Everyone was up early at Somerby. Bron tiptoed into the kitchen to make a cup of tea before she carried on with her icing, only to find Fenella and Elsa already there. Fenella was anxious.
‘I'm sure it's fine, but Sarah did tell me that the florists would be here by seven at the latest – there's loads to do. The chapel, the drawing room, the dining room, they're all having big displays.'
‘What about the bridal flowers?' asked Bron.
‘Thank God Carrie's bringing those with her. Can't remember why, but they're being done separately. Mandy said she'd make sure they got done and everything.’
‘It's only half past seven now,' said Elsa, checking the big kitchen clock. 'They've probably got lost.'
‘Have you much to do on your dresses, Elsa?' asked Bron, pouring water on to a tea bag.
‘No, they're mostly done. I just hope Carrie's not too late though. I still need to do a final fitting and there are some crystals I can't sew on until I've finished the main sewing. Can you remember what time she's supposed to get here?’
‘I think Sarah said about four,' replied Fenella. 'She can't make it before.'
‘Oh God, that doesn't give me much time for her hair and make-up,' said Bron. 'You'll probably need half an hour with her, won't you, Elsa? At least the cake will be finished and I can focus utterly on the bride.'
‘Most brides do need more than two hours to get ready,' Elsa agreed, beginning to get edgy herself, although she calmed down a little when Fenella said she was sorry, she'd misread Sarah's instructions and Carrie was due to arrive at around three.
Then the phone rang and all three women jumped. Fenella flew to it and the others listened anxiously from the moment they heard Fenella say, 'Are you sure you're all right?’
It could have been Sarah saying something bad had happened to her.
Fenella's side of the conversation was tantalisingly brief and it was only after a tense few minutes that Bron and Elsa discovered what the disaster was.
‘I knew it!' said Fenella, her hands on her temples, her eyes shut. 'That was the florist. She's had an accident. She can't come. She's OK but the van's undrivable and the flowers are all mashed to pieces.’
There was a moment's horrified silence. Then Elsa said, 'Phone Sarah. She'll know of someone else. Don't worry. We can sort this out.'
‘Yes,' agreed Bron. 'We're a team. We can fix anything.’
They realised this was more of a disaster for Fenella than for them. Flowers were vital if Somerby was to really shine. If Celeb magazine took photos of it looking less than its glorious best, the wonderful publicity of a celebrity wedding would be completely wasted. Not to mention the fact that Carrie would be upset with Sarah.
‘OK,' Elsa went on, taking control. `I'm calling Sarah. Shall. I tell her or shall you?' she asked Fenella as she waited for it to connect.
‘I will,' said Fenella and took the proffered phone. 'Come on, Sarah! Answer! Damn, it's gone to voicemail.'
‘Leave a message. Let her know how urgent it is!' said Bron.
When Fenella handed Elsa back her phone Bron got up to make more tea.
‘OK,' said Elsa, 'worst case scenario, we have no florist, so we have to do it. What are the most important areas?'
‘The chapel,' said Fenella. 'Bron, your fake-cake trees mean we don't need too much in the dining room. At least, we can get away with less there. Have either of you done any flower-arranging?’
They shook their heads. 'But we're both artistic and practical, we can do stuff if we have to,' said Bron. 'We can't let Sarah down. Or Carrie. We'll make it work somehow.’
Fenella's phone started playing 'Für Elise'. 'Sarah? Thank God!' She explained the problem, murmured uhhuh a few times and scribbled down a number.
‘She's given me the name of another florist. She did a wedding you guys were at in June? Sukie someone?'
‘I don't think we met ever, but the flowers at Ashlyn's wedding were fantastic,' said Elsa, a little disappointed at not having to create floral extravaganzas – she liked a challenge.
‘I hope she can do it,' said Bron. 'She's probably at some other wedding or other, even as we speak.'
‘We'll find out in a minute,' said Fenella. 'It's ringing. Sukie? You're not in the middle of anything, are you? We've got a major emergency!’
As most of Fenella's conversation seemed to be directions with the occasional floral reference, Bron and Elsa gathered that Sukie was on her way. 'We could have done it,' said Elsa. 'Between us.'
‘Not without flowers,' said Bron. 'I don't know if you've noticed but there isn't much growing currently. The garden obviously hasn't reached the top of the to-do list yet.'
‘OK,' said Fenella, slamming her phone down on the table. 'She's on her way – sounds terribly nice, by the way – but she says she probably won't be able to buy enough flowers without driving for miles. She'll get what she can but we've got to get as much ivy as possible, to stretch them. We have got plenty. Thank goodness Carrie wanted traditional country arrangements and nothing that needed strelitzias or anything. Bird of Paradise flowers,' she explained to her confused audience.
At this moment James appeared, looking for tea and toast. 'Oh, James, the florist has had an accident,' said Bron.
‘Yes.' Fenella turned to him. 'You were so brilliant with the fake trees, do you think you could gather ivy for us? The florist needs it to bulk up the flowers. We haven't got much else.'
‘I wouldn't say that,' said James taking in the situation. 'Obviously the garden has been neglected for quite some time, but if you're looking for big, showy things, there are some wonderful acanthus – bear's breeches…' Sensing that his audience was still in the dark, he went on, 'They've got huge pinky-mauve flower spikes and they work brilliantly in arrangements.'
‘Of course, you'd know this,' muttered Bron, feeling a bit thick for not having realised this sooner.
‘And there's a Rosa glauca with fantastic hips. Big swathes of that could look amazing.'
‘Listen, James,' said Fenella, 'I'm terribly glad you know all this stuff and that it's there somewhere in that jungle, but if you could just hack some of it down, and a load of ivy, we'd be thrilled. Then Sukie can do what she can with it.'
‘If I can just have something to eat first..’
‘Of course you can!' Bron flew to the bread bin she'd been introduced to earlier, glad to be useful. 'I'll make it!'
‘You're a star,' said Fenella. 'Now what else can possibly go wrong?' Her phone rang again and the tension in the room shot up again. 'Sarah? Yes, Sukie's on her way. What a nice woman. And James says there's lots of stuff in the garden I just hadn't noticed.’
They chatted for a bit longer and then Fenella disconnected. 'Sarah's making place names. Apparently they weren't going to have them but now they are; it's all frightfully last minute. She sounds reasonably calm, but it's not nine o'clock yet. Anything could happen between now and-'
‘Don't say that!' said Elsa. 'Supposing Carrie's really late and I don't have enough time to finish her dress?'
‘Oh, I'm sure she won't be late for her own wedding, she's a professional!' said Bron, and looked around. Everyone was glaring at her. 'What? Oh, sorry – do you think I was tempting fate?’
The last crystal was applied to the last flower made of icing. The cake was finished at last. Hugo, who seemed to be everywhere with his camera, took a selection of shots, mostly, it seemed to Bron, while she had her tongue out in concentration.
‘That's fantastic, Bron,' he said. 'Really good. Are you going to take up a whole new career in cake-making?'
‘Probably not, but it's another string to my bow. I might;o and help James now.'
‘Just one last picture… thanks.’
'How's it going?' Bron asked Fenella who was holding the ladder for James.
‘Well, the caterers are here, they seem fine.'
‘That's good. What about the flowers?'
‘Sukie came with a van full of them, but she said she will need the ivy because you need so many. She's got Elsa making little posies for the tables. What with all the stuff James found in the garden I don't think anyone will know there was ever a problem. Luckily I don't think Carrie's instructions were all that precise.'
‘What time is she due?' Bron helped release a long single strand of ivy that James had unpeeled from the wall.
‘Quarter of an hour ago. Elsa is getting frantic. Sukie put her to work to encourage her to burn up her surplus energy.'
‘I could help Sukie, if she needs me. I can't do anything much until Carrie gets here, then Elsa and I will be fighting over her.'
‘Actually, if you could hold the ladder, I can go and see how it's all going. If bloody Rupert had let me keep the scaffolding tower, James would have been fine on his own.'
‘I'm fine on my own anyway,' said James from above.
‘No you're not. Ladders are dangerous,' said Fenella firmly. 'I'm going to break out the cake I made the other day, to keep us going. I forgot to have lunch.'
‘I'm not sure James is all that keen on cake,' said Bron. 'I would rather have a sandwich,' he said, smiling down at them. 'I didn't have lunch either.'
‘Goodness me,' said Bron, after Fenella had left, 'you must have stripped the entire building of ivy.'
‘Well, finding the ladder took a while and Rupert suddenly discovered a rose bush perfectly placed to rip the wedding dress to shreds. I had to deal with that first.'
‘Thank goodness you were here. And you thought you were only coming to help me!'
‘That wasn't the only reason,' he said. 'Right, I'm coming down now. Hang on tight and don't let me step on your hand.’
Bron watched him descend the ladder, trying not to notice that his jeans were a bit tighter and newer than usual today. It was a good look for him.
Bron and Elsa were frantically washing their hands. Carrie had arrived, half an hour late, and they both wanted her.
Bron was laughing, slightly hysterically. 'James and I were carrying the ladder back to the barn where it lived. We were just passing my pigsty when we heard the car. He turned round suddenly and the ladder when through the window! My bed is covered in glass.'
‘That's awful!' said Elsa. 'What did you do?'
‘Nothing! I just came running up here.'
‘Will James sort it out?'
‘I don't know. But I haven't got time to worry about it now. The really awful thing is, we were getting on so well, I was going to say something but…' It had happened in rather a rush and she'd had to run up here to prepare for Carrie.
‘Oh Bron… well, never mind, at least you'll have an opportunity to see him later.' Elsa sighed.
‘Have you heard from Laurence?' Bron asked.
‘No, I haven't heard from him in a while,' Elsa said as she dried her hands. No good thinking about that now. 'Right, I think I'm clean. I'd better go and find Carrie. Rupert told me she's in an awful mood.’
Bron made a face. 'My nerves are already in shreds. There's something about the sound of breaking glass that goes right through you.'
‘I heard Fenella ringing Sarah. Carrie is not happy that she's not here. Although she did know about Lily's wedding, she still expected her to be here for her.’
Bron glanced at her watch. 'She must have left by now, don't you think?’
Elsa shrugged. 'They won't have started the speeches yet, surely? Lily was getting married at two – it takes at least an hour for the ceremony, the photos and getting back to the house.'
‘She won't make it, will she? Which means we have to cope with a grumpy superstar all on our own!’