Page 50 of For Love or Money
‘No bother,’ she said, smiling kindly at him. ‘I’m sure YouTube will be nothing to you, Al, with your theatrical background. You’ll probably put us all to shame.’
Much as she was enjoying this, Lesley felt she had to step in and rescue Al. ‘Mam, there’s no reason for Al to be in the proposal.’
‘Of course he should be in it! He’s practically one of the family now.’ She winked at Al, and Lesley cringed.
‘Mam!’
‘Maybe Tom will return the favour when it’s your turn.’
Lesley blushed. ‘We’ll probably never see him again once Katrina dumps him after thisLa La Landfiasco,’ she said sulkily.
‘Lesley, don’t start that again. You’ve already ruined one of your poor sister’s romances. Is that not enough for you? She’d be married to Derek by now if it wasn’t for you.’
‘He was a cheater!’
‘Well, she’d have had to change him, of course,’ her mother said begrudgingly, ‘but all relationships take a bit of work.’
‘I did her a favour, and you know it,’ Lesley said.
Miriam ignored her. ‘We’re starting rehearsals next Monday evening, Al. I hope you’re free then?’
‘Um … yes. I can arrange to be.’
‘Great! And you,’ she said, turning to Lesley, ‘do something with that bird’s nest of yours. You can’t go on YouTube with that hair.’
‘This is the only hair I’ve got!’ Lesley said indignantly. ‘If you’re so worried I’ll mess it up, maybe I shouldn’t even be in this stupid proposal video.’
‘That’s enough of that,’ her mother said, pointing a finger at her. ‘You’ll propose to your sister if it’s the last thing you do. Now, more cake anyone? Al, would you like a “scon”?’
‘Well, you were a big hit,’Lesley said when they were outside in Lesley’s car. ‘Even Dad liked you.’That’s a great fella you’ve got there, Lesley, her father had whispered in her ear as they were leaving. Lesley was a bit stunned. He’d never taken to one of her boyfriends like that before.
‘So what did you do to break up your sister’s last relationship?’ Al asked.
‘I found out her boyfriend was cheating on her.’
‘Oh.’ He grimaced. ‘That’s tough. How did you find out?’
‘I carried out surveillance on him – followed him around, staked out his house, that sort of thing. That’s where I earned my stripes as a PI.’
‘She had her suspicions about him, then?’
‘No, I did it off my own bat. I wasn’t particularly expecting anything. But then I caught him red-handed.’ She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. ‘Well, not exactly red-handed.’
‘She had a lucky escape, then, thanks to you.’
‘She wasn’t as grateful as you might expect.’ Katrina had acted almost as if the cheating was Lesley’s fault – as though not knowing about it meant it wasn’t real. ‘Sorry you were bamboozled into being in the proposal. But it’s your own fault, really. You were the one who insisted I change my Facebook status.’
‘What exactly is it going to involve?’
‘We’re doing this big musical number – about twenty of their friends and family horsing around lip-synching, basically carrying on like we’re all in love with Katrina and want to marry her.’
‘That sounds quite ...’
‘Shite! I know. Imagine what’s supposed to be one of the most romantic moments of your life starting off with dad-dancing! Not to mention the pressure for poor Tom, popping the question with everyone they know standing there expectantly.’ She did jazz hands, accompanied by a manic showbiz grin.
‘Maybe Katrina will like it.’
Lesley shook her head. ‘She won’t. She’ll hate it – which is a shame, because Tom’s lovely. But Mam won’t let me tell him, so I have to stand by and watch him crash and burn. Worse, in fact – I have to dance around the fire doing harmonies and pouring on petrol.’
