“No, I needed to get out of the house.”
“I can’t believe you’ve put together a proposal already.I’m dying to see it.”She took the glass Alex handed her and gestured to a table against the wall.“Let’s go through it over there.”
Alex raised his eyebrows.“You two know each other?”
“Childhood friends,” Lauren replied.“She kept me sane during the holidays.”
Chelsea followed Lauren across the room to the table furthest from the bar.
Lauren lowered her voice.“Alex is a terrible gossip and I don’t want word to spread about what we’re doing.If people get their hopes up and it doesn’t work, it will be devastating.”
Suddenly the pressure hit Chelsea.She hadn’t considered what might be riding on the success of the fair.As her heart raced, she sank into the chair and busied herself getting out her laptop.
“You look fabulous by the way,” Lauren said.
“Thanks.”The truth was, she was overdressed.The two men at the bar wore dusty jeans and well-worn jackets.Perhaps she should return to the op shop tomorrow and find something more appropriate for cleaning out Maggie’s house.
“Let’s order before we start,” Lauren said.“I’m starving.”
The menu had all the usual pub meals and Chelsea chose the chicken schnitzel.
She opened the PowerPoint presentation she’d created and handed Lauren the print copy.“I thought it might be good to appeal to people’s nostalgia,” she began.“Many adults would have come to the fair as kids, and now they’ll have children of their own.If we can play into that, we might attract people.”She’d mocked up ideas with the graphics and video Lauren had sent her.“I wasn’t sure whether you’d have a budget, but if you do, I’d spend it here.”She outlined the best bang for their buck and then all the free options.
“This is incredible, Chelsea,” Lauren breathed.“You really know your stuff.”
Chelsea shrugged.“I’ve been doing this for years.”
“Do you work for a fancy Sydney firm?”Lauren teased.“Have you met lots of famous people?”
She hesitated, debating what to say.Lauren had always been her confidant when they were younger.Besides, who would she tell?“Did you hear about the recent Aria Simpson scandal?”
Lauren nodded.“What an insensitive thing to say!”
“I worked on the Tours Australia project with her.Her comment got me fired, so I’m not working anywhere at the moment.”
Lauren’s mouth dropped open.“Why did they fire you?”
“Because the client needed someone to blame, and I was the obvious choice.”She closed her eyes.“I begged Aria to apologise, but she refused.”
“So what are you doing now?”
“Attracting people to Honeybrook.”Chelsea smiled.“Going through Aunt Maggie’s things and figuring out what I’m doing next with my life.”
Alex delivered their meals.“Enjoy, ladies.”He smiled, as he not so subtly tried to see what was on the printout.
Lauren gathered the papers together.“Thanks, Alex.”
Chelsea glanced at her plate as he left.A dry schnitzel with a small pot of gravy to pour over it, overcooked chips and a tiny serving of salad which consisted of lettuce, a couple of cherry tomatoes and some grated carrot.“You said this was the only restaurant in town?”
Lauren laughed.“Not the gourmet food you’re used to?”
“No.”She wasn’t a snob, but, “It’s not the type of food which will attract people to the area.”And that was the problem.Even if she got people to the fair, there needed to be something that would keep people coming back regularly.“Why else do people come to Honeybrook?”
“The lake attracts people for picnics, but they rarely stop in town.”She tapped her finger on the table.
“What about a bakery, or antique shops, or a children’s playground?”
“The bakery is nothing special, and I heard talk the family who own it are considering moving to Perth.The antique shop is more of a junk shop and aside from the lolly shop, there’s nothing special.”
