was very glad Cameron didn’t have a video phone, because she took that moment to do a silent victory dance around the kitchen.
‘I understand you’re going to liaise with Jennie about the party, and she’s going to keep me in the loop. Do you really think you can pull this off in four weeks?’
Alice was tempted to hyperventilate. She was so far out of her depth it wasn’t funny. ‘Of course,’ she said.
‘I look forward to seeing you then. Sorry to have interrupted your evening, but I was intrigued by what Jennie had told me and I wanted to find out more immediately. I’ve always found it helps to put the brakes on before she gets too carried away. Sometimes her ideas just don’t pan out. Anyway, I’ll let you get back to…whatever you were doing.’
‘It’s fine. I wasn’t really…’
She knew she should just say goodbye gracefully and put the phone down, but she didn’t.
‘You know, Alice, I always thought you had it in you to surprise everyone.’
That was possibly the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.
Oh, her clients gushed occasionally about her, but, to be honest, they’d have sainted anyone who could have got their e-mail going again when an IT disaster struck. And not only was Cameron saying nice things, he was saying them in his lovely voice. She could have listened to it all evening.
‘Thank you, Cam.’
He chuckled. ‘Cam…I don’t think anyone but Jennie calls me that any more.’
‘Sorry…Cameron.’ She frowned. ‘What do people call you, then?’
‘Oh, Your Highness pretty much works for me.’
Now it was Alice’s turn to laugh.
‘See you in four weeks, Alice.’
And then he was gone.
She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. This evening was getting progressively more surreal.
She cradled the phone to her chest as she slipped off the kitchen stool and wandered down the hallway to replace it on its base.
She made her way upstairs and pulled a book off her shelf, intending to read at least five chapters while soaking herself in a very hot bath. And as she threw her clothes onto the bed and pulled on her comfy old dressing gown, the slightly crumpled photo that had been lying facedown on the duvet fluttered to the floor and hid itself under the bed.
‘Moon River’ chimed from Alice’s pocket as her mobile vibrated. In an effort to contort herself into a position whereby she could reach it, she whacked her head on the underside of the desk she’d been crawling under. There was a muffled snicker from somewhere else in the office.
Finally she got her phone to her ear. ‘Hello?’
‘Hello.’
That one simple word, said in a calm, deep, velvety voice, set Alice’s heart-rate rocketing. Why did his voice make her think of log fires and thick hot chocolate?
‘Cameron?’ Oh, flip. Did that nauseating little squeak of a voice belong to her? She cleared her throat.
‘Alice, we have a problem.’
We? Had he just said we?
‘We do?’
She heard a muffled shuffling sound, as if he was pacing around. ‘My ridiculous stepsister has decided to…decided to…elope! I knew she was acting strangely, but…’
Did modern-day women still elope? Alice wasn’t sure. Didn’t that only happen to corsetwearing heroines in historical novels? Either way, it was wildly romantic. She drifted off into a little daydream about carriages, hooded velvet capes and moonlight.
However, Cameron’s voice sliced through her fantasy. ‘No Jennie means no ball. Which means no fashion show.’
That’s right. Break it to me gently, Cameron.
Was she mistaken, or was there a hint of imperious displeasure in his tone?
Anyway, the fashion show couldn’t be off. She and Coreen had already planned what to do with the money. They’d set their hearts on being in a shop by February. Without the income and publicity from the show, they might have to wait until the following year.
Alice thought of the market fashion shows, how all the traders pulled together and made it happen.
‘ I can do it. I can organise the fashion show.’
Had she really just said that? A market fashion show, with people’s sisters and cousins as models, was a bit different from the kind of upmarket affair Jennie had been planning.
There was a split-second pause before Cameron said, ‘I like your fighting spirit, Alice.’
She didn’t have much of a choice, did she?
‘We both need this event to be a success,’ he said. ‘And I agree that bailing out now isn’t an option.’
That wasn’t exactly what she’d meant…
‘You’ll just have to take over,’ he added, almost to himself.
Alice blinked. For a while she’d forgotten where she was. She’d stopped noticing the faded blue carpet and the tangle of wires in every direction. But now she was back in the real world, staring at a bare patch somebody’s feet had worn under the desk.
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘You’ll just have to help me. You said you could organise the fashion show part. Couldn’t you do the rest too? I’ll pay you Jennie’s fee.’
He mentioned a figure that made Alice’s eyes water. With that sort of capital behind them Coreen’s Closet could have its own premises by Christmas, never mind February. It almost made her forget that he hadn’t exactly asked nicely.
‘But I have no experience of—’
‘Neither do I. But I’m prepared to give it a go if you are. We’ve only got three weeks now, and it’s too late to start from scratch with another event planner.’ His voice softened. ‘Come on, Alice. For our own reasons, we both need to pull this off.’
It didn’t matter if Cameron had asked nicely or not. He was right.
‘Okay,’ she said slowly. ‘I’ll think about it.’
Cameron obviously decided to take that as a yes, because he started to reel off instructions and bark at her about couriering Jennie’s files over.
‘Slow down a minute!’
Cameron broke off in mid-flow, seemingly flummoxed by the concept that someone might have something better to do with their time than fulfil his every whim. Alice took advantage of the silence.
