Relief flooded Florrie’s veins, only for it to be quickly followed up by a generous dash of apprehension at hearing what her friends would have to say when she confronted them. She slid her phone back into her bag.
Once hellos had been exchanged and a glass of wine had been poured for Lark, Florrie cleared her throat and pushed up the sleeves of her cardigan. ‘Before we get started, I really need to saysomething.’
‘Ey up, lasses, looks like our Florrie means business,’ said Jasmine.
‘It sure does,’ said Stella.
‘Uh-oh,’ said Maggie. ‘Here goes.’
‘What’ve I missed?’ asked Lark, throwing a questioning glance around the table as she folded her jacket and lay it beside her on the settle.
‘Nowt yet,’ said Jasmine. ‘We’ve been waiting for you to land so we could find out. Florrie’s been like a cat on hot bricks ever since I got here and it has nowt to do with Dawn Harte landing in town.’
‘What?’ Lark’s eyes grew wide as saucers, as attention turned to Florrie.
‘I’ll explain about that in a minute; there’s something else I need to say first.’ Florrie took a moment, lining up the words she’d rehearsed. She cleared her throat. ‘So, this afternoon, while I was at the booksh?—’
‘Hiya, ladies, you all had a good week?’ The chirpy tones of cockney landlady Mandy stopped Florrie in her tracks, sending a ripple of irritation through her.
TWO
With an inward sigh of frustration, Florrie waited while Mandy updated them on her broken wrist that was still in its plaster cast and keeping her from her cooking duties in the pub’s kitchen. Florrie’s heart sank even further when the landlady went on to tell them how the recent stint of sunny weather had been good for business, and described how a coachload of customers had landed unexpectedly and had the chefs run off their feet.Please not now!Florrie felt her impatience bouncing around inside her, so at odds with her usual easy-going demeanour.
When she was eventually done chatting, Mandy threw a couple of logs onto the fire, sending sparks shooting up the chimney and the aroma of woodsmoke into the air. Much as Florrie was fond of the landlady, she was relieved when she finally headed back to the bar, stopping to talk to other regulars as she went.
‘I’m beginning to think we’re never going to find out what’s got our Florrie wound as tight as a spring,’ said Maggie, as they all turned their attention back to their table.
‘Yeah, come on, spill the tea,’ added Jazz.
Doing all she could to push thoughts of her future mother-in-law out of her mind, Florrie took a moment to restore her focus before she spoke. ‘So, this afternoon, your plans for my hen celebrationsgot back to me.’ She swiftly swept her gaze around her friends, keen to catch their initial reactions, see what they’d reveal.
‘Right,’ said Stella, drawing the word out as she glanced between the others, her brow creasing in puzzlement. ‘Not sure how that happened. We were all sworn to secrecy; it was meant to be a surprise.’
‘Asurprise? Shock more like,’ said Florrie, making the creases in Stella’s brow deepen.
‘Okay, which one of you has blabbed?’ asked Maggie. ‘I’ve kept my trap tightly shut.’
‘Not guilty.’ Jasmine held up her palms. Her reaction was so convincing it made Florrie wonder if there’d been a mix up over what she’d heard, particularly since Jasmine’s name had specifically been mentioned.
‘And I haven’t breathed a word,’ said Lark. ‘Not even to Nate, well, only the bit he needs to know, and I stressed to him that he had to keep it secret.’
‘Same here with Alex,’ added Stella. ‘And I’m confident neither of them would let anything slip, inadvertently or otherwise.’
Florrie’s attention was pulled away from Jasmine as she tried to work out why there’d be something Nate and Alex ‘needed’ to know. Just as she was considering this, Maggie spoke.
‘It’s a real shame word’s got out, especially after all the effort we’ve put in.’
Florrie could barely believe her friend’s reaction. ‘To be honest, I wouldn’t call it a shame exactly. In fact, I’d say I’m relieved to have heard about it before it actually got the chance to happen. It’s given me the opportunity to put a stop to it.’ Ignoring the confused expressions around the table, she ploughed on. ‘I just want to stress –again– that I don’t want a big fuss, okay?’ She pushed her glasses up her nose and glanced around at her friends, fixing them, one by one, with a warning look she hoped would leave them in no doubt that she was deadly serious.
Ah, right,’ said Jasmine, in a way that suggested she’d justcottoned on to something. Florrie’s gaze travelled back to her. Frustration flared through her when she saw her friend’s mouth twitching in the way it did when she was struggling not to laugh. If that wasn’t enough, her green eyes were twinkling mischievously which only served to confirm Florrie’s worst fears. Clearly, her objections weren’t coming out as forcefully as she’d hoped. Injecting a firmer tone into her voice, she continued, ‘You all know how I don’t like being the centre of attention; that I much prefer low-key stuff – it’s exactly the reason Ed and I have settled for a small, intimate wedding. I’d be more than happy to have a quiet meal at Oscar’s Bistro, just the five of us. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think that would be quite nice.’
‘“Nice”?’ repeated Jasmine, the struggle with her laugh brought to an abrupt halt. From the look on her face anyone would think there was a bad smell under her nose. ‘You can’t settle for “nice” when you’re celebrating getting married, Florrie. You’ve got to let your besties make some sort of fuss over you. Surely you wouldn’t deprive us of that pleasure?’
Florrie groaned inwardly.
‘I agree with Jazz,’ said Maggie. ‘The bistro’s great, but we can go there any time; we’ve got to do something a bit different to celebrate such a momentous occasion.’
‘Jazz and Mags are right,’ said Stella. ‘But I’m curious to know exactly what you heard, and also who you heard it from.’
