Page 14 of All Wrapped Up
I had felt unsettled when Ash’s eyes had met and held mine in the café and I hadn’t known why at the time, but now I realised it was because he was the first guy I’d looked at, as inproperlylooked at, and the first man who had properly looked at me, since Callum had died. However, having just heard him insist that a relationship wasn’t on his radar had helped to diminish the impact of our first meeting considerably.
In fact, I got the feeling that, if we could keep Joanne out of the equation, Ash might become just the friend I needed to boot my sense of loneliness out of the door. We were both relative newcomers to the area and we were both content with our relationship lot. That sounded like an ideal friendship match to me. And, if he was going to potentially become a pal, perhaps, given that he’d already offered to deputise, he might be the perfect person to consider working on the autumn festival with, too…
Chapter 4
In the hope of getting to talk to Lizzie on her own, I waited until close to what I knew to be The Cherry Tree Café closing time to head back into town on Saturday afternoon. The weather had cooled considerably, the breeze had a definite chilly edge and, as a result, I pulled on a jumper and the waxed coat I had found Callum’s note in ahead of setting off.
The extra outer layer felt like a good idea at the time, a sort of lucky talisman to support the monumental decision I had made, but by the time I had found a parking space, much further away from the café than I had hoped, and then walked at pace across the market square, I felt close to overheating, so I shrugged it off and draped it over my arm.
In spite of my soaring temperature and a fluttering accompaniment of nerves, I was happy to find I was feeling excited, too.
‘Are you expecting rain?’ asked Jemma, when I walked in carrying the rather cumbersome coat and found the place deserted.
I looked above the door and spotted the brass bell that had tinkled melodiously to announce my arrival. It was anothersweet feature and one I hadn’t noticed on my previous visit as the door had been propped open.
‘Hey, Jemma.’ I smiled. ‘No, hopefully no rain today. Is Lizzie about?’
‘She’s still tidying up next door,’ Jemma told me. ‘Can I help?’
I had forgotten that I had read on their website that Lizzie was holding one of her crafting workshops in the gallery space next door that afternoon.
‘No, I’ll go and find her, but thank you.’
‘No worries.’
‘Is Joanne with her?’ I asked as an afterthought.
‘No.’ Jemma smiled wryly. ‘And please, don’t worry about her matchmaking spiel from the other day. Lizzie and I have further put her off, so with any luck, she’ll leave you in peace now.’
‘Excellent.’ I smiled back, but having heard what Ash had to say on the subject, I was still going to remain on guard. ‘Thanks.’
The friendly bell tinkled again as I left and another rang out as I opened the gallery door. There was no one there, other than Lizzie, and that was perfect.
‘All right,’ I announced the moment she looked at me and before I became distracted by the stunning artwork on the walls or potentially lost my nerve. ‘I’ll do it.’
She looked confused for a moment, but then the penny dropped.
‘The festival!’ she gasped, her hands clasped, as she abandoned the squares of fabric she had been piling together. ‘You’ll run it?’
‘I will,’ I confirmed. ‘But only if no one truly minds that I never knew Moses and if I’ve got some proper help to pulloff whatever I turn his idea into, because obviously I won’t be able to manage it entirely on my own, especially as we’re now even more pressed for time.’
I was hoping that, with Ash onboard as a willing deputy, I wouldn’t feel quite so overwhelmed by the extra-large leap of faith I was taking. It was just days ago that I had been reminding myself not to go all in, but the lure of an autumn celebration had ultimately proved impossible to resist.
‘Oh wow!’ Lizzie squealed as she clapped ecstatically.
‘I know Ash has said he’ll deputise if someone else oversees it, because he stopped by the cottage and mentioned it,’ I stated, ‘so as long as he’s still keen… you’re on. And so’s the festival!’
‘I don’t believe it!’ Lizzie laughed and clapped again. ‘But are you sure you’ve got time? I know you aren’t working at the moment, but you did nonetheless say that you were too busy before.’
‘Let’s just say that I’ve moved a few things around.’ I shrugged, glossing over the excuse slash fib I’d previously cited without further explanation.
‘In that case, thank you!’ she gushed. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much, Clemmie. Everyone is going to be thrilled.’
‘I do hope so,’ I said, biting my lip and feeling a twinge of apprehension.
I was delighted to already have plenty of autumn-based ideas to offer, but how the locals, who had never even met me, were going to receive them, was a concern. They might not think that what I had in mind was going to marry up with the initial idea Moses had dreamt up.
‘Like I said the day we met,’ Lizzie insisted, ‘you’re more than qualified to do it and everyone is going to be putty inyour hands. Not that they’ll know how capable you are,’ she quickly added, ‘because I haven’t said a word to a soul about your Insta, but as soon as you start talking about autumn, they’ll know you’re the woman for the job.’
