Chapter Forty-Five
At the end of the event, the queue for the book signing snaked all the way to the door. When they were sure Naomi had everything she needed, Grace and the others congregated in the corner of the bar, their first drinks of the night in front of them.
‘Five to eleven,’ said Lee, checking the time on his iPad, then taking a swig of beer. ‘Five minutes left of the auction. Shall I check the figures?’
Grace’s shoulders tightened. ‘Why don’t we wait until it finishes?
’ She’d had such high hopes for the auction and wasn’t ready for the disappointment of it flopping.
She wanted to spend the next few minutes basking in the glow of the event.
At least that had raised a portion of the funds they needed.
‘This evening’s gone so fast,’ said Tracy. ‘I couldn’t believe how many people asked questions. There was none of that awkward silence you get at most events where everyone looks around, slightly mortified, waiting for someone to speak.’
‘That’s because Naomi is a legend,’ said Crush.
‘As are you,’ said Grace, clinking the top of her wine glass against Crush’s pint. ‘Doing those extra numbers at the end was phenomenal. The room was buzzing.’
Crush grinned. ‘Would’ve been a waste to get the girls here and only do one track.
’ She scanned the bar, eyes settling on Dani.
‘Just making sure that one stays out of trouble until her boyfriend gets here.’ She nudged Rosie with her shoulder.
‘He’s a solid fella, keeps her just this side of wild.
He wasn’t interested in coming to see Parker reform, or a bestselling author, but when Dani rang and offered to introduce him to renowned photographer, Rosie Clarke, he was straight on his motorbike. ’
Rosie couldn’t hide her delight. ‘It’s quite the thrill, this fame malarkey, isn’t it?’
‘You can have enough of a good thing,’ said Crush. ‘Can’t deny I enjoyed playing tonight, but I’m much more at peace in my bookshop.’ She pointed to the bar where Jude and Jasmine were standing close together, chatting. ‘Those two are looking very cosy.’
Grace watched as Jasmine placed her hand on Jude’s forearm and pulled him closer to speak into his ear.
Whatever she said, it must’ve been funny because he threw his head back and laughed.
Grace couldn’t draw her eyes away. It was clear there was chemistry between the two of them.
She willed Jude to overcome his reservations and just kiss the girl.
‘And it’s eleven folks!’ Lee tapped onto the auction page to take a look at how much they’d raised.
Grace tensed.
Lee gasped. ‘No way.’
‘What?’ Grace wanted to cry. All that effort. All that hope, and it had been a failure and their plans were in ruins.
The others leaned in, trying to see the screen. Lee’s mouth hung open, his face a picture of disbelief. ‘Can that number be right?’
God, it was worse than she thought. Grace dug her nails into her palms to stop the tears that she felt collecting in the corners of her eyes.
‘Can I see?’ Tracy held her hand out for the iPad and flicked through the pages and back to the final amount as the others watched. She glanced up, eyes bright. ‘All adds up to me.’
Lee turned the iPad towards them and Grace forced herself to look at the figure at the bottom of the screen. ‘But that’s …’ Grace couldn’t find the words.
‘Twenty times more than we hoped we’d raise?’ said Tracy, dancing in her seat.
Grace’s heart leapt. ‘More than enough for …’ She looked around the table at her friends, hardly able to take in that it wasn’t a failure. It was an absolute triumph. They all grinned back and nodded.
Only Annie appeared confused. ‘Enough for what?’
‘Why don’t you two go and have a chat somewhere quiet?’ said Crush.
‘What’s going on?’ said Annie, allowing Grace to take her by the elbow and lead her out to the beer garden.
The air was sharp after the warmth inside and Grace’s breath billowed white against the dark sky. ‘Do you have any idea how much my life has changed since I met you?’
Annie smiled. ‘And the others. We’re a gang.’
‘We are, but it was you who chased after me when I left the first book club.’
‘You’d have done the same,’ said Annie.
‘I like to hope so. And, as you say, we’re a gang and we’re a gang who like to help each other.’
‘And other people, if today is anything to go by,’ said Annie.
‘That’s an enormous amount of money to have raised in one evening.
When we add it to the donations from Desert Island Reads, that’s a pretty penny.
’ She wrapped her arms around her body. ‘It’s freezing for September, isn’t it? Shall we go back in?’
‘Just a second,’ said Grace. ‘I want to tell you something first.’ She sat on a metal seat, feeling the chill on her thighs through her trousers and patted the seat next to her.
Annie joined her. ‘Go on, quick then, before I lose my fingers to frostbite.’
‘Remember when you told me the doctor said Jack would benefit from inpatient care?’
‘Yes.’ Annie drew the word out.
‘And that he wanted to do an NVQ?’
‘Level three, for teaching, yes.’
Grace took Annie’s hands in hers. ‘You know we’ve made it clear to everyone who’s donated that all the funds will go towards supporting people who are struggling with mental health or living with disabilities?
Paz has done all the paperwork and it’s all compliant with the codes of practice and all that business.
Anyway, every member of book club agrees we’d like to use some of it to help get Jack the care he needs to get better and to pay for his course. ’
Annie snatched back her hands and covered her mouth.
‘What do you think?’
Annie’s mouth was still open when she let her hands drop. ‘That would be thousands, Grace. Do you know how much one of those places costs?’
‘We have thousands. Tens of thousands, and we can’t think of anyone who deserves it more.’
‘But my Jack isn’t part of book club.’
‘But you are, an integral one. And we never said funds were just to support book club members. He’s deserving in his own right, but what Jack’s going through is also impacting you.
Care givers need support too, and if you’ll let us do this, then hopefully, we’ll get you back at book club sooner rather than later … so you could say we’re being selfish.’
‘I don’t know what to say.’ Tears welled in her eyes then spilled onto her cheeks.
Grace smiled at her friend. ‘Say yes.’
When they went back inside, all the heads at the table turned towards them, hopeful expressions on their faces.
When Grace nodded, they stood and surrounded the two women, wrapping their arms around them.
In the centre of the huddle made up of her family, and her precious friends, Grace became aware of the mirror ball directly overhead.
She looked up and saw the group reflected in the shiny silver mosaic.
When the ball moved and gave off a dazzling array of light, she knew Frank was with them too.