Chapter 19
Rafe had rather indiscreetly mentioned to Grandad George that I was going to be helping Kate and Luke plan a big party, and despite my initial admonishment, seeing Grandad’s excitement, I was pleased he had.
He promised to keep it under his hat until decisions had been made and plans were underway and seeing how delighted he was about it, I felt even more determined that the event would happen and be a huge success.
Consequently, the next morning, I dressed rather more smartly than I had of late and headed over to Prosperous Place at the allocated time with my professional head on and feeling resolute not to let my kiss with Erik have even the slightest impact on our meeting.
I was still feeling grateful to my father and Grandad George for their enthusiasm because it helped me get my game face on. Even if the mood lasted just the time it took for me to walk from the square to the garden gate.
‘Woah!’ I screeched, the moment I was through it. ‘What the fluff?’
I had immediately collided with Erik. My hands had shot up in an attempt at a defensive gesture, which would have been wholly inadequate if he’d been an intruder intent on causing me harm. I was certain my feet had left the ground because I’d jumped so high.
‘Sorry,’ he said, but he didn’t sound it. ‘I wanted to catch you before you went to the house.’
‘Why are you smirking if you’re sorry?’ I scowled at him.
My heart was beating wildly, and I felt embarrassed as well as shocked and the look of amusement on his face did nothing to repair either my former buoyant mood or my dignity.
‘Nothing,’ he said and bit his lip.
I supposed I must have looked hilarious as I leapt out of my skin, and I could only imagine the horrified expression my face had pulled.
‘Good,’ I huffed.
Perhaps pretending that kiss hadn’t happened wasn’t going to be so hard after all.
‘Did you really say “what the fluff”?’ he smiled.
‘Well,’ I said, drawing myself up, ‘it’s better than the alternative, isn’t it? What did you want to see me about?’
The change on his face made me regret asking.
‘To apologise for Saturday night, of course,’ he said and raked a hand through his hair.
‘I thought you enjoyed the evening. We all did. Rafe’s a fabulous host, and—’
‘Skylar,’ he cut across me. ‘Stop.’
I looked everywhere but at him.
‘You know I’m not talking about your father’s hospitality skills,’ he said and shoved his hands in his jean’s pockets. ‘I wanted to apologise for that kiss.’
So, it was going to get a mention then.
‘I don’t know what came over me,’ he said. ‘It was absolutely not acceptable behaviour for a PPO, was it? And I’ve been thinking about it ever since.’
I wondered if he’d been thinking about it in the same way that I had. Possibly not given the sincerity and regret in his tone.
‘Well,’ I said, because I couldn’t really let him shoulder the blame when I’d been the one who had leant properly in and carried the kiss on, ‘it wasn’t all you, was it? My lips were as badly behaved as yours.’
He smiled again. ‘So, we can put it behind us?’ he asked.
‘Already have,’ I lied. ‘In fact,’ I continued to fib, ‘if you hadn’t been here and scared me half to death, I would have sought you out and apologised first.’
‘You would?’
‘I would.’ I still couldn’t look at him properly. ‘Personally, I blame the wine.’
‘We had drunk quite a lot.’
‘We had and that doubtless lowered our inhibitions.’ The word sounded elicit on my lips.
‘So, we can go back to our former PPO status then?’
‘I don’t see why not,’ I shrugged and found his eyes were focused on my face. ‘Now, come on,’ I said briskly. ‘I’m in work mode and work mode me would never be late for a planning meeting, even if I had been accosted en route.’
Erik took the seat next to mine at the kitchen table and though initially I struggled with his proximity I soon realised it was better than having him opposite me where I wouldn’t be able to avoid the intensity of his blue gaze.
As it was, I just had to keep my breathing shallow so as not to draw in the smell of his aftershave and… him.
During the walk from the gate to the house, I’d recalled our early conversation where we’d touched upon our single status and reminded myself that Erik and I were both still processing the changes in our lives and that he wasn’t looking for love and I was only interested in Big Love but not right now.
The memory of that fortified me just enough to be able to competently carry on.
‘So,’ I said, once Luke had poured us all coffee and sat next to Kate, ‘in view of our conversation last week Kate, I’ve had a quick look at some options online and some of them are rather limited and going to be expensive if you’re set on going ahead with hosting a ball.’
‘I had a feeling that might be the case,’ she frowned. ‘A marquee doesn’t come cheap, does it?’
‘It doesn’t,’ I confirmed. ‘You’re looking at anything from at least a thousand upwards, depending on size.’
‘And those posh loos you mentioned weren’t much less, Skylar,’ Erik said. ‘I’ve been having a look online, too,’ he added by way of explanation. ‘And you know my concerns about parking guys.’
‘All in all,’ I said, ‘and this is only my opinion, but with the time constraints and the overheads, I’m not convinced that such a large event happening on just one night is the best way to go on this occasion.’
Kate let out a breath, but Luke looked less disappointed than I had expected. Perhaps he’d started to come to that conclusion already.
‘I agree,’ Erik said. ‘Though it would have been fun.’
‘So, it’s back to the drawing board,’ Luke said. ‘We have to do something to help. Poor Eli was frantic when I spoke to him last week.’
‘So many kids will be disappointed if The Chapel has to close,’ Kate sighed, ‘even for a short time, and it will seriously impact their preparations for the Christmas performances if they can’t access the building and all the kit in there to rehearse.’
‘I do have one idea,’ I said. ‘But it’s nothing like you were hoping to do.’
‘Go on,’ Luke encouraged.
‘How would you feel about getting the house and grounds directly involved instead of hiring a marquee or something?’
‘That would depend on what it was for,’ Kate said. ‘The grounds definitely, but the house isn’t really big enough to host a huge party, is it?’
‘It’s not a party I’m thinking of now,’ I told her. ‘If I’m right, half term falls during the last week of October, doesn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ Luke confirmed.
‘That’s perfect,’ I nodded. ‘Because I think you could really use that to your advantage.’
‘How?’ Kate frowned.
‘Well, The Chapel is primarily for under eighteens isn’t it?
’ I continued. ‘So, you could get the youngsters, as well as adults, in on the fundraising fun and for much longer than one night if you set up say… a haunted house extravaganza inside and a trick or treat scavenger hunt in the grounds. It could run all week.’
Neither Kate nor Luke said anything.
‘So, the parents would bring their kids along?’ Erik asked.
‘With pre-booked, timed tickets so you could control the number of people on-site,’ I nodded.
‘It could be set up as spooky fun during the day and then in the evenings, make it over eighteens only and crank up the haunted house tour element. And maybe offer an exclusive banquet or something on Halloween night as a grand finale.’
‘Everyone could come in costume,’ Erik joined in.
‘And we could get people to dress up and haunt the rooms and spin scary tales! That would help with the security element, too.’ He was obviously as keen on the idea as I was, but mindful of his role as volunteer property manager.
‘You’ve told me yourself that this place is haunted, Luke, so why not make the most of it? Even play it up a bit.’
‘It would be a lot of work to get the place set up and dressed but the overheads would ultimately be less,’ I pressed on. ‘And the fundraising would go on for far longer than just the one night. You’d need insurance though.’
‘We’ve already got that,’ Kate said.
‘And what about some volunteers who can act a bit?’ I asked.
‘May Madison,’ Luke and Kate said together.
I didn’t know who that was.
‘Oh, yes,’ Erik said. ‘She’d love this idea and she’s involved with The Chapel, isn’t she? I bet she could get Freddie Fanshawe in ghostly attire to play some spooky tunes on your piano.’
I did know who that was, but I was surprised Erik did!
‘I might even be able to convince Rafe to read a ghost story or two,’ I added, roping my father in before I’d asked him.
‘Brilliant,’ grinned Erik.
‘So,’ I ventured, ‘what do you think?’
‘I think,’ Luke said, having looked at Kate who nodded enthusiastically, ‘that someone needs to go to Blossom’s and pick up some sustaining baked goods because we’ve got a lot of planning to do!’
We spent the whole of that day writing down every idea we had, who had specific areas of expertise we could utilise – such as Luke with his press and media contacts – which rooms and parts of the garden would be the spookiest, how many tickets we would need to sell and at what price to make a profit which would go to The Chapel.
You name it, we thought of it, and by the time we’d eaten the takeaway we’d had delivered and the children who Kate had only just remembered to collect from friends after school were yawning at the table, we each had a list of things to work on.
‘So,’ Luke said, ‘we’re all agreed to meet the day after tomorrow? I know that’s not long, but if we’re planning to launch on the twenty-sixth then we have a week less than we had for the ball idea.’
‘I think that’s going to be fine,’ I told him. ‘We have a lot to source and plenty of people to tell and hopefully recruit, though May Madison sounds ideal for that, but I’m certain we can do it.’
I’d now discovered she was a retired actress who still had huge appeal and someone you couldn’t say no to which was also just what we needed.
‘She’ll rally the troops,’ Kate said with conviction.
‘And we’re all happy with our lists?’ Luke asked.
‘Yep,’ we confirmed in unison.
‘Let’s get cracking then,’ Erik said as he stood up. ‘Come on Skylar, I’ll walk back to the square with you.’
‘Thanks,’ I smiled, and got to my feet, too, ‘but there’s no need. It’s not dark and I don’t think I could be more scared of anything than I was when I arrived this morning.’
‘Oh?’ Kate questioned.
‘Don’t ask,’ I said and rolled my eyes.
‘I scared the fluff out of her,’ Erik grinned.
I put a hand on his chest to give him a shove but pulled it away after the briefest contact. The muscles beneath my palm had felt as firm as they’d looked the day I’d glimpsed his torso and the sensation the touch triggered deep in my belly was far from appropriate.
‘I’ll see you all on Wednesday,’ I gabbled and made a quick getaway.