Page 47 of One Sweet Day in Lovely Bay
Birdie smiled. ‘Everything good with you? How did it go at the races?’
‘Really good.’ Cally tapped her phone, opened her pictures, and slid the phone over the table.
‘Wow! Alice said you looked fabulous; she wasn’t wrong.’
Cally smiled. ‘She did an amazing job with my hair. I felt like a different person.’
Birdie scrolled through the photos. ‘I'll say! Look at you, hobnobbing with the toffs. You look like you stepped right out of a fashion magazine.’
Cally chuckled. ‘I've never worn anything so posh in my life. The dress was like something else. Honestly, I felt fabulous.’
‘What was it like? Did you see any celebrities? Did you win any bets?’
Cally cradled her mug. ‘It was good. Everything was so grand and everyone looked perfect. I felt a bit like a fish out of water some of the time, but loved it, too.’
‘But you look so confident in these photos,’ Birdie observed, gesturing to the phone.
Cally nodded. ‘I got more comfortable as the day went on. It came and went in waves.’
‘That hat, though. How on earth did you keep it on your head?’
‘A lot of hairpins and an entire can of hairspray. I think my hair is still crunchy from it all.’
Birdie laughed. ‘Well, it looked fantastic. You could've been on the cover of Vogue.’
Cally scoffed. ‘Hardly! It was nice to dress up, though. Just goes to show.’
‘What about the food? I bet it was fancy stuff, not a bowl of chowder in sight.’
Cally laughed. ‘You're not wrong there. It was all very fancy. Tiny little canapés that looked more like art than food. And the champagne! I've never seen so much champagne in my life. I think some people were pickled by the end of the day.’
‘Ooh, look at you, living the high life. Don't go getting too used to it, now. We can't have you turning your nose up at Lovely.’
‘Trust me. No fancy canapé could ever replace this place. I have to say, though, the people-watching was next level. Some of the outfits were incredible. Some though, let's just say not everyone has good taste, even with a lot of money involved.’
‘Did you see any real fashion disasters? When I see it on the TV, I always think surely it’s not real that people would wear those getups.’
‘Well, there was one woman with a hat that looked like an entire flower shop had exploded on her head. I swear, it must have weighed a tonne. I don't know how she kept her neck up. Another one looked like a walking ball of green feathers.’
‘Too funny. How was Logan?’
Cally's smile faltered slightly at the mention of Logan, but she quickly rallied. ‘Yeah, fine.’
Birdie, ever perceptive, noticed the shift in her mood. ‘Everything alright with him?’
Cally forced a smile. She didn’t have the energy to go into it with Birdie. ‘Yep. I’m just a bit tired, I think. It was a long day, and I'm not used to all that excitement.’
‘Well, it sounds like you had a wonderful time. I'm so glad you got to experience it. You deserve a bit of glamour in your life, our Cally.’
For a moment, Cally was tempted to spill everything—her discovery of Logan's previous marriage, her conflicted feelings, her fears for the future—but she held back. She needed to sort through her own thoughts first.
Birdie got up and picked up her mug. ‘Right, well, best get on. Those prescriptions won’t dispense themselves.’
‘Yep.’ Cally rinsed the mugs and walked into the back room. As she settled back into the familiar routine of the chemist, she felt slightly calmer. One step at a time, she told herself. That's how she'd navigate the complex situation with Logan.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of unloading drug cartons, missing prescriptions, and deliveries. Cally lost herself in it all and found comfort in the familiar rhythm of the chemist, such a contrast to the pomp and glamour she’d been right in the centre of at the races. She knew which one she preferred. As she sorted and worked, she felt an odd appreciation for her little job. It was certainly not glamorous, but it was very real and there was something oddly grounding about that. Just as she was pulling a cardboard carton out of the back room and heading toward the dispensary, Nancy came walking up to the counter on the other side of the shop. Nancy beamed.
‘Our Cally, how was it? I’ve been thinking about you. That post on Facebook! You looked stunning!’
