We all follow her to the Seraphina East room, and Lando and I sit side by side in the two gilded armchairs that Jess sends us to and watch as Tia pulls a board from the package.
Poppy shouts, ‘Ready, steady, go! Ta-da!’
Tia spins the first board around and as I take in the giant splash of colour my mouth falls open and my heart freezes.
‘What the hell is that?’
Instead of white planks and twinkling ocean, I’m looking at a four-foot-high closeup of Lando and me laughing as we stuff scarlet fruit into our mouths with a cornflower blue sky behind us.
Before I can say any more, Tia props it on the bridesmaid’s sofa and adds another three slightly different views of exactly the same thing to complete the row.
Jess claps her hands. ‘It’s official. I want you two to be our couple of the summer, to complement our Wild Around St Aidan promotion. These are to use in the shop. You have to agree they’re sensational.’
Poppy’s nodding at the sofa. ‘You’ve taken some stunning photos there, Tia.’
Tia’s staring down at me. ‘So? What do you think?’
‘Honestly?’ I blow out a breath and fan my face with my fingers. ‘I’m pleased you made us sit down.’
Lando murmurs under his breath, ‘Strawberry tarts may never taste the same again.’
Jess beams. ‘It’s exactly as I hoped: you’re visually very complementary, and together you radiate summer love and blissful happiness.’
I shudder. ‘Sorry to wreck the illusion, but that’s not what we were feeling!’
Lando gives a low laugh. ‘Speak for yourself! You might change your opinion when you hear how much Auntie Jess is offering to pay us to do it again.’
I can feel the blood draining from my face. ‘Surely not?’
Jess is beaming. ‘I’d like the two of you to do me an entire summer’s worth of wedding shots across our entire range of suits and dresses. Lando’s negotiated a top price, and Tia’s offered to shoot them.’
Tia’s staring at me. ‘We understand you may not be fully on board with this, and that’s completely fine. But if you are willing, Jess is offering a very generous ongoing payment.’
I glance at Lando’s long tanned fingers tapping on the chair arm, then at the muscular line where his thigh pushes against his jeans and I know it’s out of the question. Then I close my eyes, imagine how many windows there are in a camper van to buy curtains for, and I know I might need to think again. I may be being pushed up against a wall from all directions, but the way my life is going, if income is on offer, I should grab it with both hands. Whatever Tia is saying, there isn’t actually a choice.
I drag in a breath and force myself to say the words, ‘Okay. I’m in.’
Lando gives my arm a nudge. ‘Right answer, Maevey Waves.’
To think that when I walked into the shop today, my worst thoughts were about Mum needing help and Tia not having a wedding. And somehow, along the way, I ended up agreeing to open a wedding venue, and now Lando’s buying up Cornwall, with a special interest in St Aidan. To top it all, I’ve just agreed to do a summer of photo shoots where I pretend to be in love with the last man in the world I should be anywhere near. All while keeping him far, far away from Nemmie.
Jess chimes in. ‘We could do the next shoot at the beach hut!’
Poppy beams at Lando. ‘Maeve is opening it as a wedding venue, isn’t that fab?’
Lando turns to me, his face lit up. ‘Director of fun, and this too? It’s lucky I’ll be around to help!’
My stomach drops. ‘Thanks, but won’t you be off sampling plankton and planting reeds?’ I can’t cope with Lando at the beach hut. ‘Let’s go somewhere different to keep things fresh.’ I’m scouring my brain to think of anywhere else, then an ice cream sundae pops into my head. ‘We’ll do it at the Surf Shack. The next sunny afternoon we’re all free.’
‘Let me know.’ Lando’s already up and heading towards the door.
I’ve always been easy-going and dealt with whatever life has thrown at me as it came up. But if Lando’s around, I can’t afford to waft about and let things happen to me. However unnatural it feels, I need to sort out a strategy. Because if I’m not the one in control, it suddenly feels as if anything could happen.
13
The Surf Shack, St Aidan, Cornwall
Dog days and castles made of sand
