“For deciding to buy your wedding dress from next door instead of from ForEver Bride.”
“Next door, as you put it, belongs to my sister. Of course I chose Kathy over you.”
“Which is precisely why you should do this for me. And Madge.”
“What am I supposed to tell Jack?”
“Why do you have to tell that human anything?”
“Because it’s his house too. If there’s going to be a stranger living there, I think he has a right to know.”
“Tell him the truth: that she’s an old friend of mine. Come on, Jill. How often do I ask you to do anything for me?”
“All the time.”
“Can I tell Madge it’s okay?”
“I’ll need to meet her first.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re asking me to allow a complete stranger to live in my house for a fortnight. I’m not going to agree to that until I’ve at least met the woman.”
“Alright, if you insist. I’ll set up a meeting with her.”
“Okay.”
“It’s not long now until the big day.”
“Don’t you start going on about the wedding too. It’s all anyone talks to me about.”
“I’m not talking about your wedding. I’m talking about the launch of Ever A Wool Moment’s app on Friday.”
“You’re launching an app?”
“I told you about it months ago.”
“You tell me about a lot of things.”
“It’s going to revolutionise knitting.”
“Really?” As if I cared.
“Just imagine. You’re out and about, and you see someone wearing a jumper that you like. You snap a photo using the app, and voila, it generates a pattern to create the garment.”
“Sounds great.” Yawn. “What have you called it?”
“Guess.”
“I don’t know. Copy Cat?”
“Nothing so boring. It’s called: See It. Make It. Brilliant, eh?”
“Brilliant. Can I go now?”
“Yes. I’ll let you know when I’ve arranged something with Madge.”
“Wonderful.”
Chapter 2
“Hey, traitor!” Kathy called to me as I passed by her shop. “I saw you sneaking out of next door.”
“I wasn’t sneaking. Grandma summoned me down here.”
“It’s a bit late for her to try to persuade you to buy your dress from her shop.”
“It wasn’t that, although I hope you appreciate all the flak I’ve had to take because I bought the dress from you.”
“You’re a martyr. Why did she drag you down here?”
“She wants to rent out our house while we’re away on honeymoon.”
“No way.”
“Yes way. Well, not so much rent because we wouldn’t actually get paid.”
“To who?”
“One of her friends from Can—err—Canada.”
“Your grandmother has friends who live in Canada?”
“Apparently. And Grandma has told her she can stay at our house while we’re away.”
“That was nice of her. No doubt she consulted with you first?”
“What do you think?”
“Don’t forget about the final fitting for the dress.”
“Yeah. Wednesday—I’ve got it in my diary.”
“It’s tomorrow night.”
“Is it? I thought it was Wednesday.”
“It’s Tuesday. It’s always been Tuesday. It’s a good job I persuaded you to let Marceau plan this wedding, or it would never have happened.”
“He’s coming around again tonight. He practically lives at our place.”
“He’s very thorough.”
“That’s one word for it. Apparently, we have to finalise the seating plan tonight.”
“Good luck with that. I remember when Pete and I got married, there were more arguments about the seating plan than anything else.”
“I don’t get it. Why can’t we just let everyone sit where they want?”
She rolled her eyes. “Like I said, it’s a good thing you’ve got Marceau on the job.”
I’d promised Aunt Lucy that I’d nip over to see Barry, who was going through a bit of a bad patch. His friend, Hamlet, had passed away two weeks earlier, and Barry still hadn’t got over it.
First though, a caffeine-injection was called for.
I’d never really taken to Coffee Games, but the rebranding from Coffee Triangle had obviously been a success; the place was much busier since the change.
I’d never liked games, and especially not board games. When I was a kid, I always dreaded that period, just after we’d eaten Christmas dinner, when everyone wanted to play stupid board games. Monopoly was about the only one I could stand, and that was only because I used to cheat by stealing cash out of the bank.
What? Everyone does that. Don’t they?
In the same way as Coffee Triangle used to have an instrument of the day, Coffee Games now had a game of the day. And judging by the weird buzzing noises coming from around the shop, today was ‘Operation’ day. It was just as well that I’d never wanted to embark on a medical career because I’d always been useless at that stupid game. Except for that one time when I’d beaten Mum, Dad and Kathy, but that might have been because I’d sneakily disconnected the battery. Snigger.
There was a familiar face behind the counter.
“Blaze?”
“Hi, Jill. Long time, no see.”
“Is Daze here?”
“Haven’t you heard? I’ve been promoted. I’m working solo now.”
“Congratulations. Are you enjoying it?”
“It’s a bit nerve racking, but it definitely has some advantages.” After checking that no one was watching, he undid one of the buttons on his shirt, to reveal a luminous orange catsuit underneath.
“Wow!” I laughed. “I don’t think Daze would have approved of that.”
“She’d have been apoplectic with rage.”
“Is she working solo now, too?”
“No, she’s got a new partner, but from what I’ve heard, he’s pretty useless. What can I get for you, Jill?”
“A caramel latte, and one of those blueberry muffins, please.”
“Would you like a board game?”
“Operation? No, I hate that game.”
“Really? It’s one of my favourites. I reached the semi-finals of the Candlefield Operation Tournament last year.”
“Please tell me that’s not really a thing.”
“It really is. And, I came sixth at Kerplunk the year before.”
“Very impressive.” I glanced around to make sure no one could overhear. “I assume you’re here undercover?”
“Yeah. We’ve had reports that some vampires are trying to establish a ‘blood distribution network’ here in Washbridge.”
“Human blood?”
“That’s right. They approach established businesses run by vampires and try to persuade them to carry supplies of the blood. Their favourite targets are coffee shops, bars and clubs. I’m hoping to catch them red-handed.”
“I didn’t realise that the owner of this place was a vampire.”
“Rodney? Yeah, he bought the place just over a year ago. It was his idea to change the theme from percussion to board games. You might not have seen him, though, because he rarely comes out during the day.”
“How exactly do they operate this blood distribution network?”
“They provide the shop, bar or club with a fridge, designed to look like a safe, and then deliver fresh supplies of blood several times a week. We’ve closed down a few outlets already, but what we’re really after is the people behind the network, so we can shut down the operation altogether.”
“Is Daze working on that too?”
“No. I’m not sure what she’s doing at the moment.”
The coffee and muffin had certainly hit the mark, but I was glad to get back outside, away from the constant buzzing of the games. I was just about to magic myself over to Candlefield when someone called my name. It was the unmistakeable dulcet tones of Deli.
“Jill!” She was across the road, standing in the doorway of Nailed-It. The nail bar had been forced to relocate when I-Sweat gave up their lease.
“Morning, Deli.” I walked over to her.
“I was going to come up and see you later, Jill. You’ve saved me a trip. Mad called last night to say she’ll be coming up on Thursday, in time for the hen night. She asked me to let you know.”
“That’s great.”
Mad had already confirmed she was coming to the wedding, but she hadn’t been sure if she’d be able to make it to the hen night.
“Where’s she going to stay?”
“With us of course. She was going to book a hotel, but I wouldn’t hear of it. I can’t wait to see her again.”