‘At the hotel where my wedding reception is due to take place in two days. Two days, Al. And now . . .’ Sophie started crying.
Alice lowered the phone to whisper to Jamie. ‘The hotel they booked for the wedding had a flood last night.’
His brow lifted. ‘Oh no, that’s terrible.’
Alice went back to her call to hear Sophie still sobbing. ‘It’s all right, Soph. I’m sure the hotel can arrange something.’
‘No, they can’t. There’s too much damage.’
‘Bloody hell.’ Alice looked at Jamie as he held her hand. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Ginny’s already calling other hotels to see if they have halls or rooms for hire.’
‘That’s good. I can ring around too if you like.’ Alice could feel poor Sophie’s heartache. It was stressful enough for her arranging a white wedding, let alone having a disaster take place two days before the event.
Sophie sniffed again. ‘Let’s see what she can find first.’ She sighed. ‘Bless her. She did offer use of her barn, but it’s a bit draughty. Having said that, if everything is booked up for Christmas, then the barn might be our only choice.’
Alice gasped, not meaning to sound so dramatic. ‘It’s not your only choice, Soph. You can use the B&B for the reception. We’ve got the dining room, the foyer, a big kitchen. All the place needs is some decorations.’ She smiled at Jamie as Sophie started mumbling to Matt in the background.
Jamie bobbed his head. ‘Good idea,’ he mouthed.
Sophie was back. ‘You know what, Alice, we’d love to have our reception at yours. How wonderful would it be to celebrate on the same street as our shop, where we first met. Matt’s nodding away. Do you really think it’s possible at such short notice?’
Alice scoffed. ‘Please, this is us you’re talking about. We can arrange fundraising events in days. We can manage a wedding.’
‘But it’s Christmas.’
‘Not yet, it’s not.’ Alice beamed. ‘You leave this to us, Soph. You want a wedding party at mine — you’ll have the best Port Berry has ever seen.’
Sophie stopped sniffing. ‘Oh, Alice, thank you so much.’
Alice smiled down the phone. ‘Right, you call Ginny and let her know you’ve got a venue, and I’ll get Lottie and Spencer over here to see where they can put flowers. Don’t you worry about a thing, Soph. We’ve got this.’
‘That was nice of you,’ said Jamie as soon as the call ended.
Alice tapped his arm. ‘Come on, love. We’ve got a busy two days ahead.’ She stood by the wardrobe, not knowing what to do first.
Jamie grinned. ‘You can make some calls while I fix us brekkie, then we’ll see what’s in storage that can be used.’
‘Yes, good plan. And we’ll need a checklist.’ She hurried to the bathroom, taking her phone with her so she could ring everyone to let them know of the new wedding plan.
The porridge Jamie made went down well and she was sure she’d need the energy for the long day. Lottie and Spencer were due in soon, and Ginny was on her way over, as was Robson.
‘What do you want me to do?’ asked Benny, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen table.
‘Would you be able to help your nan with a food shop?’ asked Alice.
‘Yep, I can do that.’
Alice ticked that off her list and told him to eat breakfast.
‘I’ll have something at Nan’s.’ Benny opened the front door, letting Robson inside.
‘Ooh, Rob, you’re here.’ Alice splayed her hands to the foyer. ‘What do you think?’
‘Sophie just called to say the hotel has already refunded her, so she’s giving me the money now for food and drink, so I’m going to have the food cooked in the pub, then brought round by my staff. As for the drinks, I want to set up a small bar.’
Alice waved him to the dining room. ‘We have the serving hatch. What about that? You can put the drinks on tables in the kitchen and serve from there.’
