Page 26 of The Perfect Gift

A warm glow spread through Frankie as she picked up the tray of drinks. ‘I’d like that too.’ Maybe it wouldn’t have to be a goodbye and she’d be able to surprise them with some good news about her staying on for Christmas.

Frankie’s good mood carried her along the walk through the village and she lost count of the number of smiles, nods and morning greetings she received as she made her way to work. The wind was fierce on the steep walk up the hill to the castle’s imposing position on top of the headland, and she was puffing a little by the time she reached the security checkpoint at the castle gate. ‘Good morning, Miss Webber,’ the guard said, swinging the gate open before she had a chance to unzip her coat and show the pass hanging around her neck. Though he recognised her on sight, Frankie always made a point of wearing and showing her pass. Everyone had a job to do and she was determined to make it as easy as possible.

‘Hey, Terry. It’s a fresh one this morning,’ she added, noting his ruddy cheeks and the way he’d turned up his collar on his coat. She eyed the tray in front of her. ‘Do you drink cappuccino?’

‘I’ll drink anything that’s hot and wet on a morning like this!’ he replied with a grin as she balanced the tray on one hand and tugged free the cup Issy had marked with a large ‘C’. His eyes widened when she offered him the drink. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course. It’s going to be another long day so I’d better stick to herbal tea rather than fill myself full of caffeine.’

‘Well, that’s right sweet of you, Miss Webber, thank you.’

Knowing she’d made a tiny difference to Terry’s day only added to Frankie’s happy mood. Having dropped off the other coffees with Jessie and Becca, and promising she’d be back in a few minutes, Frankie headed along the row of temporary cabins that filled the castle’s imposing driveway and knocked on the door of the production office. The only person present was Emily, the young production assistant.

As she’d suspected, they were eager to hand back the cottage as soon as possible, but the landlord was insisting on the full month’s rent. Emily sighed. ‘I can’t blame him, but the powers that be are breathing down my neck about the budget overruns and they want me to claw back every penny I can.’

‘Let me have a chat with him and see if he’s happy for me to take over the lease instead,’ Frankie told her. ‘And if not, I’ll reimburse the production for the final two weeks of the lease, how about that?’

‘Oh God, if you could that would be amazing!’ Emily replied, fervently.

Frankie wandered off to find a quiet spot in the grounds. She knew things were tight because of the extra weekends they were pulling to make up for the lost time Daffy’s antics had cost them, but she hadn’t realised it was that bad. She checked the number on the piece of paper Emily had given her then typed it into her phone. It rang for so long she was about to hang up when a man finally answered. ‘Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested.’

‘Mr Hicks? I’m not selling anything. My name is Frankie Webber and I wondered if I could have a quick word with you about the cottage the production company have been renting from you on my behalf?’

‘Frankie Webber, wow! Umm, sorry, that wasn’t very professional of me.’ He sounded younger than Frankie had expected, closer to her own age. He cleared his throat. ‘If this is about the kitchen tap then I’ve been trying to source a plumber for you but the rates they charge are frankly extortionate for a simple call-out, but I’ll get right on it today.’

‘No, it’s not about the tap. I’ve sorted that out myself, thanks. I wanted to speak to you about perhaps staying on in the cottage for a little while longer. It would be a private arrangement, which is why I’m calling you directly.’

‘Well, yes, of course that would be fine. Stay as long as you want! It would certainly make my life easier. That girl from your production office has been doing my head in, going on at me about handing the place back early, as if a massive streaming company needs the money more than me!’ He laughed as though he’d said something hilarious and Frankie found herself shuddering a little at the sound of it. She had neither the time nor the patience to try and explain to him about how independent productions worked.

Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea…

Charlie Hicks finally seemed to realise she wasn’t laughing along with him and the annoying sound cut off. ‘Not that any of that is your problem, of course. The cottage is yours for as long as you want it, and if we come to a private arrangement as you suggested then I’d be happy to give you a small discount on the rate. How long did you want to extend the lease for?’

His question took her by surprise. She’d been thinking only about the immediate couple of weeks… Frankie stared out over the beautiful parkland surrounding the castle and to the sea beyond. She had that new filming project starting in January so it didn’t make much sense to keep the cottage beyond the new year… and yet, the thought of having it as a bolthole she could escape to was so very tempting. She was earning good money off Ton! so why not treat herself for once? Before she knew what she was doing, she blurted out, ‘I was wondering if six months would be feasible?’

‘Six months?’ Charlie Hicks sounded like he couldn’t believe his luck. ‘Of course! I’ll get a contract drawn up today and I can pop it around this evening if you’d like.’

No, Frankie didn’t like. That twinge of doubt about what she was doing was back. She’d made a mistake when she’d referred to a private arrangement and didn’t want this man getting the wrong idea. ‘I have plans this evening, I’m afraid, and it will all have to go through my agent’s office anyway. I’ll give you their details and you can send everything to them. Once they’ve checked the contract and are happy with it, they’ll arrange payment. I trust that will be satisfactory?’

‘Oh, yes, of course, of course. Whatever is most convenient for you. I’ve got a pen so give me the email address and I’ll get it all arranged. And if you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to call me again and I’ll jump right on it for you.’

Frankie gave him the details then rang off as quickly as she could. She stared at her phone and cursed. She shouldn’t have called him herself because now he would have her number. She’d just been so excited at the idea of staying for Christmas that she hadn’t been thinking straight. Well, her agent could deal with him from now on and hopefully she wouldn’t have to think about him again. She fired off a quick email to them about the contract and asking them to let her know if there were any issues with it, then hurried back to the caravan to get ready for the day ahead.

Whether they were all still high on the success of the day before or because everyone was just desperate to get finished, they had another really successful day of filming. Brian gathered them all together and delivered a pep talk. ‘Brilliant day, gang. Simply brilliant. I know everyone is tired, but I just need a couple more days of high energy and we’ll be done by Wednesday lunchtime.’ A small cheer went up from the group. Brian held his hand up. ‘I know you’re all keen to get home so let’s keep our loved ones in mind as our inspiration to hit that target.’

Brian’s expression grew serious. ‘And now for the not such great news. We’ve negotiated a flexible deal with the hotel, so we’d like to be able to hand back as many of the rooms as possible on Thursday morning. If you’re not required as part of the breakdown team and you wish to stay longer, you’ll need to discuss that directly with the hotel management.’

‘Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,’ Dave muttered with a scowl as he folded his arms over his barrel of a chest.

Brian’s lips tugged into a thin smile. ‘As if you haven’t been champing at the bit to get out of here, Dave.’

Dave had the decency to hold up his hands and laugh in agreement. ‘You got me there.’

Brian sighed and planted his hands on his hips. ‘I’m not going to bullshit you, because you’ve all been battling with the overrunning schedule as much as I have. I’m afraid the budget is down to the wire and we’re running on fumes at this point. The decision has been made, therefore, to cancel the end-of-shoot party…’

‘Is this some kind of joke?’ an angry voice demanded.

Brian looked like he was on the verge of tears and there was a slight tremble in his voice when he replied, ‘I’m afraid not. I want you to know that I did my best to fight for it, but it’s out of my hands. The caterers have already been spoken to and Rosamund is aware that the room she’d kindly made available is no longer required.’