groaned, as her phone rang again. ‘Actually, it’s the caterer so I’d better take it.’
Waving her on, Stacy picked up her fork to start making a meal of her cake, only half listening as Lainey went through the menu for tonight’s dinner and what time the caterers should arrive.
By the time Lainey rang off her mind was full of all she had to do while she was in town, so she remained distracted as she added new notes to the list she already had. Then she was ringing Tom to check he’d remembered to order the wine.
‘I’m sure you did,’ she said into his voicemail, ‘but I haven’t taken delivery of any yet, so I thought I’d better make sure. If there’s a problem, we’ve definitely got enough in the cellar, but we’ll need to bring it up. I expect Max can help with that. Have you spoken to him yet? He’s been trying to get hold of you. Zav’s scored a goal. Yay! OK, call me when you get this.’ Ringing off, she returned her attention to Stacy. ‘Sorry,’ she grimaced, ‘I’ll turn it off now.’
‘You don’t have to do that. I’m used to it, with you.’
Lainey looked pained as a text bleeped into her inbox. It turned out to be Frankie and Dawn, two of the evening’s guests, checking on what time they were expected. Since they had a country retreat locally they wouldn’t be staying at Bannerleigh Cross, so Lainey texted back
7.30 for drinks,
and made another note to drop into the farm shop on the way home to pick up more eggs for breakfast.
The next text was from Max.
Still no sign of Dad. Zav really upset.
Deciding to ignore it, since there was nothing she could do right now, Lainey tucked her phone away and returned her attention to Stacy. ‘If it does work out with Diana,’ she said, ‘when do you think they’ll want you to start?’
Stacy said, ‘No idea, and we better not get too carried away, they might end up deciding against me.’
‘No way.’
Stacy laughed.
‘So come on, what’s the magazine going to be about?’
‘Apparently it’s going to target women in their forties and fifties, though whether with fashion, cooking, travel, lifestyle . . . Actually, it’s probably all of the above. I’ll find out more on Wednesday.’
‘Does she want you as some kind of editor, do you think? It sounds just your sort of thing. I wonder if it’s going to be part of a weekend paper, you know, some kind of supplement, or a standalone?’ Lainey was looking at her mobile. ‘I’d ignore this call, I swear it,’ she said, ‘if it weren’t the caterer again.’
Stacy waved her to answer and set about finishing her cake.
‘I was thinking,’ she said, after Lainey had dealt with the issue of who was providing coffee cups, ‘if I am offered a job, I should make it clear right away that I’ve already booked a holiday.’
Lainey looked surprised, then doubtful. ‘Just don’t let it be a deal-breaker,’ she cautioned. ‘I mean obviously I want you to come to Italy, but if they’re just starting out I should think they’d want all hands on deck.’
‘Possibly, probably, but I should be able to come for a week at least. When are you going to book flights? I think we ought to do it soon, or we might not get the ones we want. Where do we fly into?’
‘Pisa, if we go from Bristol. Perugia if we want to get ourselves all the way to Stansted, but I don’t think we do. Ah, it seems my husband has surfaced from wherever he was hiding,’ she declared as Tom’s name flashed on her mobile. ‘Hi, where are you?’ she demanded, clicking on. ‘Please tell me you’re at the game.’
‘Actually, I’m at home,’ came the reply, ‘but I’m about to go back to London.’
Lainey frowned, not sure she was liking the sound of this. ‘Why? What’s happened?’ she asked, glancing at Stacy.
‘I can’t get into it now,’ he told her. ‘I just have to go.’
Lainey’s eyes widened. ‘But what about the dinner?’ she protested.
‘You’ll have to go ahead without
Waving her on, Stacy picked up her fork to start making a meal of her cake, only half listening as Lainey went through the menu for tonight’s dinner and what time the caterers should arrive.
By the time Lainey rang off her mind was full of all she had to do while she was in town, so she remained distracted as she added new notes to the list she already had. Then she was ringing Tom to check he’d remembered to order the wine.
‘I’m sure you did,’ she said into his voicemail, ‘but I haven’t taken delivery of any yet, so I thought I’d better make sure. If there’s a problem, we’ve definitely got enough in the cellar, but we’ll need to bring it up. I expect Max can help with that. Have you spoken to him yet? He’s been trying to get hold of you. Zav’s scored a goal. Yay! OK, call me when you get this.’ Ringing off, she returned her attention to Stacy. ‘Sorry,’ she grimaced, ‘I’ll turn it off now.’
‘You don’t have to do that. I’m used to it, with you.’
Lainey looked pained as a text bleeped into her inbox. It turned out to be Frankie and Dawn, two of the evening’s guests, checking on what time they were expected. Since they had a country retreat locally they wouldn’t be staying at Bannerleigh Cross, so Lainey texted back
7.30 for drinks,
and made another note to drop into the farm shop on the way home to pick up more eggs for breakfast.
The next text was from Max.
Still no sign of Dad. Zav really upset.
Deciding to ignore it, since there was nothing she could do right now, Lainey tucked her phone away and returned her attention to Stacy. ‘If it does work out with Diana,’ she said, ‘when do you think they’ll want you to start?’
Stacy said, ‘No idea, and we better not get too carried away, they might end up deciding against me.’
‘No way.’
Stacy laughed.
‘So come on, what’s the magazine going to be about?’
‘Apparently it’s going to target women in their forties and fifties, though whether with fashion, cooking, travel, lifestyle . . . Actually, it’s probably all of the above. I’ll find out more on Wednesday.’
‘Does she want you as some kind of editor, do you think? It sounds just your sort of thing. I wonder if it’s going to be part of a weekend paper, you know, some kind of supplement, or a standalone?’ Lainey was looking at her mobile. ‘I’d ignore this call, I swear it,’ she said, ‘if it weren’t the caterer again.’
Stacy waved her to answer and set about finishing her cake.
‘I was thinking,’ she said, after Lainey had dealt with the issue of who was providing coffee cups, ‘if I am offered a job, I should make it clear right away that I’ve already booked a holiday.’
Lainey looked surprised, then doubtful. ‘Just don’t let it be a deal-breaker,’ she cautioned. ‘I mean obviously I want you to come to Italy, but if they’re just starting out I should think they’d want all hands on deck.’
‘Possibly, probably, but I should be able to come for a week at least. When are you going to book flights? I think we ought to do it soon, or we might not get the ones we want. Where do we fly into?’
‘Pisa, if we go from Bristol. Perugia if we want to get ourselves all the way to Stansted, but I don’t think we do. Ah, it seems my husband has surfaced from wherever he was hiding,’ she declared as Tom’s name flashed on her mobile. ‘Hi, where are you?’ she demanded, clicking on. ‘Please tell me you’re at the game.’
‘Actually, I’m at home,’ came the reply, ‘but I’m about to go back to London.’
Lainey frowned, not sure she was liking the sound of this. ‘Why? What’s happened?’ she asked, glancing at Stacy.
‘I can’t get into it now,’ he told her. ‘I just have to go.’
Lainey’s eyes widened. ‘But what about the dinner?’ she protested.
‘You’ll have to go ahead without
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