Chapter 6
Malcolm was as good as his word and he sent Jade not just one WhatsApp message that night, but three at unevenly spaced intervals.
The first one said:
The parrot has landed.
The second one, about an hour and a half later, had a photo attached.
Malcolm might not know what the messaging app was called but he clearly wasn’t unfamiliar with how to use it.
The photo was of Mr Spock’s cage reassembled in the corner of a large room that was obviously the lounge as it had a huge old brown leather sofa in the middle covered in some comfy-looking cushions and a pile of newspapers. This message said:
The palace awaits its Prince.
The third message also contained two photos. One of Mr Spock in situ and one of another large cage containing a blue and yellow parrot that must be Tallulah. This one said:
The princess appears to be impressed. Will report back on progress towards Happy Ever After.
Jade’s impression of Malcolm being a bit of an old eccentric was reaffirmed but she also felt a warmth stealing up through her.
Mr Spock’s new owner was certainly doing his best to reassure her.
She messaged back quickly:
Thanks so much. I’ll look forward to hearing how their story progresses.
The response came swiftly. Two parrot emojis side by side with a love heart in between them.
When she told Finn about the exchange as they washed up after supper he shook his head in mock amazement.
‘He’s as bonkers as you are. And that’s a good thing, right?’
‘It’s a very good thing. Did you finish the commission?’
‘No, but I’m getting there. So I’m a bit more relaxed than I was earlier. It’s weird.’ He dried the plate he was holding and then polished it for good measure. ‘It’s a lot more pressurised painting a commission than it was when I was just doing it for fun.’
‘Timewise, you mean?’
‘Partly timewise because I know I can’t just take as long as I like, but also because I keep second-guessing myself.
In the old days I’d paint a canvas and unless there was an obvious problem, that would be that.
But now I find I keep going back and adding a bit more because it doesn’t seem quite good enough. ’
‘Mmmm, I guess that’s not surprising. I think all creatives second-guess themselves. Does it bother you?’
‘Only in the sense that then everything takes longer.’ He frowned and polished the plate a bit more. ‘Which then stresses me out because the deadline’s approaching.’
‘Is it worth talking to Eleanor about it?’
‘Maybe. Although so far, my impression is that she’s not really that sort of agent. She’s not very interested in the practical bits. Just the selling side. She makes fairly unhelpful remarks like, “Paint as much as you can, Finn, and leave the rest to me.”’
‘I guess that is quite sensible though.’ Jade took the plate from his hand. ‘I think we can say that plate’s dry, darling.’
‘Oh, yeah. You’re right. On both counts. Ignore me.’ He smiled. ‘It’s an adjustment period. I’m still fairly new to all this.’
‘You are. You only had your first exhibition last year and that was a huge success.’
‘Yeah, and weirdly that’s not helping. I think there’s a part of me that’s convinced I’ll never do as well as that again. I still have impostor syndrome.’ There was a flash of insecurity in his grey eyes, which was so unlike him that Jade gave him a hug.
‘Take it from me, you’re uber talented. And you’ll believe that more as time goes on.’
His eyes warmed. ‘I suspect you’re a little bit biased. But thanks. I needed a pep talk. Shall I feed Mickey?’
The cockerpoo, who’d been waiting patiently in his basket, gave a little whine.
‘I think that’s a yes,’ Jade said. ‘By the way, I spoke to Sarah about the top table situation and she thinks two top tables is a great solution. We’re going to thrash out the details on Friday when we go to see Zoe. Apparently Mr B wants a word too.’
‘The eccentric chef. That sounds fun. Is everything else sorted?’
‘The only other thing still to finalise are the arrangements for the dogs. Mickey and Chocko, I mean.’ Jade smiled nervously. In the beginning they’d decided there would be no animals at the wedding, but Ben had scuppered that by asking if he could have Chocko as a page dog.
‘There’s no such thing as a page dog,’ Sarah had told him, shaking her head. ‘Is there, Jade?’
But actually it had turned out there was.
The internet was full of advice for the roles dogs could have at weddings.
Ring bearers, flower girls, or just plain companions who’d accompany their humans down the aisle.
So Ben had got his way and it was decided that Mickey and Chocko should both have a role.
Chocko was designated ring bearer and Mickey, who was older and steadier, would be back-up just in case Chocko took fright and found the whole thing too much.
The little lurcher tended to be flightier than the older cockerpoo.
Ben had wanted to train Chocko to carry a basket, containing the rings, up the aisle in her mouth, but this hadn’t worked out because Chocko, who was still young, had never totally outgrown her puppy chewing habits and they quickly discovered she was quite partial to basket handles.
So, they’d bought an especially made white leather ring holder that clipped onto the little lurcher’s collar instead.
Sarah had rolled her eyes and said it was a disaster waiting to happen, but Jade had finally talked her round because she knew how much it meant to Ben.
In order to save the dogs the stress and boredom of being at the Bluebell Cliff all day, they’d organised a designated handler to bring them over, and then take them back to Duck Pond Cottage again when they’d played their part.
‘I thought the dogs were all organised,’ Finn said now. ‘Didn’t one of Sarah’s friends say she’d bring them over to the Bluebell Cliff on the day and then chauffeur them back again afterwards?’
‘She did, but there’s a problem. She’s broken her ankle and can’t drive. So we’re going to need to find someone else.’
‘Oh dear.’ Finn looked concerned. ‘Will it be a problem to find someone else?’
‘Hopefully not.’ Jade crossed her fingers behind her back.
So far it had proved surprisingly difficult to find an alternative chaperone.
Everyone they trusted enough for the job was going to be at the wedding and wouldn’t really want to miss anything by having to drive the dogs the hour and a half journey back to Duck Pond Cottage.
‘Sarah and I are going to chat it through with Zoe on Friday,’ she told Finn. ‘She’s got an idea apparently.’
He looked relieved and Jade decided to leave it there.
He had enough on his plate with the commission he had to finish.
Technically Finn was a full-time artist now, he was certainly making a full-time salary, but he also helped Jade a lot with the endless manual jobs on the eight-acre smallholding.
Since Bridie had gifted him some of the adjoining farmland that her husband’s property company Rural Developments had bought, there was even more to do in the way of maintenance.
He wouldn’t hear of stepping back and employing anyone else to do the work.
He said he liked being outside, which Jade knew was true, but he also had a list of last-minute wedding jobs to do.
Callum and the best men were naturally all wearing kilts, but Finn was taking himself and Ben for a final suit fitting too.
Ben kept having growth spurts which wasn’t helping.
And there were the bills he’d mentioned.
On Friday, the day of their visit to see Zoe at the Bluebell Cliff, as soon as Jade had finished the four-legged and feathered breakfast round, and had talked to Dawn about a man who was coming in to rehome a dog and a woman who was possibly dropping off a cat for rehoming, she changed into her ‘smart’ clothes.
Jade’s smart clothes were her newest pink skinny jeans, and a Zara cream top and beautifully cut pale grey jacket she’d found in a charity shop in Salisbury.
She was ready and waiting outside when Sarah arrived to pick her up just after nine thirty. Sarah leaned out of the driver’s door, grinning. ‘This is so exciting, isn’t it?’
‘I know! I can’t wait to see it again.’
The Bluebell Cliff Hotel was an hour and a half’s drive from Duck Pond but everyone in the wedding party had agreed it was worth the trip.
It was in a spectacular location, perched on top of a Dorset headland, overlooking the English Channel.
The headland was part of the world-famous Jurassic coastline.
To the north lay the beautiful golden sands of Studland Bay, and to the south lay Swanage Bay.
‘I always feel as though I’m playing truant when I leave Duck Pond Rescue for longer than half an hour,’ Jade said as they drove through the picturesque summer countryside, passing through villages that had names like Woodyates, Sixpenny Handley and Cashmoor.
‘Yes, I know you do.’ Keeping both hands on the wheel, Sarah flicked her a sideways glance.
‘But you shouldn’t. You devote most of your life to that place.
You need to have more fun. Today is about us.
’ She paused. ‘And our prospective husbands, of course. But mostly it’s about us.
And our mission is to have fun. As well as fine tuning all the details for the wedding. Obvs.’
‘Is that right?’
‘Yep. I’ve booked us a slap-up lunch in the Bluebell Cliff’s restaurant for after our meeting. It’s on me.’
‘No, you can’t do that. It’s expensive.’
‘I negotiated a price with Clara, the manager.’ Sarah coughed. ‘Well, we are spending a fortune at her establishment in just over six weeks. You know… on the best day of our lives.’
‘Fair comment.’ They both giggled.
For a while they caught up on each other’s lives. Jade told Sarah about the rehoming of Mr Spock, and said she was thrilled, even though they were all missing the foul-mouthed parrot, and Sarah told Jade about an English test Ben had just done well in.
‘Great news,’ Jade said, clapping her hands. ‘He doesn’t like English much, does he?’
‘No, he takes after me in that respect. His favourite subject is art. But then he prefers art to all of the subjects he does. I guess he must get that from Finn. I didn’t even know being good at art could be genetic.’
‘I guess loads of stuff’s genetic that we don’t know about.’
Jade paused for a fraction too long and Sarah jumped into the gap. ‘Have you had any more thoughts about tracking down your father?’
‘No, because he’s not interested. He returned my letter, remember?’
‘But you don’t know for sure that was him. He didn’t write “do not ever come darkening my door again” on it, did he?’
‘He might just as well have done. I’m not contacting him again. That bridge is well and truly burned.’
Sarah made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a snort and Jade glared at her. ‘What would you do then?’
‘I’d turn up on his doorstep and get some proper answers.’ Her voice softened and she slowed the car a fraction. ‘What have you got to lose? Seriously, Jade? I’ll come with you if you like.’
Jade hesitated. There were only two people in the world she’d have had this conversation with.
Sarah was one of them and Finn was the other.
They both knew what it was like to be abandoned by their family.
Sarah was adopted, and Finn’s mother had left when he was six years old.
Even so, she did not want to talk about it today.
Not when they were on the way to make the final plans for their wedding day. It was way too heavy.
‘Please can we change the subject? I thought today was supposed to be about us having fun.’
‘Sorry.’ Sarah shot her a quick apologetic smile. ‘Truly I am. Today is about having fun. I didn’t mean to spoil it.’
‘You’re forgiven.’
‘Have you got your something blue yet?’ Sarah changed the subject swiftly. ‘Ben just bought me a hairclip with a tiny blue dog on it. Under Callum’s supervision, I suspect, but it’s very cute.’
‘Aw, bless him.’ Jade felt warmed. ‘And it can be the something new as well, can’t it. I’ve combined something blue with something old. I’m wearing a pair of sapphire earrings that belonged to my mother. I know we didn’t always see eye to eye, but I think she’d be really pleased if she knew.’
‘Oh, she definitely would.’ Sarah nodded firmly as she slowed for a junction. ‘We could borrow something off each other, couldn’t we, for the borrowed bit. I could borrow you my shoes to walk up the aisle in and you could borrow me yours.’
‘Lend,’ Jade corrected, trying not to laugh as she visualised the pair of them limping up the aisle in each other’s shoes. Sarah was size five and she was seven.
‘Got you laughing though, didn’t I?’ Sarah crowed. ‘From now on we focus only on fun. Deal?’
‘Deal.’