The Little Wedding Shop by the Sea by Jane Linfoot

Author:Jane Linfoot
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008190491
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2016-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

JULY

36

At Brides by the Sea: Cupcake towers and helter skelters

Even though it’s amazing by the sea in summer, the magical glisten of the waves, and the fabulous surf rolling over hot sand don’t always transfer to the inside of the shop. Today has been the kind of baking hot day where you have to peel the dresses off the brides, and we’ve had every disaster cliché in the wedding shop book. Bride’s mums in floods of tears, bridesmaids coming to blows, and the worst, worst, worst of all, a bride who’s changed her mind on the dress. Rather than being a day when the fizz flowed, and laughter echoed, I’ve been handing out endless cups of strong sweet tea and giant sized slices of comforting iced walnut cake.

‘What a bloody afternoon,’ Jess says as she rubs the sweat off her brow with her fist, then piles the last lot of plates and cups onto a tray. ‘Many more like that, and I’d give up.’

‘Thank Christmas for sugar.’ I say, wafting the hem of my black blouse in an attempt to get some tepid air to my tummy.

‘There’s something here that might make our day end on a high.’ Her lips are twitching as she draws her phone from her pocket. ‘A text from Sera just came in …’

‘Wow,’ I breathe, because this is big. Sera’s in London making the final final final adjustments to Josie Redman’s dress, before her mega celebrity wedding next week.

Jess looks as if she’s about to burst. ‘And there’s a photo …’ Squeaking really isn’t Jess’s style, but she’s making an exception here. ‘Top top top secret, obviously,’ she says, sliding the screen towards me. ‘Sera knows if it wasn’t for you and me saving her that first day when Josie came in unexpectedly, she wouldn’t have pulled this off.’

‘Of course,’ I mutter, as I lean in. As my eyes lock on the photo, I gulp down so much air that I immediately cough it back. Talk about déjà vu. This is like a re-run of Nicole’s reveal, but this time Josie’s head has been carefully left out of shot, so seeing her in a dress that’s could almost be mine is slightly less jarring. ‘Gorgeous.’ I manage to splutter. ‘It’s very like …’

Jess’s face is close to mine and her hot breath hits my cheek. ‘Like yours?’ She’s straight on my case. ‘It is. And how do you feel about that?’ Her hand lands on my shoulder.

Maybe because I’ve been through this all before in Bristol, the urge to bring up my walnut cake is less urgent. Although when I squint more closely, Josie’s dress has less all-over lace, so it’s more like mine than Nicole’s. ‘I guess from Josie’s reaction when she tried my dress, I knew she’d be going for something similar.’ It’s true. This is less of a kick in the guts than with Nicole.

Jess pulls a tissue from a nearby box, and pushes it into my hand. ‘Lucky you, it’s the last one.

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