Nova exhaled with relief—for a moment there she’d thought it was something genuinely bad—but Craig was looking at her in horror.
“How can you have got the date wrong for your own wedding?”
“I definitely told her October. This is the photographer’s mistake, not mine.”
“It was youronejob,” Pamela said through gritted teeth.
Nova tried to defend herself, but Pamela stormed out of the room and refused to talk to her for the rest of the morning.
Things didn’t improve when Nova got to work for the start of her shift at midday and found Sandy and Lauren pulling the office apart.
“Where did you put the keys to the sports cupboard?” Sandy demanded as soon as she walked through the door. “Tim’s got twenty toddlers about to turn up for baby gym and we can’t find them anywhere!”
“I put them back in the key cupboard last night.”
“Well, they’re not there now. Are you sure you didn’t forget again?”
“I’m sure I—” she started, but then stopped when Lauren caught her eye and mouthed the wordDerek. Nova’s heart sank. She’d been on her way to put the keys away yesterday when she’d been cornered by a community center regular, Derek, who’d spent twenty minutes telling her in graphic detail about his prostate operation. By the time he’d finished, Nova must have put the keys in her pocket and forgotten all about them.
“I’m sorry, Sandy, I must have taken them home with me,” she said. “Do we not have a spare set?”
“No, we lost those years ago.”
“I can go home and get them now if—”
“Never mind,” Sandy snapped. “I’ll have to tell Tim to run the session without any bloody equipment.” She stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut behind her, and Nova sank down into a chair.
“You okay?” Lauren asked.
“I just feel like Sandy’s going to sack me at any moment, and I have this constant tightness in my chest.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Lauren said. “Have you talked to Craig about how you’re feeling?”
“I’ve tried but he thinks it’s just pre-wedding nerves.”
“And what do you think?”
“I don’t know.” Nova sighed. Was this what every bride felt like, four days before their wedding day; this horrible sensation of suffocating? But then she supposed most brides weren’t mourning the recent death of their father, or the imminent loss of their job.
“I think you need to be more honest with him,” Lauren said gently. “If you’re feeling this stressed about the wedding then perhaps you should consider postponing it for a bit?”
“I can’t do that. You know what Pamela’s like.”
“But Pamela isn’t the one who matters here. I’m sure if you explain to Craig how you’re feeling, he’d understand. He adores you, and I know he wouldn’t want to go through with the wedding if it’s making you feel physically unwell.”
“It’s fine; I’m fine.” Nova took a deep breath. “I’m just tired. I need to get through the next few days without getting fired, and then my mum’s coming over for the wedding and I have a week off work. I know I’ll feel better after that.”
Her friend gave her a small smile, but Nova could tell she wasn’t convinced.
The afternoon rumbled on without incident. Nova was determined not to make any more silly mistakes, and she double-checked every booking she put in the diary, and even made an effort to tidy her desk in case the sports cupboard keys were there.
At four o’clock she had a short break, but rather than sitting in the office with a glowering Sandy, Nova made herself a cup of tea and headed to Tintagel. As she turned the door handle, she heard a shuffling sound on the other side. Nova stepped in to see Arthur and Ash sitting at one of the tables, Ash trying to stuff something in his bag.
“What’s going on in here?” Nova asked, looking between their guilty expressions.
“We were just having a little chat,” Arthur said. “Lovely weather we’re having today, isn’t it?”
Nova frowned and was about to press further when the door behind her flew open again, crashing into her back. She yelped in pain as Phyllis came bowling into the room, followed closely by Craddock. They were both panting.
