But they still had tonight.
* * *
Allie surreptitiously looked at her phone. Phyll had been speaking for fifteen minutes. So far, she’d thanked half the committees and helpers, which meant there was probably another fifteen minutes to go.
“And, of course,” Phyll said, “we couldn’t have done this, all this, the festival, the publicity, the last-minute changes without Sophie Lane. She swooped in to save us when we were floundering at the start, then she dived in again to help us sort out the last-minute hitches. Like the portaloos.”
Allie pasted on a smile and hoped she looked amused at Phyll’s dragging up of the portaloo issue.
“Seriously, Sophie, we are very grateful to you. And, of course, no thanks to you goes without a mention of your hard-working assistant, our very own Tarryn Harris.”
Next to her, Tarryn grinned around the room.
“We all know Tarryn’s aversion to weddings—even same-sex ones—and to marriage in general, but she ponied up and stepped in—”
“And got paid,” Ziggy said.
“And got paid far less than she’s worth and for far fewer hours than she actually worked,” Phyll continued. “As you all know, Sophie and Tarryn were our couple for the wedding ceremony, the culmination of the festival, and they played their parts with good grace and amazing enthusiasm.”
Curse her pale skin. Allie tried not to flush with embarrassment as the good-natured laughter rippled around the room. Of course everyone had seen her and Tarryn kiss with far more gusto than the part entailed. Her face when she smiled her thanks was as hot as Tarryn’s kiss.
“For going above and beyond,” Phyll continued, “we all chipped in for a thank you gift.” She approached Allie and Tarryn with two envelopes.
“There’s no need to thank me,” Allie said. “I was only doing what was necessary for the success of the festival. I appreciate the thought, but I’d be happy if you would give mine to Tarryn.”
“As you wish,” Phyll said. “But you might want to share them anyway.” With an exaggerated wink, she handed both envelopes to Tarryn.
“Thank you.” Tarryn held the envelopes aloft.
“You have to open them now,” Phyll said when it seemed Tarryn was about to pocket them.
“Is it embarrassing?”
“No. Just a helpful gesture. Your friends in Quandong can read the room.”
That doesn’t sound good.Allie hoped it was something tame like a supermarket gift token, but she had her doubts.
Tarryn ripped open the envelope and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She opened it. “It’s an Airbnb voucher. Thank you, everyone. This will be great when I go visit my friend in Mackay.”
A few faces looked disappointed. Allie mentally shrugged. They may have hoped the two of them would share the nights, probably halfway between Sydney and Quandong, but it obviously wasn’t going to happen. It wasn’t practical.
What a shame.
After a pause, Phyll turned to Allie. “Do you want to give the wrap-up?”
Allie leaned forward. “I don’t have too much to say. Mainly that you all were the most amazing bunch of people to work with and you made my job so easy. I’ve already forwarded the advance articles about the festival to Phyll—if someone could keep an eye out for others. Those are the news sources you should target first in your marketing campaign next year. Feedback I received over the two days from festivalgoers was overwhelmingly positive. The only slight niggle was people saying they had to wait too long for their food at the local food dinner. That was mainly due to more people than anticipated attending—vendors and suppliers were caught on the hop; you’ll know for next year. I also suggest increasing the number of stalls.”
Phyll nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”
“That’s it, then. It’s been a wonderful festival, and it’s been my pleasure to assist you in making it the success it was. Now we just have to take down and clear up. I’m leaving tomorrow morning if anyone has any last-minute questions for me.”
“You all know your clean-up crews,” Phyll said. “Let’s get to it.”
Allie and Tarryn were part of the crew disassembling the stage area where the ceremony had taken place. Allie stared at it for a moment. This was the place she’d kissed Tarryn in front of hundreds,thousands,hordes,of people. Talk about a way to come out. There’d been TV cameras at the event. For a moment, she wondered if Sophie had seen it. She frowned. There hadn’t been a peep out of Sophie since yesterday afternoon. She’d have to call her.
With so many people helping, the main street was restored to order quite quickly. Allie shed her work gloves and looked around. Most people had headed away. Only Jason and a couple of his regulars were still working around the front of The Hollowman, and Tarryn was talking to the hire crew who had come to pick up their equipment.
She hesitated. Would Tarryn suggest a final night together? Her new-found feelings pulsed in her throat. It was what she wanted, another night with Tarryn before she returned to Sydney to try to figure out her life. Another night to allow her emotions to come to the fore, to accept Tarryn wasn’t simply an experimental night in her life but was someone she could care for. Did care for.
