Page 35 of The Seaside Cocktail Campervan

‘Oh well, I’m sure she’d be keen. She does garlic breads … perhaps salads would be fine. I can ask about dessert options for you, too.’ He was really going out on a limb here, he knew, but Lucy had said she was desperate for more business. Even if she went and bought in some good puddings from the local cash and carry, that could work. He was thinking on his feet.

‘Sounds interesting …’

‘Okay, well let me give her a ring. And then, if she’s up for it, which I’m pretty certain she will be, then is it okay to pass on your number? I’ll get her to call you as soon as poss. Put your mind at rest.’

‘Oh Jack, you might just be a life-saver, well a party-saver anyhow. I was stressing out that I’d have to try and cater for sixty people myself. And it’s meant to be a surprise. It’ll be a bit of a giveaway if I’m stood cooking all bloody day!’

‘No worries, I’m happy to help.’

‘Thank you so much.’

‘And I’ll be there for 7 p.m. as planned, yeah?’

‘Yes, perfect. Thanks again,’ Nikki’s voice had lifted with relief.

He couldn’t let her down now. As he turned off the call, Jack suddenly realised that he didn’t have Lucy’s mobile number. Right, well he’d have to message her via her Facebook page which he’d spotted the other day, and quickly. He didn’t want another catering firm stepping into the gap in the meanwhile.

He started typing:

Hi Lucy. I’ve a gig for you this Friday if you’re interested? 40th Birthday. A pizza booking with some extras needed too. Filling in for a last-minute cancellation. Job’s yours if you’re up for it? Give me a call asap, Jack

He paused … should he finish with a kiss or not? Ah, go for it:

x

He added his mobile number and pressed Send. Done. And now all he had to do was wait.

Chapter 18

Lucy was making sandcastles in her brother’s back garden, having some hands-on fun with her two-year-old nephew in his sand-pit, when her phone buzzed.

A notification from Facebook. She clicked onto it. Oh, it was Jack, via her page. That Jack. She quickly read the message. Oh, it was a work thing … and great … there was a job coming up … this Friday. She laughed out loud at ‘some extras needed too’! Was that for cocky barman Jack the Lad or the party organiser, she mused? But, wow, a new booking, and just when she needed the business so badly. He’d come up trumps.

She swallowed the small feeling of disappointment that he hadn’t been messaging to meet up again. Stop dreaming, Lucy. Enough of that.

‘Pat it, Annie Lucy.’ Little Freddie brought her back to the here and now. He’d not quite mastered the word ‘Auntie’, so she was Annie Lucy. Lucy turned over the castle pot, and they patted it together with little plastic spades. She was really fond of her nephew. Her own dreams of having a family sometime soon had been blown apart with the news that Liam was leaving her – well, to be fair, after his appalling behaviour, it was more like a bloody big shove out the door on her part. She lifted off the pot carefully.

‘Yay, it’s a good one, Freddie.’

‘Yesss! I find flower … put on it.’ And off he toddled happily, towards the garden border where Daisy dog was sniffing about.

‘Olly,’ Lucy called out to attract her bro’s attention. ‘Can you come and watch Fred a mo? Got a call to make.’ Her nephew was at the age where he needed constant monitoring. And well, she really couldn’t afford to miss out on this booking. It was great that Jack had thought of her business. She did feel a bit anxious after the near-kiss moment, but she only needed to be polite to him, after all; no reason to have to mention that at all.

‘No worries.’ Olly headed out the back door of their modern brick semi-detached home, ready to take over.

‘Be back in a minute, little man,’ she called to her nephew.

‘Pop the kettle on while you’re in there, sis. I was just about to make us a cuppa.’

‘Will do.’

Lucy felt strangely nervous typing in Jack’s number. She wasn’t sure if it was about the possible booking or just having to speak with him after that rather gorgeous afternoon they’d spent on Sunday.

He picked up quickly. ‘Hello, it’s Jack.’

‘Hi, it’s Lucy.’

‘Oh, Lucy, hi. So, you got my message …’