‘What’s going on, Freya? Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’
‘And Harry and Chloe?’
‘It’s nothing like that. It’s Marley, you remember her?’
‘Of course, the wedding planner who rents the rooms above your boutique.’
‘Well, she got a call this morning from San Diego. Her twin sister’s been involved in a hang-gliding accident; she’s going to be okay, but she’s broken practically every bone in her body. To say Marley’s upset is an understatement. I’ve never seen anyone so distraught. She’s already left for the airport and she doesn’t know when she’ll be back – it could be months.’
Lexie wasn’t sure where this was going, but hearing Marley’s devastating news put her own troubles into perspective. She might have lost her job, and the man she had hoped to spend the rest of her life with, but she wasn’t lying in the hospital, in agony, facing god knows what, all alone until her sister arrived from the UK.
‘So, I was wondering…’
Pause.
‘Freya?’
‘No, no, sorry, it’s a ridiculous idea. After what’s just happened with Elliot, no, forget it.’
‘Just tell me, Freya.’
‘Well, Marley was in such a state about Missy that I told her I’d cover for her.’
‘Cover for her?’
‘Sort of keep an eye on her clients.’
‘That’s very generous of you, Freya. Haven’t you got enough to do, though? I thought you had back-to-back weddings over the next couple months?’
‘I do, and Marley’s the wedding planner for at least three of the couples.’
‘So, how are you… oh…’
The penny dropped. A ripple of panic shot through Lexie’s abdomen and if she wasn’t sitting down she thought she would collapse.
‘You want me to…’
‘I wouldn’t ask, Lex, but I’m desperate – I have five wedding dresses, fifteen bridesmaid dresses, and nine flower girl dresses to finalise in eight weeks. Not to mention the fact that I have no idea how to co-ordinate a wedding! Whilst you, on the other hand, with all your experience of producing catwalk shows, and organising your own wedding – well, you’d make a fantastic wedding planner! And it might be just what you need – a trip home to Cornwall to see your goddaughter. What do you say? Will you hold the fort at The Cornish Confetti Agency?’
What could she say? If Freya needed a favour, then it was a given that Lexie would step up. In the aftermath of her father’s passing, she didn’t think she could have got through even a day if Freya and Harry hadn’t been at her side, supporting her, guiding her, feeding her, helping her to come to terms with her loss. And when her mother had dropped the bombshell that she was leaving the country, Freya had declared that Lexie would always have a home, and a family, in St Ives – with them. There was also something to be said for escaping the drizzle-soaked streets of London and potential run-ins with Elliot before she’d had chance to come to terms with his cheating, as well as taking some time to decide where her future truly lay, with her best friend on hand to dispense advice.
‘I might regret this, but okay, I’ll step into the breach. I assume Marley will email everything through?’
‘I’m sure she will – she’s very organised, usually.’
‘So, when’s the first wedding? May? June?’
‘Erm, no, actually it’s next Sunday!’
Chapter Three
A week later
Dalston Manor, Pengarth, Cornwall
‘Well, that went well,’ said Lexie, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she slumped down onto one of the bamboo chairs she’d spent all morning arranging and draping with garlands of brightly coloured ribbons and bows. ‘Remind me again whose idea it was to have a candyfloss machine at a Caribbean-themed wedding?’
‘That would be the groom’s mother, Neurotic Nadia, so there is some poetic justice in the world after all,’ grinned Jasper, Freya’s younger brother and all-round floristry maestro who’d had mischief running through his veins since he took his first steps. ‘Actually, I thought a delicate festoon of finely spun sugar added a certain je ne sais quoi to that bird’s nest bouffant she’s got going on, didn’t you?’
Jasper’s eyes sparkled as he reached out to tweak one of the tropical foliage displays that encircled the magnificent orangery where the Carter-Jones wedding was being held in less than three days’ time.
‘Don’t say that!’ giggled Lexie. ‘I think she asked the hotel’s hairdresser for something Marilyn Monroe-esque.’
‘More like Worzel Gummidge’s grandma! Anyway, I don’t know what you’re complaining about! Your candyfloss calamity was nothing compared to the fiasco I had to deal with yesterday! I thought Zara’s mother was about to have a coronary when she saw the buttonhole samples. How was I to know that calla lilies are the family’s bête noir? Clearly our blushing bride-to-be had no idea either or she would have mentioned it during one of our intimate meanders through the labyrinths of the horticultural world. You wouldn’t believe the hassle I’ve had sourcing two hundred bird-of-paradise stems for the bouquets and buttonholes, not to mention the table decorations, at the last minute! Garth and I slaved like Trojans all night to come up with this vision of St Lucian wonderfulness!’
Lexie glanced around the vast Victorian conservatory, which over the course of the last week had become her second home whilst, following the instructions Marley had emailed through to her, she had laboured to replicate a Caribbean paradise to rival the real thing; the swaying palm trees, the exotically patterned table linen, the scooped-out pineapples the bride wanted her guests to use for the toasts.
The whole room was a kaleidoscope of vibrant colours and fragrances, not only from the abundance of flowers and plants, but from the strategically placed scented candles that added a whiff of fresh coconut to the air. She was filled with gratitude for Jasper’s knack of coming up trumps when she had thought the whole wedding was in floral jeopardy. She had to admit the episode had been right up there on the stress-o-meter with Pierre’s Spring/Summer collection, but fortunately Jasper seemed to thrive on panic, anxiety, and adrenalin and had relished the challenge to create something different in such a short space of time.
And then there had been the candyfloss debacle. Thankfully she had insisted on the machine being tested in advance and when they’d pressed the on-switch, streamers of sticky sugar had coiled into the air like carnival bunting. It gave her no end of pleasure to hear Nadia confess that her idea might have been a bit on the ridiculous side and to agree to adhere to Marley’s well-planned agenda from now on.
Lexie cast a glance at Jasper, whose lips twisted into a smile.
‘It’s not funny, Jasper. You know how important it is that I get everything right, for Marley’s sake. The last thing she wants is to come back to a bankrupted business! I need this wedding to run like clockwork; no mistakes, no mishaps, and definitely no mayhem, just a slick, professionally managed operation. And that’s exactly what will happen, provided we stick to Marley’s schedule!’