Midsummer Magic (12 page)

How’s it going?
He texted Josie carefully.

Rubbish
. was the response.
You?

Suits ordered. In pub. Back soon
.

DON’T BE LATE
.

The capitals didn’t bode well, but at least she’d responded, he thought.

‘I really think we ought to get going soon,’ Harry said. He didn’t want to be back after Josie.

‘Nonsense,’ boomed Peter. ‘Nicola’s just texted me to say they’re having a spot of lunch. We’ll be back long before them. I just want to have a chat with Lionel Roberts about some golf club business and then we’ll have another pint.’

Golf club business. Of course he did. Harry really wondered sometimes about the world he was entering.

‘Harry, come on, mate, there’s no hurry,’ said Ant. ‘I bet they’ll be ages.’

‘Josie asked me not to be late back,’ mumbled Harry.

‘And we won’t be,’ said Ant, wafting away his concern. ‘Come on, one more pint can’t hurt.’

Harry, who had only just managed to finish his first pint, allowed himself to be persuaded. Just as they sat down with it outside, a familiar figure came over to them.

‘Ant, great to see you again,’ Freddie Puck was pumping Ant’s hand enthusiastically. ‘And, Henry, isn’t it?’

‘Harry,’ he reminded him.

‘How are you both today?’ said Freddie. ‘Enjoying this glorious Cornish sunshine?’

‘I would if my head wasn’t pounding so much,’ said Ant, clearly delighted that Freddie had joined them.

‘So, have you thought any more about my offer?’

‘Your offer?’ Harry was puzzled for a minute.

‘Do you want to be hypnotised?’ said Freddie.

‘Oh, that,’ said Harry.

‘Only, Bron and I are staying at Tresgothen Manor and we wondered if you guys wanted to come over there tomorrow and give it a go? What do you think?’

‘I think it’s a great idea,’ said Ant. ‘Don’t you, Harry?’

‘Er,’ Harry hadn’t actually talked to Josie about it yet, but judging by how sceptical she’d been, he couldn’t see her agreeing to it with any great pleasure.

‘Don’t forget about the money,’ said Ant, teasingly.

‘The money isn’t that brilliant,’ said Harry, ‘but I’ll think about it.’

‘Excellent,’ said Freddie. ‘Here’s my card, give me a ring and we’ll see what we can do.’

He walked away with the confidence of one who knew just what he was doing, and Harry’s heart sank further. Now what had he got himself into?

‘I think that calls for another pint,’ said Ant triumphantly, and Harry’s heart sank further. It was going to be a very long afternoon.

Lunch proved a welcome distraction, and Josie even managed to talk about something other than wedding matters, mainly because Nicola had been talking non-stop about how Mrs Bertram in the post office was sure that Tatiana Okeby was going to be staying in her yurt for a long time.

‘The rumours about her playing at the theatre must be true,’ said Nicola, in delight. ‘It’s so exciting. I hope I can get her autograph.’

‘You might not have to wait too long,’ said Diana drily, and she and Josie had to practically gag Nicola’s squeals when she pointed out Tatiana Okeby (in what she clearly thought was a heavy disguise of sunglasses and headscarf) sneaking into the café and discreetly finding a spot in the corner. This time she was completely alone, minus her entourage.

‘Ooh, I wonder what she’s doing in here,’ said Nicola, who almost passed out with joy as Tatiana brushed past their table. Diana had never seen Josie’s prim and proper mum so excited.

‘I think I can guess,’ said Josie. ‘Look, it’s Mike Slowbotham. Do you think he’s trying to use his powers of persuasion on her?’

Mike Slowbotham swept in, in an attempt at grandeur. He clearly thought the whole café would stop to look at him.

‘Tatiana, my darling,’ he said loudly, greeting her like a long-lost friend.

‘So much for anonymity,’ said Josie. ‘He clearly wants everyone to know who he’s meeting.’

‘Shh, shh,’ said Tatiana, ‘I’m trying to be incognito.’

‘I’ve never seen anyone less incognito in my life,’ snorted Diana.

They watched in fascination as Tatiana and Mike outdid one another in over-politeness.

Just then, the door of the café opened again. ‘Surprise, surprise,’ said Diana, as a photographer entered, along with a woman holding a dictaphone.

‘Jenny Barrow,
Tresgothen Gazette
,’ she thrust her dictaphone in Tatiana’s face. ‘Is it true you are in talks with Mr Slowbotham about bringing
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
to our famous theatre?’

Tatiana drew herself up regally, as if about to hold court. She looked around in some disappointment and said, ‘Only two of you?’ but then, consummate performer that she was, overcame her dismay and gave a charming account of the interesting conversation she’d had with Mike Slowbotham. ‘whom I’m sure can tell you more about it than I can.’ Then she got up and went to leave the café.

As Tatiana walked past their table, Nicola pounced.

‘Miss Okeby, I’m a huge fan of yours. Please, may I have your autograph?’

Tatiana was evidently in a hurry, but couldn’t resist the lure of an actual fan who actually wanted her autograph.

‘Delighted, I’m sure.’ Diana noticed that it was said with some reluctance, but she consented to have her picture taken with Nicola, who had descended into simpering schoolgirl levels of idiocy. Diana had never seen Nicola anything but unruffled and in control, and it was amusing to see her so overwhelmed.

‘So are we going to see you tread the boards in Tresgothen?’ gushed Nicola. ‘It would be so wonderful for the village if you could.’

‘We’ll see,’ said Tatiana. ‘If I have to talk to that odious little man about it any more, I might lose the will to live.’

‘Oh, please,’ said Nicola. ‘It’s a while since we’ve had a star in the village. It would be such an honour. Only, I’m not sure Mike –’

‘I’ll be delighted then,’ said Tatiana graciously. ‘I can’t let my fans down.’ And with that, she swept out.

‘I was going to warn her about Mike Slowbotham,’ said Nicola.

‘I think she’s got his measure,’ laughed Diana. ‘Look at him.’

Mike was still deep in conversation with the journalist. Every other word seemed to be ‘Tatiana, said this, or Tatiana has promised that.’ Unbeknownst to him, the journalist was edging away, trying to wrap it up.

‘That has been the perfect end to the morning,’ sighed Nicola.

‘And the day’s not over yet,’ said Josie. ‘Time to look at some more dresses.’

‘Oh, God,’ groaned Diana.

‘Just kidding,’ said Josie, ‘we’re going back to the first shop, and I’m going to buy the first one I tried on, and you are going to choose whichever dress you really want to wear.’

‘Thank God for that,’ said Diana.

Two hours later, Josie was feeling relieved that at least she’d got her wedding dress sorted, and Diana had chosen a sensational strapless turquoise gown, which showed her colouring off to perfection. God alone knew what kind of flowers would go with it – the pink and white theme was clearly going to have to go out – but Josie was past caring. At least they hadn’t come away empty-handed.

They’d been so long, Josie was sure the boys would have been back by now. She hadn’t heard from Harry since a text a couple of hours earlier saying they were in the pub, and when she tried to ring him, his phone was off.

‘Tea, anyone?’ said Nicola, going into the kitchen, and then saying, ‘Oh.’

Josie followed her in. The kitchen, which they had left neat and tidy, now looked like a bomb had hit it. The boys had clearly had breakfast and left everything for someone else to clear up.

‘I’ll kill Harry,’ said Josie. ‘I asked him specifically before we came to help out in the kitchen.’

‘It’s all right, dear, I’ll tidy up.’ Josie’s mum took on a martyred air which she knew too well, and was precisely why Dad never did anything round the house. And why Josie had sworn she wasn’t going to spend her married life running round after Harry the way her mum had after her dad. Mum always said she didn’t mind. ‘It gives me something to do,’ she’d say, but Josie was often frustrated by her lack of ambition. Surely there was more to life than keeping her house clean, especially when you had two cleaners who came in every week?

Josie wanted to protest that Mum should leave it for the men to do when they came back, but cross and all as she was, it wasn’t her house, and they weren’t her rules. She was furious that Harry hadn’t at least tried to improve the situation, but resorted to slobby behaviour just because Ant and her dad did.

‘I can’t believe they’re not back from the pub yet,’ she said, starting to help Mum as she couldn’t bear the thought of her doing everything. It was another thing that was making her cross. Harry would be fit for nothing for the afternoon at this rate.

‘Boys will be boys,’ said Nicola indulgently. ‘And really, you don’t need to help. I’ll do it. You two sit by the pool, and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. Heaven knows when we’ll get another weekend like this.’

Reluctantly feeling like she was dumping on her mum, while simultaneously seething that the boys had got away with it, Josie joined Diana at the pool. It was shaping up to be a boiling hot afternoon, and Di was already slathering suntan lotion on and didn’t seem to share Josie’s irritation.

‘If your mum wants to be a martyr, let her,’ she said. ‘I bet she gets her own way with other things. I wouldn’t want to cross her too much if I were your dad. Come on. Your mum’s right. You need to take a break from all this frantic wedding planning and relax for five minutes. It won’t kill you.’

Josie slid into place next to Di. She felt churned up and miserable and now Diana seemed to be saying …

‘You don’t think I’ve turned into the bride from hell, do you?’

‘No,’ said Diana, ‘but you could calm it down a bit. I think you’re terrifying poor Harry.’

‘Harry?’ Josie felt jumpy and suspicious again.

‘Yes, Harry, your fiancé, Harry,’ said Diana.

‘What’s he been saying to you?’ said Josie, really wanting to know and
when
had he been saying it?

‘Nothing. Just last night, he hinted. Well, he mentioned – he’s feeling a bit overwhelmed.’

‘What, when you had your nice little tête-à-tête in the garden?’ the words were out before Josie could stop herself.

‘Look, Josie, that wasn’t what you think –’ Diana started to say before the boys marched in, loud and leery. Just what Josie didn’t want.

‘I think I will go and help Mum after all,’ Josie said, and ignoring Diana’s hurt look, went indoors. Not trusting herself to go into the kitchen in case Mum asked if anything was wrong, she hurried into the lounge instead.

‘Oops,’ she thought she heard Ant say, ‘Think you’re in big trouble, mate.’

Not as much as me, Josie thought, not as much as me.

When they finally made it back to the house, Harry was like a cat on hot bricks.

‘Calm down, mate, you’ll give yourself a heart attack.’

Peter seemed to have the right attitude, as far as Ant could tell. The girls would all have been chatting about the wedding and wouldn’t have missed them. Ant couldn’t see what the big deal was, and was dismayed that his best mate was so domesticated now he seemed to be unable to enjoy himself for five minutes without Josie’s company.

But when they got in, and he saw the way Josie glared at Harry, even Ant felt a slight twinge of guilt. Bugger, he might have unwittingly caused a domestic, which meant this weekend could only get more unpleasant. Maybe he ought to help them out.

Peter, who seemed oblivious to any awkward atmosphere that had built up, tried to fix Harry a drink, despite Harry half-heartedly saying he only wanted an orange juice.

‘You’ll have to do better than that on your stag night,’ Ant heard Peter say as he slipped into the house and went in search of Josie.

He found her in the lounge, flicking through wedding magazines in a desultory manner. She looked pale, and he thought she might have been crying. Ant was good at telling the signs. Women seemed to cry a lot around him, for some reason. Even when he laid it on the line and did the whole consenting adults thing, they always seemed to cry.

‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said with barely concealed distaste.

‘Er, is everything all right, Jose?’ he said.

‘Not really,’ said Josie, ‘No thanks to you.’

Ant sat down, ‘I’m sorry, Josie. It’s not Harry’s fault we’re late, he’s been trying to come home for hours and it was your dad who was stopping him, mainly.’

‘And I expect you had nothing to do with it,’ said Josie, unbending a little.

‘Maybe a bit,’ he said. ‘But your dad is pretty determined when he gets going.’

‘That is true,’ said Josie, managing a small smile. That was better.

‘It’s not just that, though,’ said Josie. ‘I’m probably being silly …’

‘But …?’

Josie shook her head. ‘I must be going mad. Why on earth am I talking to you, of all people?’

‘Because despite it all, you know you’re making a huge mistake and should marry me?’

‘Definitely not that,’ said Josie, giving him a shove.

‘Then, what?’

‘Then … It’s … last night,’ she burst out miserably. ‘I saw Harry and Di coming up the garden together. And I’m sure I caught him giving her a hug earlier. They looked so … secretive. I’m sure it’s nothing, but …’

‘You thought?’ Ant burst out laughing.

‘It’s not funny!’ said Josie.

‘You dozy cow,’ laughed Ant. ‘Harry didn’t tell you, then?’

‘Tell me what?’ said Josie, looking puzzled.

‘He was feeling so stressed about this weekend, he cadged a fag off Diana and the stupid twat didn’t tell you.’

‘Oh.’ Josie looked simultaneously relieved and annoyed. ‘Now I feel really stupid. God, I was thinking all sorts.’

‘You are daft, Josie,’ said Ant. ‘Harry adores you. You’re all he ever talks about.’

‘That’s as may be,’ said Josie, ‘but if he does it again, I am going to bloody kill him.’

‘Surprise!’ Harry, who’d made his excuses and gone back to the annexe for a lie down and a think about how best to tackle Josie, woke up bleary-eyed as Ant came bounding in, followed by Josie, a sheepish look on her face.