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Two
‘You’lldoit?’Biancasounded more disappointed than delighted when the Eversleys called her back to give her the good news.
‘Unless you’ve changed your mind,’ Pat said with more than a little hope in her voice. ‘Or found someone else.’
‘There is no one else,’ Bianca said. ‘Not at this late stage. That’s why I had to call you.’
‘Wellthank you,’ Pat said, her cheeks growing red with annoyance at Bianca’s attitude.
‘Yes,’ Grace enthused, before her mum said something they might all regret. ‘We’d be happy to step in.’
‘But,’ Hope cut in, ‘as we’re sure you appreciate, this is extremely last-minute and will mean we’ll be working much longer days to fit everything in, so we’ll have to charge you extra. And one of us will need to meet up with you today to get things started because we only have two weeks and two days until Christmas Eve, and the Mistletoe Dance is not a small event to organise.’
‘I’m aware of the timing,’ said Bianca. ‘Charge whatever you must, I don’t care. All that matters is that this damn thing goes ahead. Although if I had my way…’ her voice trailed off, and then she added, ‘the event would be far more select.’
Hope raised her brows, muted the call and said, ‘And none of the villagers would be invited, including us.’
Grace frowned as she pushed Hope’s fingers away from the mute button and returned the call to speakerphone.
‘I’m available this morning, if that suits you. Unfortunately the rest of the team are busy with other events but I can take some notes and get the ball rolling. I’m assuming you’ll want something similar to all the previous years, but perhaps this year we could change things up a little. I’ve got some ideas I’d like to discuss with you. Shall we say around ten-fifteen?’
Bianca gasped. ‘Ten-fifteen? That’s fifteen minutes from now!’
‘I don’t have far to come,’ Grace said, grinning, ‘and the sooner we get started, the better.’
The ornate iron gates of Betancourt were visible from the sitting room of The White House, and Grace only had to cross the road to get there. Although the Eversleys were all still seated around the kitchen table, and their kitchen was at the rear of their cottage so they couldn’t see the gates from there.
‘Very well. Ten-fifteen it is.’
‘We’ll require a fifty per cent deposit today,’ Hope announced, ‘as it’s such short notice. We treat all our clients equally, and can’t make exceptions.’
Bianca’s intake of breath was audible but she quickly recovered herself. ‘That’s not a problem. I assume you take cards?’
‘That’ll do nicely,’ Hope confirmed. ‘We’ll email an invoice this morning, for immediate payment. What’s your email?’
Bianca tutted before giving the details.
‘Thank you for thinking of Eversley Events,’ Simon said, with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
‘I didn’t,’ said Bianca. ‘Calling you was my step son’s idea. Please don’t be late. I have a terribly busy day.’
Pat opened her mouth, no doubt with a sharp retort, but Bianca had already rung off.
‘The bloody cheek of that woman!’ Hope snapped. ‘Call her back and tell her to bugger off and find someone else.’
‘No!’ Grace shrieked. ‘And since when do we ask for a fifty per cent deposit?’
‘Since Bianca Betancourt deigned to honour us with her business,’ Hope smirked, leaning back in her chair. ‘She should be thanking us profusely for doing this for her. Not telling you not to be late.’
‘We’re not doing this for her,’ Grace said. ‘We’re doing this for Russell … and Archie and Griff.’
‘We’re doing this for Francesca,’ said Pat, her voice tinged with sympathy as she took a deep breath. ‘But I agree with Hope. A ‘thank you’ would’ve been nice.’
Simon nodded. ‘I don’t suppose those words are in her vocabulary. And we’re also doing this for the village. Everyone looks forward to the Mistletoe Dance. Including us.’
Hope sniggered. ‘Grace is doing this to get a date with Russell. And a kiss under the mistletoe.’ She playfully nudged Grace’s arm.
‘What’s wrong with that?’ Grace said, already picturing the kiss. ‘You did hear what Bianca said, didn’t you? That her step son had suggested us.’
