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Nikki tried not to laugh. Tamara wasn’t fazed.
‘Thursday then?’
Suzanne pretended to check her calendar. ‘I think that’s good for me.’
‘Great.’ Tamara typed the date into her phone. ‘I’ll see you here at one?’
‘She’s either going to bin me or sign me up,’ sighed Suzanne as Tamara walked off. ‘I don’t know if I can stand the stress.’
‘Don’t let it wind you up. It might be the project from hell. If you don’t get it, you might have dodged a bullet.’
‘I want the challenge.’ Suzanne wrinkled her nose. ‘And it would be big money. The little jobs are just pin money, really. I want to go large. I want to be someone, not just a small fish in a small pond.’
Nikki felt a ripple of fear that Suzanne might get her fingers burnt if she was too ambitious. But she didn’t want to clip her wings by being negative. ‘The universe will give you what you need,’ she said in the end.
Suzanne looked at her, puzzled. ‘What?’
‘I’m doing a wedding for a manifester. I think it’s rubbed off on me.’
Suzanne laughed. ‘I’m going to do a bit of networking.’ She took in a deep breath. ‘Wish me luck.’
She pushed her way into the fray. Nikki thought how far she’d come from the shy teenager who’d been on holiday down here when Graham met her in the Neptune. Suzanne had been the quiet one amongst all her rowdy mates who were celebrating after finishing their A levels. She hadn’t wanted to go back to the tent, because it was all getting very messy and out of control. Graham took her back to Mariners, installed her in one of the spare beds and she’d never gone back to the campsite.
Adam tapped her on the shoulder.
‘I’m going to slip off. I’m not used to circulating. I’ve kind of hit the wall.’
Nikki hesitated. Should she offer to come with him? She imagined them walking back along the cliff road, the night air cooling around them, the scent of sea and honeysuckle blossom mingling with his cologne. Then she realised he probably wanted to be alone with his thoughts after his first public foray into Speedwell life.
‘No problem.’
‘Will you be OK to get back on your own?’
‘Yes – I’ll get a lift from someone, I expect.’
‘See you soon.’ He kissed her cheek, touched her elbow in a gesture of appreciation, and was gone.
The room felt strangely empty once he’d left. Even though nearly everyone was still there, and the chatter was loud, and the glasses were still being filled. Nikki couldn’t summon up the energy or enthusiasm to talk to anyone else. She should have gone with him.
Then she saw her mum arrive, in a white linen dress with denim espadrilles, her hair loosely pinned up. Her mum was glowing, she thought. Was it down to Ralph Potter?
‘Mum! You look amazing.’
‘It’s this new bronzer.’ Helen patted her cheekbones, but her eyes were sparkling.
It was weird, Nikki thought, seeing her mum come to life after so many years. Not that she’d been a downtrodden drudge, but she spent so much time looking out for other people and never put herself first. Maybe now was her time?
She heard a ting from the depths of her mum’s handbag and saw her jump, then grab her phone, reading the message hungrily.
‘Mum. You’re like a teenager.’
‘I know. It’s embarrassing.’
But Helen couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.
28
Helen couldn’t wait to get home from the party to answer Ralph’s message. It was something she wanted to savour in private. Not that there was anything salacious in his messages – far from it. But they were warm and funny and descriptive and they made her feel giddy with happiness. So she made her way around the room, saying hello to everyone she knew, then hotfooted it home as soon as was polite.
