’s some sort of artist.’
‘A performance artist.’
‘Oh.’ Úna frowned.
Carmel pulled the belt around her summer jacket. ‘Actually, he and his troupe are giving a performance in town on Friday night.’
‘Well, that’s encouraging. I hope it goes well.’
‘You’d be more than welcome to come along,’ Carmel said.
‘Isn’t Finn’s stuff very experimental?’ Kate said quickly.
Jess tried to catch Kate’s eye. What was she doing?
‘I’m sure Úna can make up her own mind.’ Carmel smoothed down her jacket.
‘Well, obviously The Judge and I like to support the artswhenever we can.’
Carmel rummaged in her handbag and found a small flyer.
‘Here’s the details, Theatre Underground on the quays.’
Úna’s hand fluttered to her throat. ‘Is it easy to get parking? We might have to take a taxi.’
‘You and Edward don’t live too far from us.’ Carmel seemed pleased to have the upper hand. ‘Why don’t I collect you both at seven?’
Kate was quiet as they walked back to the office, and Jess wondered if she’d been a bit hurt by the way Carmel had responded to her comment about Finn. After Kate’s mother died, Carmel had treated her like another daughter but, the fact was, Kate wasn’t her daughter. Jess sighed. She mustn’t overthink it. Kate was a weird mix of inner strength and incredible neediness, and sometimes it could be a bit exhausting.
By the time she closed her office door behind her, she felt ridiculously tense.
Locking the door, she slipped off her shoes, lay down on her back and popped open the top button of her skirt. Wriggling close to the skirting so that her bottom just touched it, she stretched her legs up against the wall. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing. A few minutes later, she opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling.
It was no good, she couldn’t relax. There was a constant niggle of worry about the celebrity wedding. Which made no sense, since the Linford staff would have everything in hand, and Chelsea was bound to have an entourage. Nothing could go wrong.
Meanwhile, thanks to Kate and Zoe and the two mothers, her own wedding was falling perfectly into place. Really, all she had to do was turn up and marry Simon. But for some reason, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her job and her personal life were on a collision course for the last Saturday of the month.
Chapter 10
JESS finished a video call the following morning with Ian, Zoe and Gemma, the stylist they’d engaged for the upcoming photo and video shoot at the hotel. She’d been a bit disappointed when Ian had advised her to avoid the swans on Linford’s river for the shoot, because one of the sous chefs had had to get a tetanus shot after the female swan bit him on the arse. Apparently, she’d only been defending her cygnets. Still, getting selfies with wildlife seemed fraught with danger.
Frank, meanwhile, still hadn’t replied to her email outlining her marketing proposal for Linford. Her campaign for TV and social media was a good jumping-off point but she couldn’t do anything without his approval.
In an effort to include Kate in the excitement of a new campaign, Jess had filled her in, but she got the distinct impression that she wasn’t interested. In fact, ever since her engagement to Simon, Kate had been blinkered to everything except making sure her two best friends had the perfect wedding. Jess knew she should be grateful: Kate was an amazing bridesmaid. But recently Jess had realised just how close Kate was to Simon, which meant there was no way she could tell Kate what she’d done.
The truth was that Kate’s whole world revolved around Luke and her dad, Jess and Simon. The last time she’d even dated was when one of the other accountants had set her up with her cousin. Afterwards, Kate had bluntly told her colleague she didn’t care how many eligible cousins she had, she wasn’t going on any more awful blind dates. Kate deserved some male attention from somebody other than her dad, her son and her best friend’s fiancé.
Jess messaged David.Organising drinks so you can meet a few people. Would next Monday or Tuesday evening suit? Jess. X
‘Jess?’
She looked up to find Adam leaning against the doorjamb, his hands in his trouser pockets.
