‘You don’t have long to get everything ready, are you sure you’re up for it?’
‘Completely, one hundred per cent in.’
‘It’ll be good to have you around for a while longer. And even better when Barney is back to himself, walking down The Street, bossing us all around.’
‘I hope he’s back to doing that soon.’ Melissa hated hearing that others also thought Barney had changed since his fall, but it was all the more reason to ensure this event went off without a hitch. ‘What’s the cake going to be like?’ she ventured now she knew this part of the conundrum was sorted.
‘You know Barney, he could get a more impressive cake elsewhere but he wanted to keep it local. We went for a very simple strawberries-and-cream cake.’
‘The taste of summer, as always,’ Melissa smiled. ‘Barney said that in the early years of running the ball he’d put out a traditional white-iced fruit cake but he always had a lot left over after the event. On a whim he tried something different and never looked back.’
‘That’s right,’ Jade remembered. ‘We’ve made lemon drizzle, there was a peaches-and-cream cake once, and another year it was a lemon-and-elderflower cake.’
‘I’ll confirm exact numbers when we’ve spread the word that the event is still on.’
‘Great, but for now I’ll base it on the numbers from before plus extras in case. And between you and me, there’s no way anyone will back out. Barney is well-loved around here, and the same goes for the ball. It’s one of the best fundraisers out there. If you have some flyers, bring one in and I’ll pop it in the window.’
‘That would be amazing. Harvey is off getting them printed now, I’ll drop one in.’
‘Bring a whole pile, I’ll hand them out to customers.’
‘Thank you. Perhaps we’ll get some interest from outside the village as well.’
Jade was more sceptical. ‘It’s good to see new faces unless you get the rowdy lot we had in three years back. Almost wrecked the barn, they did. We would’ve had to call the police if Harvey hadn’t stepped in – he was like a bouncer, throwing them out on their ears then guarding the door. Nobody dared mess with him after they’d see him in action.’
‘I can imagine.’ He’d do anything to protect Barney and his property, as well as the community, and he’d probably have had women falling at his feet. She could just picture him dressed in a tux, looking the part. The first time Melissa had seen him wearing one, when he took her to her first Wedding Dress Ball, she could barely speak. Jaw-droppingly handsome, Harvey Luddington was the catch of the village, and once upon a time she’d been the girl every other single female in Heritage Cove envied. ‘Well, let’s just hope we don’t get anything like that this year.’
‘Remember to contact the local newspaper about the event too, they usually cover it.’
‘We don’t have that on the list but I’ll make sure we contact them,’ said Melissa. ‘It should be a year to remember.’
‘It always is. I can’t believe Barney even thought about cancelling it altogether.’
‘He’s quite infuriating when he makes up his mind about something. He seems to think he’s past it because of this fall and won’t be told it could’ve happened to anyone.’
‘It must be all the more frustrating after not seeing him in so long.’
‘It is,’ Melissa said, looking down at the display cabinet instead of at Jade.
‘Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it, people around here know that everyone has their own story to tell. None of us can write the endings for someone else.’
‘Nobody ever put it like that. I appreciate it, thank you.’
‘Anytime. And here – take an orange-and-poppyseed muffin, on the house.’ She lifted a muffin out with a pair of tongs, dropped it into a bag and handed it to Melissa. ‘It’s been lovely to catch up, don’t be a stranger.’
‘I promise I won’t.’
Back at the inn Melissa made a couple of phone calls – one to the florist, the other to the portaloo company to confirm their booking, which thankfully was one that had survived the cull. Then she moved straight on to her next task, driving to the caterers who she didn’t seem to be able to get hold of over the phone. Every call went to an answer service and she wasn’t interested in leaving a message. They were based in the next village and it was quicker to go there in person, but when she arrived at their premises she realised why they’d been incommunicado. They’d closed down, a big sign plastered across the door telling everyone who showed up that that was the case. Barney had booked them at the start of the year and left a phone message to cancel, so he probably had no idea.
Melissa drove back to Heritage Cove wondering what on earth she was going to do about the food. Usually there was an enormous spread, a range to please everyone – plates of delicate finger sandwiches, goujons, dips, pork-and-apple sausage rolls, breaded prawns – a whole list of foods prepared by the professionals. Melissa had sat outside the closed-down caterers and made a few calls but had no luck finding anyone.
She parked up at the inn as Sandy came outside to water the hanging basket at the front entrance. ‘You look stressed,’ Sandy began, stretching up and tilting the watering can into the basket. The surplus trickled down and splashed onto the concrete.
Melissa explained how she and Harvey had taken over organising this year’s ball.
‘I went last year,’ Sandy smiled, watering the other side of the basket to get even coverage. ‘It was my first time. I’d watched my parents go every year and couldn’t wait to join in.’ Her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail today, she hadn’t bothered to straighten out the curls she’d inherited from her mum. ‘My boyfriend panicked when I first brought out a white dress. He’s not from around here, I think he thought I wanted to trick him into a wedding.’
Melissa laughed. ‘I can see why he’d be worried.’
