ring and slipping it back into the box.
Molly gave her a long, hard look. ‘It’s going to upset him a lot more if you don’t wear it.’
‘All right, all right,’ said Jess grimly. ‘I know what you’re saying, and to be honest if I can’t talk to him about this then we’re on a hiding to nothing really, aren’t we? Don’t judge him by the ring. Max is an absolute gem – he’ll understand, and you’re right, what are the chances of picking the right ring for anyone first time?’ Jess paused and smiled wistfully. ‘It’s a shame it’s so awful because Max going out and choosing it for me is such a romantic thing to do.’
‘I know,’ said Molly, although she suspected that had Max really known Jess he would have guessed that something overblown and fiddly really wasn’t going to work, whereas something stylish and simple and contemporary would have done.
Jess took a long pull on her champagne and then licked her lips. ‘Oh, God, that’s lovely. Can we have this for the wedding?’
‘You’re meant to wait for the toast,’ said Molly, raising her glass. ‘To Jess and Max.’
‘Jess and Max,’ they murmured as Jess took another slurp.
‘Talking of Max, where is he?’ asked Nick. ‘Is he still outside? Is he on his way?’
‘No, no, he’s working this weekend and to be honest I’m not sure how good men are at this kind of thing.’
‘What kind of thing?’ asked Nick.
‘Weddings,’ said Jessica with a sly grin. ‘You know, cakes and commitment, all that getting married stuff. I’m panicking and really banking on you guys to help me out with this.’
‘Ouch,’ said Nick, flinching as if she had punched him. ‘You know I think you’re absolutely right. I’ll leave you to it, if you don’t mind – weddings make me come over all faint.’ And with that he headed off into the sitting room with the papers. As he got to the door he said, ‘Has your mother mentioned the radio idea to you yet?’
‘What radio idea?’ said Jess.
‘So,’ said Molly, glaring at Nick as he grinned at her through the glass door to the kitchen. ‘About the wedding…’
‘Mum, we are not turning my wedding into a radio feature, all right?’
‘I know, I know,’ said Molly, holding up her hands. ‘And that’s exactly what I told Rob.’
Jess shook her head. ‘Max would be horrified. His family are – well, I’ve only met them a couple of times but they’re…’ Jess hesitated, trying to find the right words. ‘They’re really old-fashioned and a bit posh. His mother is in the WI, his father’s retired and on the committee at the golf club. He was something big in the city.’
‘I know, but Rob just thought it would be a great programming idea. He was suggesting that we do a weekly segment for my show. You and Max building up to the big day, going to see people – the florists, caterers, that sort of thing, you and me going to look at dresses – right up to the ceremony. It’d just be me and maybe a sound guy.’
‘No,’ said Jess incredulously.
But Molly pressed on. ‘Okay. I have to say it wasn’t my idea, but you can see where Rob’s coming from?’ Jess sniffed. ‘It’s all a bit tacky.’
Molly nodded. ‘Actually it could be a lot tacky but I did tell him that I’d ask you. What Raf said – he’s the station’s advertising whiz kid – was that you’d probably be able to negotiate a discount if you bought something from any of the suppliers we featured.’ She paused. ‘I’ll take that as a no then, shall I?’
Jess groaned. ‘You won’t tell Dad about this, will you, please? You know what he’s like when people start mentioning discounts. I don’t want a bargain-basement wedding, Mum. We want something special and lovely.’
‘I know, and so do I, but I had to ask,’ said Molly. ‘And I promise, not a word to your dad.’ She mimed zipped lips. ‘And I’ll prime Nick not to say anything either. Anyway – let’s get down to business, shall we?’ She pulled out the great sheaf of papers that she’d printed off.
Jess’s eyes widened as Molly spread them out on the kitchen table. ‘Bloody hell, what’s all that?’
‘It’s a list of things we need to do,’ sighed Molly.
‘Really? So what do we need to do?’ asked Jessica.
‘First two things, it says here,’ Molly began, slipping on her glasses, ‘you need to decide what kind of wedding you want and then pick two or three dates – to give yourself a bit of flexibility just in case the place you want isn’t free. And after that there are the caterers, cakes, cars, flowers, photographers, maybe video, dresses, invitations, music. It’ll be all fine though – once we’ve got the place booked.’ When Molly looked across at Jess, her daughter was ashen.’ Are you all right?’
‘I suppose so.’ Jess nodded and then smiled. ‘Yes, I’m really, really excited and also really, really nervous. Is that normal?’
Molly reached out and touched her hand. ‘I think so. Me too. I’ve never organised a wedding before other than me and your dad’s. We’ll do it together and it will be just perfect, I promise. We need to talk to your dad about money and Nick and I will help too.’ Molly paused. Max was the first of Jess’s boyfriends that Molly didn’t feel she knew, and here he was taking her away. ‘Have you talked to Max about what he’d like?’
‘I have.’ Jess rolled her eyes. ‘And he told me he wasn’t very good at that kind of thing.’
‘I don’t think any of them are but he’s got to have some input. After all, it’s his wedding day as well.’
‘He said I could have what I like.’
Molly laughed. ‘So we’re saying what exactly? That we organise it all and he just shows up?’
‘I think that probably just about sums it up,’ Jess said and then waved the words away. ‘Trouble is, Max is really busy at the moment and I think he just wants to get on with it. I thought what we could do is come up with two or three ideas and run them past him, and then let him help with the final decisions. Guided by me, obviously.’ As she spoke Jess reached down into her bag and pulled out a pile of bridal magazines. ‘I bought these. It’s like a total bloody minefield. What man in their right mind wants to sit down and flick through these lot with someone saying, “Do you like this and what do you think about this?” every thirty seconds? No – I reckon we should whittle it down to the final few ideas and then I’m sure he’ll be happy to look.’
Molly nodded. ‘How about we work out how many people you want to invite and that will help you decide on a venue?’
‘Okay. People and venue,’ said Jess, opening up a pad and pulling out a pen.
‘Church, registry office or some sort of wedding
