Sam nodded.
‘We’ll talk later,’ he said to me, ‘after I’ve finished the lunches.’
*
‘So,’ I grinned, once the rush had died down and Sam had a couple of minutes to spare, ‘that’s a definite no to the selection of seaside shots party games then.’
It wasn’t the first thing he had vetoed. So far, he’d managed to blackball all the things I had added purely for my own amusement.
‘Absolutely,’ he said firmly. ‘We don’t want folk to drink too much.’
That had to be the oddest thing I’d ever heard a pub landlord say.
‘May I just remind you,’ I said, pointing to the bar and the range of optics behind it, ‘that this is a pub and people do actually come here to drink alcohol.’
‘I know,’ he shrugged, offering no further explanation for his strange comment.
‘Okay then,’ I sighed once we had worked our way through all of his ideas as well as mine. ‘You really are determined that traditional is the right way to go, aren’t you?’
What he had in mind sounded a bit staid to me, but then he knew the locals better than I did, even if he hadn’t noticed that they were crying out for some form of entertainment.
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘definitely. This is just the sort of thing everyone will be hoping for.’
If it was up to me, that would have been the perfect reason to give them something a bit different. I was just about to say as much when Sam leant back in his chair and gave the biggest yawn and I changed my mind. He looked absolutely exhausted.
‘You know what,’ I said tapping my pencil on the list, ‘I think you’re right. This has the potential to be a really great night.’
‘Even though it’s nothing like the Ibiza-style extravaganza you were hoping for?’ Sam asked, leaning forward again.
‘Even though it’s not quite what I imagined when you first asked if I’d help,’ I conceded, ‘I do think you’re on the right track. What we’ve got here will suit this place perfectly.’
‘Now all the pair of you have to do,’ said Sophie, as she carried over a tray of coffee, ‘is organize it. Do you think you can pull it off in time?’
Sam picked up the notepad and let out a long breath.
‘Of course,’ I said forthrightly. ‘No problem.’
‘You sound very sure about that,’ he said, putting the pad back down and stretching his arms above his head, treating me to a tantalizing glimpse of torso in the process.
‘That’s because I am,’ I swallowed, my mouth had suddenly gone dry. ‘We can do this standing on our heads.’
‘We’ve literally got just five days,’ Sam reminded me, holding up his right hand to further stress the point. He sounded nowhere near as confident as I hoped he would. ‘And now everyone knows that something’s going to be happening, we can’t let them down.’
‘We won’t let anyone down,’ I told him. ‘Just you wait and see.’
*
As it turned out, given the nature of what Sam had agreed to, there really wasn’t all that much to arrange. The difficulty for him came down to timing so, having noticed how tired he was on Sunday, I took over most of the organization and simply asked for his approval as we went along.
My body clock was still firmly fixed in work mode so getting up bright and early every day was no problem, especially as I was determined to make sure everything ran like clockwork and exceeded expectations. There might not have been all that much to do when I got down to it, but the project ensured my mind tracked back to thoughts of my phone and my father’s reaction to my disappearance far less than it had when I first arrived. I was resisting the temptation of Mum’s diary too. I hadn’t forgotten about any of it, I was just putting it all on hold for a little while longer.
By Tuesday lunchtime everything was booked and I had even designed a poster on Sophie’s laptop. I’d printed off plenty too so I could pin them up around the village.
‘Does Sam know about this?’ Sophie gasped, as she pointed out the name of the group listed, rather grandly, as headlining the event.
‘Not yet,’ I grinned, feeling well pleased with my efforts. ‘He knew there were a few names in the hat because he’d approved them, but I haven’t told him who I managed to get. These guys are a big deal, right?’
‘Just a bit!’ she exclaimed, reading the poster again.
‘That’s what I thought when I searched for them on your laptop.’ I told her. ‘I didn’t want to get Sam’s hopes up but they’re definitely coming. I can’t wait to see his face when he reads this.’
‘You’ve certainly delivered, Tess.’ Sophie said admiringly. ‘I know Sam cajoled you into helping at first, but you really seem to know your stuff. Is this what you do in real life, when you’re not on holiday?’
‘Oh no,’ I told her. ‘This is purely a one-off.’
There was no denying that my marketing degree and work skills had helped, but organizing this event had been so much fun it bore absolutely no resemblance to my real job, the one that I had become so disheartened with.
‘Well,’ Sophie said, handing back the poster, ‘perhaps you should consider a change of career, because you seem to have a knack for this.’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘maybe I should.’
I could imagine exactly what my father would have to say about that. Even though I was doing my best not to think about him he was still, annoyingly and in spite of my best efforts, popping into my head. I hoped Chris was doing a good enough job to make up for my absence from the office.
‘Anyway,’ I said, gathering up the posters. ‘I had better get these to the pub. I can’t put them up without the boss’s approval, can I?’
‘Absolutely not,’ Sophie winked. ‘But you might as well leave a couple here with me as I’m certain he’ll love them.’
I slipped off my sandals and walked back to the village along the sand. Considering I had been craving the beach, I hadn’t spent all that long on it. I had been taking walks every evening before bed, but I still hadn’t ventured over to the beach huts or to the rockpools. Thankfully, my extended stay meant there would be plenty of time for all that after the weekend.
*
‘The Sea Dogs!’ Sam shouted, making me jump. ‘You’ve actually managed to get the Sea Dogs?’
He had looked a little nervous when I first handed him the poster, but the more he had read, the wider his eyes had got and now he was looking completely astounded.
‘Yep,’ I nodded, ‘and before you start going off on one about not being able to afford them, the event they should have been headlining was cancelled at the last minute so they’re coming here for a reduced fee that easily fits your budget.’
It had taken some serious negotiating on my part, but nonetheless their final terms had been generous and, having researched them and realized just what a big deal the sea-shanty singing group were, I had wasted no time in snapping them up. I was more than confident that they would be such a draw that the evening’s takings would easily balance the books.
‘I can’t believe it,’ Sam breathed. ‘I can’t believe we’ve organized all of this in just a few days. You’ve organized it, I mean.’