Page 61 of The Granddaughter's Irish Secret
Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing, the sound jolting her back to reality. It was Vicky, sounding frantic.
‘Rose, where are you?’ she asked. ‘I thought you would be here, helping out with the rehearsals for the fashion show.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ Rose said. ‘I totally forgot about that. I had to go to Kinsale with Noel for something that came up during the week. Is there a problem?’
‘Nothing but,’ Vicky replied, sounding desperate. ‘I think we might have to cancel the whole thing.’
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‘What’s going on?’ Rose asked, startled by the desperation in Vicky’s voice.
‘Everyone is fighting and two of the best models have dropped out,’ Vicky said. ‘Someone fell off the catwalk and is threatening to sue because the silly woman twisted her ankle, which wasn’t because of the catwalk but because she doesn’t know how to walk in high heels.’ Vicky drew breath. ‘I need you here as soon as possible. When are you coming back?’
‘We’re just going through Bandon,’ Rose said after a quick look out the window. ‘I’d say we should be back in about an hour and a half. What do you think, Noel?’
‘Something like that,’ Noel said. ‘What’s going on?’
‘I’ll tell you in a minute. I’ll come straight to the ballroom when we’re back,’ Rose said to Vicky. ‘See you then.’
‘If I’m still alive,’ Vicky muttered. ‘That Mrs Moore is looking daggers at me because I told her she couldn’t possibly get into a size ten dress. Can’t wait for you come and sort everyone out.’
‘Poor Vicky,’ Rose said once she’d hung up. ‘I shouldn’t have left her holding that particular baby. I feel so guilty, I totallyforgot about the rehearsal. I should have known there would be problems.’
‘But you thought you were so close to finding the necklace,’ Noel said. ‘Understandable that you forgot everything else.’
‘Yes, I…’ Rose started, but then her phone pinged interrupting her. ‘A message from Henri,’ she said and opened it.
Big problem.The chimney in one of the flats on the top floor has caved in. Needs urgent repairs before the building work can continue on that floor. What kind of insurance do we have?
‘Oh no,’ Rose exclaimed. She turned to Noel. ‘I have to call him. It’s about a problem with the building work.’
‘Of course you must call him,’ Noel urged. ‘No need to ask for permission.’
‘Great.’ Rose quickly found Henri’s number. He answered straight away.
‘Where are you?’ he asked, sounding annoyed. ‘I thought you said you’d be home at the weekend.’
‘Well, I’m not, but never mind,’ Rose snapped. ‘Tell me about the chimney. What happened?’
‘A recent rainstorm damaged the brickwork and all the mortar in the old chimney,’ Henri explained. ‘That part of the roof had been stripped back for repairs, but the tarpaulin blew off or something and all the rain got in. And the fireplace in one of the smaller flats has to be rebuilt. That will stall the work on the flats on the top floor.’
‘I’ll be back in an hour or two,’ Rose said. ‘And then we can look up the insurance and everything and see how much extra all that will cost.’
‘Okay,’ Henri said. ‘I’ll wait in Sylvia’s study until you arrive.’ Rose hung up and placed the phone back into her bag.
‘More bad news?’ Noel asked.
‘Yes, but it can be sorted.’ Rose glanced at Noel. ‘Can we speed up a bit? I need to get back to sort out that mess with the fashion show. And everything else.’
‘Not if you want to stay within the speed limit,’ he said drily. ‘But I can take a shortcut and see if we miss the traffic around Killarney.’
‘Okay, great.’ Rose stared straight ahead, feeling frustrated. The trip to Kinsale had been for nothing. Now she had this problem with the fashion show, which seemed to be falling apart. And the news from Henri about the chimney was annoying to say the least.
‘I’d better get you back fast or you’ll explode,’ Noel said, as he suddenly sped up.
‘Be careful,’ Rose warned. ‘You don’t want to get penalty points.’
‘Never mind the speed limit,’ Noel snapped. ‘We need to get back.’
