Page 42 of All Wrapped Up
‘Now,’ said Lizzie, flopping down on to a chair as the crowd finally thinned, and once I had talked myself literally hoarse, ‘I’m not usually the sort of person to say, I told you so—’
‘You’reexactlythe sort of person to say that, Lizzie,’ cut in Jemma’s husband, Tom, who had just been telling me that the council were completely onboard with the festival but that there weren’t any funds in the pot to support it.
Volunteers to support the events and ticket sales to fund them were going to be key, but I had a good feeling that both would be fine.
‘Hey!’ Lizzie yelped and pouted.
‘But on this occasion,’ I joined in, having gulped down the lemonade Ash had kindly handed me, ‘you did tell me so and you were right.’
‘So, you’re definitely up for it then?’ Lizzie asked, holding up crossed fingers which had become something of a theme of the evening.
‘Of course I am,’ I laughed, once I’d thanked Ash and as I started to gather up the many filled sheets of paper.
‘Well, thank goodness for that,’ Jemma chimed in, with anod to the growing pile. ‘Because I don’t think any of us have the head space to make sense of that lot.’
‘I’m not sure I have now,’ I joked as I flicked through them all. ‘But I will by tomorrow. All I need to focus on for the moment, is getting the draft schedule drawn up and sending it out for the participants to check and hopefully confirm. And enlisting all of you,’ I then carried on, ‘to encourage the shop owners to dress their windows. And the yarn bombers to keep their needles clicking in time for the launch on the twentieth. And then get the events pages running online, of course…’
‘Allshe needs to focus on!’ Ash teased. ‘That’s all, is it, Clemmie?’
‘Don’t worry,’ I grinned at him. ‘I know how to delegate and with your help, Ash, we’ll have it sorted in no time.’
‘I’m sure you will,’ Lizzie beamed. ‘And you can leave the knitters and shopkeepers entirely to me and Joanne, if you like. We can go round the shops and make sure everyone knows how to join in, can’t we?’
‘Absolutely,’ Joanne, who had been unusually quiet all evening, agreed. ‘I think almost everyone who has a shop was here tonight anyway, but I’ll go around the town tomorrow to double check.’
‘That would be great,’ I said. ‘Thank you.’
‘My pleasure,’ she told me. ‘I’m just pleased this is all happening before I leave.’
‘Trust you not to want to miss out,’ Lizzie laughed at her, but I wondered if there was more behind Joanne’s comment than that.
‘You know me so well,’ was her response but I still wasn’tsure that a desire to take part was all that was behind her words.
I didn’t know her well enough to ask, but I had the feeling there might be something going on with Joanne that she was keeping under her hat.
‘And that much appreciated extra help will leave me more time for Pixie,’ I said, having taken a quick look at the time. ‘Though she already was right at the top of my priority list.’
‘Have you taken her on?’ Jemma gasped.
‘I have,’ I said, feeling thrilled with how my life was turning out now that I’d taken the leap of faith Callum’s recently found note had encouraged. ‘And right now, she’s waiting for another cuddle, so I’m off.’
‘We’re off,’ Ash laughingly corrected me. ‘I drove us in, remember?’
‘We’re off.’ I swallowed, feeling the words stick as I quickly looked to Joanne, but thankfully, she didn’t seem to have heard him.
Chapter 11
I became worried on the not too lengthy drive back to Rowan Cottage that Pixie hadn’t coped well with being left home alone for a few hours on her first evening. In fact, I was so preoccupied with my concerns about her that they completely knocked everything else I had to think about clean out of my head.
‘Penny for them?’ Ash asked, making me jump. ‘You will be able to do it all, you know,’ he carried on when I didn’t answer. ‘And I’ll keep my promise. I’ll help as much as I possibly can.’
‘It’s not the festival,’ I said, willing the journey to go faster. ‘Though there is an awful lot for us to get our heads around. Right now, I’m more concerned about Pixie.’
‘Well, we’re almost back now,’ Ash sensibly pointed out. ‘And I’m certain she’s been fine. You know me well enough by now, Clemmie, to know that I wouldn’t have suggested she could be left if I had thought she’d be upset.’
‘Of course,’ I sighed. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t apologise,’ he said kindly. ‘It’s truly wonderful that she has someone taking care of her who loves her so much.’
