She was unsure how today was going to pan out after yesterday’s conversation with Guy, but there was only one way to find out and that was to get up and start her day.
Pulling on her dressing gown, Libby padded into the living room and sighed. It looked like a bomb had hit it. She’d worked past midnight on Julia’s outfit and all the 3D flowers were scattered over the table along with leftover material and threads of cotton. In need of a strong coffee, she switched on the kettle and glanced over the day’s schedule.
Later that morning there was a meeting with Miranda to discuss invitations. They were a priority as they needed to be posted in the next forty-eight hours. Family and friends usually had lots of commitments over the festive period and with the wedding taking place on Christmas Eve people would need as much notice as possible.
Early evening the happy couple were set to be filmed ice skating, though Libby had no idea whether either of them could ice skate; she assumed all that information was in the missing application form. Surely they both must be of an adequate standard if they’d agreed to it.
Thinking about ice skating, Libby’s mind flicked back to her childhood. She had spent a lot of time at her grandparents’ house, which had its own lake in the grounds. Every winter it was frozen solid and that was where her father Wilbur had taught her to ice skate. As soon as she knew the basics, she’d spent hours on the lake twirling in the figure eight. Even though it had been a long time since she’d had a pair of ice skates on her feet, it was like riding a bike, something she would never forget how to do. Despite her mother passing away when she was young, her father, along with her grandparents, had done an amazing job of creating warm memories like that for her to look back on. Yet another reason to be grateful for her wonderful family.
Just after 10.30am Libby grabbed her coat and headed to the studio. She’d been working on Julia’s dress by the living-room window, making use of the natural light and hoping to get a glimpse of Guy taking Pickle for a sledge ride, but they were nowhere to be seen and she felt a little disappointed. When she got to the studio, she found Julia waiting near the door.
‘Good morning!’ Julia chirped, checking her watch. ‘I was just checking in with you to see how it was going and whether everything was okay after Guy—’
‘Yes, he’s all good,’ interrupted Libby, not wanting to share anything about their latest disagreement. ‘I can’t stop wondering how Miranda and David were chosen out of everyone,’ she said, trying to change the subject.
‘I know what you mean. Flynn wishes he’d kept a closer eye on the competition but he can’t oversee everything that goes on at the hotel. He searched high and low for their application form, even pulling out the filing cabinet to check behind it, which was a mammoth task in itself.’
‘Did he find anything?’
‘Half a Kit-Kat, a dead spider and lots of fluff.’
‘Eww. But it would certainly be interesting to see that form. Miranda is due in half an hour and then later on Guy is filming them ice skating.’
‘Hopefully Guy will be able to get some footage from this evening that can be used in the promotional material.’
Libby nodded. ‘I’m sure he will. This morning Miranda will be choosing the invitations, which shouldn’t take long if it’s plain black card. It just seems all very doom and gloom to me.’
‘Flynn wanted me to tell you that he’s emailed you a link to the main stationery supplier in Glensheil. All you need to do when Miranda has chosen her invites is to input the details of the wedding, day, time, when and where, et cetera into the form on their site. Have you got a list of names and addresses for the guests?’
‘Yes, Miranda has written all those down.’
‘That makes it a little easier. If you scan her notes and email them over to the printers, they’ve got an assistant who will input all the addresses on their system and get the invites sent out by tonight or tomorrow at the latest.’
‘That’s just made my day; it would have taken me hours otherwise.’
‘I thought that might put a smile on your face. Oh, and before I forget, I’ve just bumped into Florrie. She’d made up numerous bouquet samples that she thought you could show to the bride. They were absolutely gorgeous and would you believe she’d made up the very bouquet that I’ve got in my scrapbook? It wasstunning. I’ll have my dream wedding. One day…’
‘That you will,’ said Libby, smiling secretly at the thought of her little project. She couldn’t wait to see Julia’s face when she surprised her with the outfit just before she left for New York. ‘And did you share with Florrie the colour scheme for Miranda and David’s wedding?’
‘I did, but at first she didn’t believe me.’
‘I’m not surprised. I’m guessing the bouquets Florrie made up won’t be suitable?’
‘No, and the colourless bouquet that Miranda wants may present a bit of a challenge but let’s hope Florrie can pull it off.’
‘Fingers crossed.’
‘Going back to Guy.’ Apparently Julia wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. ‘Did you happen to persuade him to do some wedding modelling and be a pretend groom? You do know how good you pair look together, right?’
Libby did know exactly how good they looked together. She’d caught sight of them both in the mirrors while they danced together. Remembering exactly how it felt when he held her so close, all she could think about was what it would be like to be on Guy’s arm for real. ‘I’m working on it,’ she replied, still not ready to share any more information from yesterday.
As soon as she saw him today she was going to apologise and put things right between them. Even though her intentions had been good, Guy was right, she knew nothing about the situation. Libby didn’t like any sort of confrontation and it didn’t sit right with her that she’d upset him. Hopefully he would accept her apology and they could put it behind them.
‘Here’s Guy now,’ Julia said as she looked through the window. ‘I need to make a move.’
‘I’ll catch up with you later.’
Julia and Guy passed each other on the doorstep and greeted one another before Julia took off down the path.
