Page 46 of The Seaside Cocktail Campervan

‘Hi,’ he called out, as Lucy stepped down out of her Jeep, looking casual but pretty in her pizza-serving uniform of blue jeans and red polo shirt with the All Fired Up logo. ‘All okay?’

‘Yeah, fine. You?’ Lucy’s response was polite, clipped, with Becky’s revelations still very much on her mind.

‘Yeah, good thanks.’ In fact, he was feeling much better now that she’d arrived.

From the passenger side of the vehicle, a teenage girl then leapt out. Phew, at least the brother wasn’t around. And this was a different girl from the one that Jack had seen helping before. In fact, she was actually smiling.

‘This is Abby. My new partner in crime. Someone I know from the village,’ Lucy said, politely introducing her new assistant. ‘And this is Jack.’

‘Hi, Jack. Good to meet you, and your campervan looks amazing. Love it.’

‘Well, thank you. All fired up for a busy night then, ladies?’ he quipped.

‘Hah, we are indeed,’ Abby said. ‘Raring to go!’

Lucy just raised her eyebrows coolly.

And with that, the two girls turned away, and bustled into action, opening the horsebox up, and getting everything prepped. Lucy never gave him a second glance.

What was going on with Miss Ice Queen now? He’d thought they were getting on so well at the beach that afternoon, but this woman was so damned hard to fathom. He trundled back to Ruby, hiding the feelings of dejection in a cloak of barman magic – well, his Cocktail Campervan apron.

A hog roast van, called Pig Out, turned up soon afterwards, pulling into the space between the two of them. Jack recognised the lad from other events they’d been at. He was from the local butchers in Alnwick, and his catering venture was a side-line on the weekends. Unfortunately, the large white van now obscured part of Jack’s view of All Fired Up, which was rather annoying. He had to admit he rather liked taking a sneaky peek at Lucy as she worked … even if she was trying her hardest to ignore him.

Lucy had her work cut out tonight. This booking was for seventy-five pizzas (all, thankfully, paid for up-front), in four different flavours, to be sliced and served throughout the evening. With lacklustre Tamsin leaving her in the lurch at the last event, she was so glad she’d had her light bulb moment with Abby at the latest Book Club night. Abby was a bubbly girl, full of youth and enthusiasm, and already they were working well as a team, chatting as they wrapped and stacked napkin cutlery packs, and chopped up onions, ham, mushrooms and peppers standing side-by-side. The disco guy was doing his sound checks, and the girls found themselves humming away to Beyonce’s ‘All the Single Ladies’. There was definitely a bit of girl power going on behind the pizza stand. All Fired Up was gearing up for a busy and hopefully enjoyable night.

Every now and again, Lucy was aware that Jack was looking over at the horsebox whilst setting out his bar, and tried to avert her own gaze. She had to remember the red danger sign that was pointing squarely in his direction. She still had Becky’s warning about him ringing in her ears, no matter how attractive he looked serving up those cocktails.

The evening was balmy, and as the oven warmed up, so did Lucy. Even in her polo short sleeves she was already getting extremely hot. But she had a job to do, and a pizza production line to crack on with. Her reputation was beginning to build. She’d had a fabulous review posted on her Facebook page from the funfair night and more glowing comments from hostess Nikki after her last-minute slot at the birthday bash. But she was very aware that there was no resting on her laurels. She needed double the event bookings to start turning around a decent enough profit to make a living for herself, as well as covering her assistant’s wages.

There was no slacking, and the partygoers soon began to arrive, gathering around Jack’s campervan for welcome drinks and chatting in amiable groups. Jeans, Ts and casual wear was the order of the day for this farmyard function. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits even as they got there. And, wow, someone had even turned up – well, two people actually, by the looks of it – in fancy dress, as the front and back end of a Friesian cow! Which caused much hilarity amongst the other guests, and a guessing game as to who was inside.

‘Hey, Abby. That’ll be fun seeing them moo-ving and grooving on the dancefloor later.’ Lucy couldn’t help but smile as she delivered the pun.

They then heard Jack call out, ‘Can I interest you in a Moo Moo cocktail?’ whilst sporting a cheeky grin, as the furry ‘cow’ waddled past en route to the party barn.

There was music and merriment, their meat feast and garlic mushroom pizzas were going down particularly well, and the two girls kept up with demand, just! Where anyone did have a short wait, the guests were more than happy to stand chatting away with a drink from Jack’s campervan to hand.

There was a bit of a lull serving-wise as the dancing got going, with a traditional barn dance starting up. Many of the youngsters didn’t have a clue how the steps were done but still joined in regardless, along with the cow in costume. Blimey, they’d be hot in there, Lucy mused, feeling their sweaty pain. There was much laughter, and good-natured jostling on the dancefloor. Lucy took a little time out to let Daisy, who was with her this evening, out for a quick wander on her lead and a pee stop – this time well away from Jack’s campervan and signage! The dachshund sniffed the air with great interest near the hog roast van, and then again beside the cowsheds. The music and noise didn’t bother her, she was generally a confident little dog, and a few guests stopped and cooed, bending down to give her a pat and in one case a full tummy tickle, which she was very happy about. And then, when a corner of roasted pork roll got tossed her way, well, she was in doggie heaven.

Lucy popped Daisy back into her dog bed in the rear of the truck, ensuring the windows were open wide, just as she spotted the queue that was building by the horsebox.

‘Sorry, Luce, I need a hand here,’ Abby called out, looking decidedly hot and flustered.

Blimey, where had all those people come from? Lucy dashed back over, washed her hands and dived back in to help.

The party was in full swing. There was much giggling as a singalong started up and a conga began snaking its way around the yard. The bottom half of the cow turned up for a pizza, his top half exposed in a plain white T, his trousers hilarious black-and-white-patched furry fleece. The top half of the cow then pulled off his head and sat down opposite, placing himself beside Jack’s bar with a pint.

‘Bloody brilliant night, this,’ the young lad at their pizza-stand commented. He had dark hair, ruffled rakishly from his costume wearing.

‘Yeah, it’s great here. Love the costume by the way,’ Lucy heard Abby say. She was so much chattier with the customers than the surly Tamsin.

‘Hah, yes, me and Josh thought we’d go for it. A bit of fun. We’re Alan’s nephews, thought it’d make him smile on his birthday. Bloody hot stuck inside there all night, mind.’

The young man ordered a meat feast with extra mushrooms. Abby loaded it up with sauce and toppings and Lucy took it on her wooden board, ready to place in the oven. She could certainly empathise with the sweltering cow in costume, having been stuck by a 400-degree oven on a balmy June night. She could hear Abby and Mr Cow Trousers talking away as he waited for his pizza to cook. They seemed to have hit it off, and Lucy couldn’t help but give a smile at that.

After a star-spangled fireworks display, the rockets soaring up into the navy twilight sky with ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s sounding from the guests as they gasped at the flashes of colour, it was all too soon time to pack up. The hosts came across to thank Lucy and Abby, saying how delicious their food had been. Lucy felt proud that her pizza venture was finally coming together, and in turn thanked Abby for her fabulous help. She had a feeling this was the first night of many more with her new partner in crime.

With the oven cooling, Lucy went to the back of her Jeep to pop in one of the now empty storage boxes. Oh, the boot was slightly ajar … Had she closed it properly after taking Daisy for her brief walk earlier in the evening? Daisy … Lucy felt her heart race as she peered in.