“No worries.” Ziggy bobbed back into her seat.
Relief made her limp for a moment. One tiny test passed—at least she hoped so. She listened to Phyll droning on about the wedding attire parade. It all sounded terribly formal. White dresses and tuxes. The same-sex weddings she’d attended had been more about fun than frills. At the last one, the brides had worn rainbow sneakers, and their person of honour had been their gay friend who wore a mismatched multicoloured suit that was anything but formal.
“What about the fun element?” she asked when Phyll ground to a halt. “The less formal approach many people like. Do we have anything to showcase that?”
Phyll shot her a look from under lowered brows. “We discussed this the last time you were here—I’m surprised you don’t remember.”
Oh shit.Allie searched her memory. They’d been nothing in Sophie’s file about that. She opened her mouth, but her mind blanked and she had no reply.
Phyll gave her a strange look. “We’ve had a few more stallholder applications since then, but my reservations are the same as I discussed with you then.” She pursed her lips. “I haven’t made any decisions. I’m concerned they may lower the tone.”
Sophie wouldn’t have gone along with that, surely. She squared her shoulders and offered Phyll a smile. “I think it best that we go through the applications together. How about we do that tomorrow?” She didn’t wait for Phyll’s acknowledgment but instead looked out across the seated people. “Who’s next to report?”
Ziggy jumped to her feet again. “Now we’ve got the celebrity chef venue sorted”—she flashed Allie a smile—“the local food showcase is under control. We’ve got a good mix of produce and products and a few wineries. A couple of caterers have asked if they can be part of it. I’m not sure if they wouldn’t be better off in the wedding fair. What do you think?”
Yikes! What would Sophie do?Maybe she should have that slogan put on a T-shirt. The nerves that had settled when she’d been able to deal with the first issues leaped anew. She swallowed hard. “Phyll? What do you think?”
“In the wedding fair, definitely. Unless they’re selling food on the day, they’re promoting a service.”
Of course.Allie let out a quiet breath. It was so obvious when Phyll put it like that. Sophie would have picked it immediately.
“Thanks,” Ziggy said. She looked at a pad in her hand. “Sophie, we could do with help dealing with the council—they’re being difficult with a couple of permits. Is that the sort of thing you can do?”
“Absolutely.” Allie nodded.Oh fuck.“Anything else?”
“Sometime this weekend, I’d like if we could walk through the stall area and discuss the best layout for flow of foot traffic.”
“Great idea.” Her armpits were clammy. It seemed Ziggy knew far more than she did. Flow of foot traffic? Surely people just wandered around as they pleased.
Ziggy sat, and immediately Kirra sprang to her feet. “Saturday’s parade,” she announced. “Starting at four on the dot, or as soon as we can herd everyone into line. We’ve got just over forty floats and marchers so far. The usual community groups, local politicians, and businesses, plus the fun stuff. We’ve got reptile handlers, drag queen cheerleaders, and the boys from the Gay Pride of Lions—the local rugby team.”
“I hope there won’t be any inappropriate clothing,” Phyll said with a sniff. “It’s a family day, after all.”
“I’m sure there will be,” Kirra said. “It’s a Pride parade, after all. Don’t worry, Phyll, we’ll keep it legal. We’ve still got to sort out the best running order—Sophie, your input would be great. The Bundjalung Nation float will be first with our sistergirls, brotherboys, and queer mob on board, and dancers following. I’ve lined up an elder to give the Welcome to Country. Then the next float will be the brides or grooms who will get ‘married’ in the fake wedding ceremony which takes place at the end of the parade. We have their float, and we’ve got a couple of businesses willing to supply the dresses or tuxes. We just need our couple.”
Allie frowned. “Isn’t this leaving it somewhat late?”
Kirra pouted and gave Allie a “you’re telling me” look. “We can’t decide. There are a few volunteers—some more serious than others.”
“Who’s volunteered?”
“Two sistergirls, the drag queens from Sydney who are performing at the afterparty, two high school teens, and one or two real-life local couples.”
“We shouldn’t play this for laughs,” Allie said slowly. “We want people to be caught up in the romance of a wedding, to get that fuzzy loving feeling inside, the ooh and ahh moments. If we treat it as a joke, that’s how people will see weddings in Quandong. A real couple, or people prepared to play it seriously, might be best.”
“I agree,” someone shouted from the back of the room. “This is about love.”
“Fun too,” said Kirra, “but yeah. It’s mainly the love.” She made a heart shape with her fingers and thumbs. “Will, are you and Garrett adding yourself to the volunteers?”
“I didn’t say that,” Will said from the back of the room.
“Maybe you should.” Kirra fluttered her lashes at him.
“Why don’t we get everyone involved?” Allie said. “Everyone gets to vote for the two people they’d like to see do it. The winners get first option to be our couple.” Was there a word for non-binary wedding participants? Her mind buzzed, but she couldn’t think. She’d have to look it up later. So many small traps for the unwary. “How long is needed to organise the wedding clothes?”
“They all can do it in a week. Off the shelf only, of course,” Kirra said.
“We’ll set up a couple of ballot boxes and count the votes the week before the festival.” Allie gripped her thumbs in clenched fists. Was this a brilliant idea or an absolutely crap one that was destined to flop? She wished Sophie was there to whisper in her ear. No, that was selfish. She wished Sophie was there, full stop. Healthy and pain-free, with a body healed and back to how she was before the accident.Oh, Sophie. Tears pricked behind her eyes, and she blinked fast, trying to clear them.
