The Look of Love (34 page)

‘Hey, I’ve just thought of something.’ Bella could feel a small plan forming. ‘You won’t like it but you have to promise to go along with it when we get back to the house after this. OK?’

Daisy sighed and dunked a biscuit into her coffee, not seeming to notice that drips of it fell on to her silver skirt.

‘All right. I promise,’ she said sulkily. ‘Whatever it takes, so long as you don’t go running to Dom and telling him all this.’

‘Of course I won’t,’ Bella assured her. ‘Just go home for a couple of hours, get some sleep.’

‘I will, or I’ll look crap later for the wrap party. But it won’t make a difference, you know, whatever you’ve got in mind.’ Daisy mopped the last of her tears, blew her nose noisily and handed the towel back to Bella.

‘Oh thanks,’ Bella said, feeling an unusual moment of empathy with James as she held the towel by one far corner. ‘And Daisy, just – don’t be so
defeatist
.’

Ye gods, she thought, I’ve turned into my mother.

‘Softer. I think that’s the key. What do you lot reckon to this one? When we’ve got the dress right we can add accessories, but not too many. Keep it minimal.’ In the wardrobe truck, Bella held up a dress that was the same lavender shade as the huge, mad sofa in her kitchen. It wouldn’t matter – Daisy wouldn’t vanish into the scenery, colour-wise, as they’d all be in the garden when the cameras were on her. The dress was Vivienne Westwood, all sharp tailoring and unexpected fabric twists, but it was plain. Chic. Grown-up but edgy just the same.

‘
One
colour? And
minimal
?’ Jules commented. ‘This
is
Daisy we’re kitting out, isn’t it? She’s not going to want something as classily plain as that.’

‘But this time it’s not about what she wants,’ Dina told her. ‘It’s about what will make her look good enough for
Dominic not to be so terrified of her and all that clutter she decks herself in. Bella’s right – she’s been dressing herself in a kind of barricade. I love this dress, Bella. Well, who wouldn’t?’ she sighed, holding the dress against her and looking at herself in the mirror. Quite a lot of Dina could still be seen each side of the garment.

‘She’s so
petite
,’ she went on, ‘I bet Daisy will never go on a date that turns into a real promise and then spend twenty minutes in the loo, biting the label out of her knickers so he doesn’t get to see they’re size XL.’

Bella, Jules and Molly turned to look at her. ‘Dina?’ Bella spluttered. ‘
You’ve
done that?’ Oh Lordy, she thought … surely not … James?

Dina smiled and blushed. ‘I have. And I wish I hadn’t said it now. It’s this sodding programme – taking your clothes on and off in front of people makes you go all
revelatory
. I can’t wait to get back to normal because I don’t do that sort of thing. I like to keep the edges of my life clean and neat, like my flat. Telling is messy.’

‘Never mind messy!’ Jules squeaked. ‘Who was the man? Was it …?’ She glanced at Molly, who was now flicking through a rack of belts. ‘No …’ Jules shook her pink-streaked head. ‘Don’t tell us. Scrub that.’

‘It wasn’t … who you’re thinking of.’ Dina’s blush deepened. ‘It was ages ago. Er … shall we find Daisy some shoes?’ She laughed wickedly. ‘Nice sensible flat ones? Lace-ups?’

While the four victims were being given a make-up retouch and zipped into their favourite clothes choices, Mandy and her assistant from the catering truck whizzed together plenty of party food in record time. Nick hung Bella’s fairy lights in the trees and magically conjured up plenty of champagne, all the bottles crammed in ice in big plastic storage boxes borrowed from Wardrobe.

‘Now, I don’t know if Saul’s told you, but we’re absolutely
not
rounding off with one of those embarrassing scenes where the new versions of
you
are suddenly revealed to your gob-smacked, weeping families,’ Daisy told them in a kind of end-of-term talk. ‘That’s just too cheesy and excruciating and nobody knows quite what to do or how to behave. Not to mention it’s rarely done in one take, and even the most gifted amateurs can’t keep faking the frankly insulting level of awe and amazement that seems to be required. So,’ she said, ‘you lot will be wearing your final choices and simply all mingle around being party-chatty, keeping it low key and normal and natural as if the cameras weren’t here. You’ve all done brilliantly so far, so I can’t see this being a problem.’

‘I never would have thought this could work on me. I really did think I’d look all vast and chunky but I don’t,’ Bella said to Jules, as Daisy tweaked at the
paper-bag-waisted skirt she was now wearing. ‘I love it.’ And so, later, would Charlotte. If this outfit didn’t impress her into giving Bella the skincare job, then nothing would.

‘Fess up now, Bella; you didn’t trust me from day one, did you?’ Daisy said, rejecting a gold bangle and replacing it with a silver one – broad links, interspersed with filigree hearts.

‘No I didn’t, to be honest. Not since the big orange coat,’ Bella admitted. ‘But you really know what you’re doing. And I
love
these shoes. They remind me of dance classes when I was young.’

‘They’re by Tracey Neuls, darling. Canadian designer. Two-tone with a spotted heel and sole isn’t for everyone, but you can carry it off,’ Daisy said approvingly. ‘Because with shoes like these, you need to wear bold-coloured tights, to draw attention down to floor level. That means confidence about your lower leg. Yours are reasonable.’

‘Ha! Damned with Daisy’s typically faint praise!’ Jules said, flicking at the chiffon sleeve of her drifty ginger-coloured top, a choice that not many would immediately pick for a woman with pink and red hair, but which somehow worked. ‘Now, do we look OK? Are we about to join the throng? I’m desperate for a glass of bubbles.’

‘Soon.’ Bella looked at her. ‘We’ve got the
other thing
to do first …’

‘You look fantastic.’ Daisy stood back and surveyed her charges. ‘And all thanks to amazing me!’

‘And Dominic,’ Dina reminded her, stroking the silky velvet pile of her drapy crimson Lilith dress.

‘And us?’ Molly ventured. ‘Weren’t we pretty good too?’

‘Stars, darlings, absolute stars,’ Daisy conceded, for once managing to smile in a very non-vampire way.

‘OK then, Daisy,’ Bella said. ‘Before we get any further … you’ve got to come with us.’

The victims surrounded her before she could protest and almost frogmarched her out to the wardrobe truck.

‘Bella has a plan for you,’ Dina told her. ‘And it will work. You’ve had it all your own way with us … now it’s our turn.’

It was like needing to keep touching a special favour for luck. Bella and Saul obviously couldn’t do what their perfect personal choice would have been and either stay inextricably entwined together for the evening or vanish entirely to be alone somewhere, but as the early-evening celebration went by, they kept drifting back to each other just to hold hands for a few seconds, to kiss in the hallway out of sight of the cameras, to exchange smiles over groups of people. Jules’s husband and one of her sons had turned up along with Carly, and Molly and Giles had to be asked more than once not to be so
thoroughly draped over each other that the camera couldn’t get a view of Molly’s gorgeous pink and purple Barbara Hulanicki frock. Charlotte arrived and greeted Bella with slightly insulting incredulity. ‘Darling! You
have
scrubbed up gorgeously! Whoever would have imagined it!’

‘Thanks Charlotte, and yes – who would imagine I could actually look almost passable?’

‘Absolutely!’ Charlotte agreed, leaving Bella almost breathless at her lack of tact. The job as skincare correspondent, though, that was now hers. That was the important bit. Ordeal by egg-shaped clothes and pegtop trousers and jeggings and paper bags had been worth it, career-wise.

‘You have binned your ballet-wrap cardigans, haven’t you?’ Charlotte had one last moment of anxiety as she confirmed the job was Bella’s.

‘All in the charity bag,’ Bella lied, for – after all – off duty she would wear what she damn well wanted, thank you.

‘Thank
you
,’ Daisy, in the Vivienne Westwood, pink lacy tights and only one simple necklace, whispered to Bella. ‘Dom’s asked me out for dinner after this. He keeps touching my hair. Does it look as if it’s unreal or something?’ Looking slightly bemused, she ran her fingers through the softly curled ends.

‘No – it just looks … touchable.’ Bella assured her.
Simone had also – under Bella’s instructions – done Daisy’s make-up with unaccustomed subtlety. One squeak of protest from Daisy and Bella had reminded her that it wasn’t about
her
. It was about looking approachable, a bit vulnerable. It seemed to be working.

James left Dina’s side for a quiet word with Bella by the plum tree. ‘Found the perfect woman,’ he told her. ‘You should see the inside of her fridge.’

Bella, on the far side of a couple of glasses of champagne, giggled. ‘James, that sounds like a filthy euphemism!’ she spluttered.

‘Filthy?’ James laughed. ‘Dina and I would never entertain
filth
!’

‘No of course not, only joking! Look, I’ve got all those documents sorted for you in the house if you want to take them away with you later.’

‘Right … er, thanks, Bella. Kind of you. But, well maybe I was rowing the boat a bit too fast here. Shall we … um, just forget about it for now? I’ve rather got other things on my mind. Don’t want mental clutter, frankly, one only has so much mental bandwidth. No rush.’

‘Oh – well all right then. Another time, I guess.’

‘Quite. When we’re both a bit less … preoccupied, we can talk, diarize a meet.’

‘
Diarize?
’ Oh James – you really are a whole language away from the rest of us!’

And maybe the time was approaching, she suddenly
thought as she looked back at the brightly lit massive kitchen, all open to the garden, when she really could be thinking of moving on from here. In some ways he’d been right; not about the bungalow thing or living somewhere with space for a stairlift, but this place really would be far too big when Alex and Molly weren’t in it. And besides … something more central had an enormous appeal. The owner of the ‘something more central’ was watching her from beside the house. How hard was it not to run (in her funny spotty-heeled shoes) across the lawn to hug him once again?

‘Gran’s here!’ Molly called. ‘Come and see who she’s brought! She’s getting
married
!’

‘Oh my God – who is
this
?’ Daisy’s voice rang out over the party chatter. She was gazing at Shirley, who had just arrived with Dennis.

‘That lady,’ Bella told her as she went to greet Shirley, ‘is my mother.’

‘Your
mother
? You two have the same
genes
?’

‘Oh Daisy! You are such a perfect bitch!’ Saul laughed.

Daisy took no notice but almost fell on Shirley before Bella could get near her.

‘You look
amazing
!’ she told Shirley. ‘Burberry Prorsum, am I right? Yes I am. That collar line with the over-pleats:
so
distinctive. Do you always dress so brilliantly? And that skirt – vintage Chanel?’

‘New Look, actually. About twenty-five pounds,’ Shirley told her, trying to sidestep her and get to Bella.

‘Genius!’ Daisy sighed happily. ‘At last, another woman who can combine designer with high street. Oh, if they all could …’

‘If they all could do that, you’d be out of a job, sweetie. Never forget that,’ Saul reminded her.

‘Mum, I’m so glad you could get here.’ Bella hugged Shirley and handed her and Dennis a glass of champagne each.

‘Bella, Molly, darlings,’ Shirley was looking slightly nervous, ‘this is Dennis.’

‘So lovely to meet you at last,’ Dennis said, kissing Bella first, then Molly.

‘Dennis – welcome!’ Bella said. ‘And congratulations! I just know Mum is going to be so happy with you.’

‘I think it’s great too,’ Molly said. ‘But
please
don’t make me be a pink satin bridesmaid, will you?’

‘Oh gosh, are you two getting married?’ Daisy’s eyes became suspiciously glittery. Possibly only Bella was not surprised by this.

‘How wonderful!’ Daisy went on. ‘Now tell me, because there is surely no more important aspect:
what are you going to wear
?’

Judy Astley has been writing novels since 1990, following several years as a dressmaker, illustrator, painter and parent. She has two grown–up daughters and lives in London and Cornwall with her husband.

For more information on Judy Astley and her books, see her website at:
www.judyastley.com