Confetti & Confusion

by Confetti

  All six women fell into a contemplative silence as they sipped their drinks and entertained their own thoughts on the fiasco that had taken place in their midst. Millie’s heart ached for Imogen and Alex, whose long-awaited wedding had been so effectively destroyed, and by their very own wedding planner to boot! You couldn’t make it up. Then something occurred to her.

  ‘Weren’t you getting married in the gazebo in the hotel grounds?’

  ‘Yes, it’s a really beautiful spot.’

  ‘And it’s still there, isn’t it? Fleur didn’t set fire to that, did she?’

  ‘No, the gazebo’s still standing. Why?’

  Millie’s mind raced down an idea superhighway. Perhaps Imogen and Alex’s wedding could be salvaged if everyone pooled their ideas and resources.

  ‘So it’s really just the wedding reception that’s had to be cancelled?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so. But our guests have travelled thousands of miles to see us exchange our vows. We can’t have a wedding without a wedding reception.’

  ‘I might just have an idea.’

  Chapter Seventeen

  ‘What sort of thing do you have in mind?’ Imogen’s eyes brightened. She stopped fidgeting with the beer mat and pushed herself up in her chair, leaning towards Millie with her eyebrows raised.

  Millie cast a quick glance across to Ella, who gave a gentle nod of agreement, followed by a beaming smile.

  ‘Why don’t you hold your wedding reception at the villa?’

  ‘At the Paradise Cookery School?’

  ‘Yes. I’m sure Claudia wouldn’t mind. Thirty-six guests are a little more than she would probably envisage for a cookery course, but there’s plenty of room for tables in the courtyard. We can use the kitchen to prepare the food – there’re five ovens and plenty of workspace. If Jerome is prepared to release a couple of the hotel chefs to come over to the villa to help with the preparations and the cooking, I’m sure we can sort something out.’

  ‘Wow! That’s a fabulous idea!’ exclaimed Harriet, clapping her hands in excitement.

  ‘Have our wedding reception at the Paradise Cookery School,’ murmured Imogen almost to herself as she took a few moments to allow the suggestion to sink in to her befuddled brain, a necklace of fresh tears appearing along her lower lashes. She glanced from Millie to Ella and back again, her expression morphing from dejection to excitement and newborn hope. ‘Yes. Yes! I’d love that. Actually, it’s perfect; the view is stunning and the photographs will be spectacular. Oh, are you sure you both want to do this?’

  ‘Of course, it might not be the glamorous affair you and Alex had intended…’

  ‘Mum intended…’

  ‘But I think it’ll be a wonderful day. Have your ceremony as arranged in the hotel gazebo and then bring your wedding party over here for the reception. You can use all the facilities – the pool, the veranda, the decking, the courtyard – and we’ll sort out the food.’

  ‘Oh, that sounds absolutely amazing! Thank you, oh, thank you.’ Imogen shot out of her chair and hugged Millie, then Ella, and finally Lottie for good measure. ‘I’ll call the hotel and arrange for a couple of the chefs to help you, Millie. I don’t think they’ll mind – it’s just a change of venue, after all. Oh, I’ve got to find Alex and tell him!’

  Without pausing for breath, Imogen rushed off to tell her fiancé that they were getting married after all, albeit in a scaled-down version – just as they had both secretly wanted.

  ‘Wait for me!’ shouted Carla, launching herself from her seat, her trusty camera swinging around her neck. Out of respect, she had abstained from taking any photographs of the marriage meltdown as Imogen certainly didn’t look her elegant best. But now she was on a mission to record the final chapters in the Caribbean fairy story. ‘I want to grab a photograph of the look on Alex’s face when you tell him! Come on, Harri. Last one to the Blue Orchid buys the champagne!’

  The two bridesmaids clattered down the steps in Imogen’s wake, giggling as they tried to run through the sand towards the main street without looking like a pair of clowns. Oh, how a few minutes could change a mood, thought Millie joining them in their happiness.

  ‘Are you mad?’ laughed Lottie when they were out of earshot. ‘Do you know what you’re letting yourself in for?’

  Millie beamed at Lottie and Ella. The doldrums she had started the day fighting had disappeared off to plague some other underserving soul. She felt buoyant; a zoom of confidence had erupted in her chest and she was more excited about the future than she had been for months. Organising Imogen and Alex’s wedding reception was exactly the type of challenge she loved getting stuck into and her fingers tingled with the urge to start on the preparations to make the celebrations the best she’d ever organised.

  ‘When I worked at the restaurant in Oxford with Luke, we regularly did more than a hundred covers every night. I know I’m probably a bit rusty, but thirty-six wedding guests should be a doddle compared to that.’

  Millie glanced around the Purple Parrot which was experiencing a lull in trade after the lunchtime customers had left for an afternoon’s hiking in the Pitons, or to explore the tiny coves further along the coast, or to simply soak up the sunshine around their hotel pools.

  ‘And I’m sure you do more than thirty-six meals here at the Purple Parrot every day?’

  ‘Yes, but it’s not gourmet-standard food,’ smiled Lottie, flicking her hair over her shoulder. ‘It’s freshly prepared Caribbean fare with lots of local spices and chunky marinades and locally sourced meats and fish – barbequed. Simple, but delicious.’

  ‘And that’s exactly what I intend to offer Imogen and Alex’s guests. There’s no point in trying to replicate the menu on offer up at the luxury five-star hotel. So, I think we should give our guests a taste of the real Caribbean, showcase the vibrancy of the flavours and colours that St Lucia is famous for.’

  ‘You keep saying we…’

  ‘Ella and I, and anyone else I can press-gang into helping us out – even if it’s just for a few hours to help get the courtyard set up with the tables and chairs. I think we’ll be okay with the food side of things if Jerome agrees to loan us a couple of his chefs to assist in the kitchen, but we’ll need a few waiters, and someone to be in charge of the bar, and of course, a Master of Ceremonies.’

  ‘Well, you have the perfect candidate for that role already on site.’

  ‘Who…? Oh, no, Lottie, I’m not asking…’

  ‘You don’t have any choice. Who else do you have on your list that is more qualified?’

  ‘I was actually thinking of asking Henri.’

  Millie shot a pleading glance across to Ella, hoping she would be able to persuade her son to don his best suit and direct the show with his habitual grace and aplomb.

  ‘Henri would be delighted, dear,’ smiled Ella. ‘And I’m sure he’ll be able to pitch in with arranging the tables tomorrow, but I happen to know that he has a trip to Martinique planned for Sunday to interview a local politician about the recent increase in the drug-running trade on the island for his newspaper. He’s been researching the article for weeks. I think if he cancels his appointment, it will give the guy another excuse to delay and it’ll be months before Henri gets another chance to grill him.’

  Millie’s mood deflated like a pricked balloon and it must have shown on her face because Lottie giggled. ‘That’s sorted then. Shall I ring Zach with the good news?’

  ‘No need. I’ll do it.’

  ‘Great. Now that we’ve got that organised, I’ll ask if Anisha will cover for me this weekend and you can count me in for tomorrow. Maybe Travis can have a word with Leon to put in a couple of hours too. I know Dylan will definitely help as soon as he finishes his last boat trip of the day. What are you waiting for? Hadn’t you better start writing a shopping list?’

  ‘I’ll call Denise,’ announced Ella, rushing off to use the Purple Parrot’s telephone.

  ‘Millie, whatever’s going on with Zach and Chloe
you need to talk to him about it. It’s not good to let misunderstandings fester. I know all about that after what happened with me and Dylan. Honesty and openness is the best policy when it comes to lasting relationships.’

  ‘We’re not in a relationship…’

  ‘Friendships are relationships. There is no reason why you and Zach can’t still be friends, even if he is back with Chloe. I know you don’t want to get hurt again after what happened with Luke, but in order for relationships to work we have to be prepared to let people into our hearts. It’s the price we pay for a chance at happiness.’

  ‘How did you get so wise all of a sudden?’

  ‘Experience. Ring Zach, explain what’s happened at the hotel, and ask him to be your Master of Ceremonies. He’ll be amazing – and you know he’ll make sure that everything runs like clockwork! Don’t Imogen and Alex deserve that after what they have been through?’

  ‘They do.’

  ‘So, call him now before you overthink it. You don’t have to talk about your feelings if you don’t want to, but make friends. You can’t go on avoiding each other. It’ll just prolong the hurt.’

  Millie didn’t want to confess to Lottie that until the devastating news of Imogen and Alex’s wedding cancellation, avoiding Zach was exactly what she had planned to do. Lie low, steer clear of the part of the cocoa plantation where his wooden lodge was situated, and then catch her flight back to London on Monday morning. She would never have to set eyes on Zach Barker ever again. She knew she would get over what had happened – she had a precedent with Luke to show her which path to follow. What would make it more difficult was that Zach had been instrumental in helping her to escape from dwelling on her past and showing her that concentrating on living in the present and looking forward to the future were the only way to achieve contentment. She had a lot to be grateful to him for.

  ‘Okay, I’ll call Zach.’

  ‘Great.’

  Lottie continued to stare at Millie as she drained her glass. ‘What?’

  ‘I’m not leaving until I see you dial his number.’

  Millie rolled her eyes. ‘Okay, okay. Look – I’m ringing him!’

  She removed her phone from her pocket and selected Zach’s number, her heart hammering a cacophony of trepidation as she anticipated hearing his voice for the first time since he had hared off to pick Chloe up from the airport.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Hi, Zach. It’s me – Millie.’

  Lottie pushed herself out of her seat, gave Millie a smile of approval, and made her way to the bar where Ella, Travis and Anisha were chatting about what they could do to help with the wedding arrangements.

  ‘Hello, Millie, I was about to call you…’

  ‘Great, so I’m not disturbing you. Look, something awful has happened and I need your help. Well, no, Imogen and Alex need your help.’ And she went on to explain in as few words as possible about the nightmare their wedding had become.

  ‘Gosh, so Maddening Millie stepped into the fray!’ laughed Zach. ‘Why am I not surprised to find you right in the middle of a maelstrom of misfortune? I dread to think what the villa’s kitchen is going to look like after you’ve prepared a five-course meal for thirty-six wedding guests. Shall I book in a troop of industrial cleaners for Monday morning?’

  ‘Actually, that might not be a bad idea,’ Millie laughed as a warm feeling of gratitude for having reconnected with Zach invaded her body. ‘But I was hoping you could do a bit more than make a few calls?’

  ‘Of course. You know me; happy to help if I can.’

  ‘How does the title of Master of Ceremonies sound? Or rather, a sort of Director of Operations who makes sure everyone is in the right place at the right time. There’s no one better qualified to ensure that everything runs like clockwork – except maybe Carla’s boyfriend Greg but he’s a guest so I can’t ask him.’ Millie swallowed down the surge of emotions that had poked their head above the parapet when she said, ‘You are an amazing organiser and I know Imogen and Alex would appreciate your assistance.’

  ‘Would you appreciate my assistance?’ asked Zach, a hint of mischief in his voice.

  The thought of having to spend the next two days in close contact with Zach, with the spectre of a disapproving Chloe lurking in the background watching their every move, filled Millie with dread. However, she was willing to put her own feelings to one side and do whatever it took to pull off the audacious attempt to hold a wedding at the Paradise Cookery School. After all, this wasn’t about her, and it wasn’t about Zach and Chloe. It was about two people who had put aside their own desires for a quiet wedding to keep Imogen’s bereaved mother happy. Imogen hadn’t deserved what Fleur had done, but Millie knew she would take comfort from the fact that Fleur had acted out of the pain of unrequited love and her actions had not been directed at them.

  ‘I’ll take your awkward silence as a yes. So, you can count me in. I’ll give Henri and Dylan a call and we’ll sort out the logistics. Are you sure you can cater for the guests from the villa’s kitchen?’

  ‘Imogen has promised to speak to Jerome. I’m sure he’ll agree to release two of his chefs to help out with the prep tomorrow and the cooking on the day of the wedding. The kitchen up at the hotel has to be deep-cleaned before they can use it again so they would just be sat on their bottoms twiddling their thumbs anyway. The fact that all the guests will be away from the hotel for the afternoon and evening on Sunday will give the hotel’s management the chance to get in the commercial cleaners without causing too much disruption.’

  ‘Right. Sounds like a plan. So, Millie, now that I’ve got you on the phone, I want to talk to you about Chloe.’

  ‘Sorry, Zach, must dash. So much to do, so little time. We’ll speak later.’

  She terminated their conversation with a flick of her finger. She already felt like her brain was about to explode with everything that she needed to do before Sunday came around; there simply wasn’t room for the added complication of how she felt about Zach.

  Chapter Eighteen

  ‘So, Travis has sorted out all the drinks and set up the bar on the terrace next to the pool,’ said Ella, consulting the colour-coded list pinned to the clipboard she was holding. It was eight o’clock on Saturday morning and the villa was already abuzz with a frenzy of activity. ‘And Henri and Leon have promised to rig up the microphone and music system in the courtyard when they get here this afternoon. Have you seen Zach?’

  ‘Yes, he’s helping Dylan arrange the tables with a couple of guys from the hotel. The whole place is already looking fabulous, don’t you think?’

  Millie indicated the garlands of bridal bunting Imogen’s mother had just finished attaching to every tree bordering the courtyard. Julia had also brought Karen and Gracie’s hand-made offerings – long strings of white ribbon, with butterfly shapes cut from plain white photocopier paper attached, fluttered in the morning breeze just like the real thing. She had announced that she loved them, preferred them in fact, and Millie had to agree with her.

  Having completed the decorations to her exacting standards, Julia shot off to direct the tables-and-chairs operation, ensuring each was at precisely the right angle, insisting on several tweaks when the aesthetics didn’t please her. Freshly laundered white linen cloths from the hotel were then draped over the tables and their addition transformed the courtyard into a fairy-tale wedding venue. Millie could imagine how romantic it would look when they switched on the fairy lights as darkness fell.

  ‘She’s an amazing woman, isn’t she?’ said Ella, as Julia delved into the boxes that contained the matching serviettes and began to fashion them into a very accomplished version of a swan. ‘And how fortunate she is to have been given a second chance at love. It’s the St Lucian rhythm of life weaving its romance through the hearts of its visitors. I know you’ve felt it too, Millie.’

  Millie managed to stop herself from rolling her eyes at Ella. She had no intention of being drawn into a conversation that featured the
words romance, love or relationships. Nevertheless, Ella’s comment caused her to surreptitiously scour the throng for a glimpse of Zach.

  There he was, right in the middle of things, directing the show with poise and efficiency, allowing Julia to take the lead role in the design of the backdrop for her daughter’s wedding, but at the same time making sure the layout was practical and safe. The last thing they wanted was for someone to trip over a loose wire – or fall into a ditch.

  As Millie had suspected, the set-up was progressing like a well-oiled machine. No random passer-by would have guessed it was the first wedding to be held at the Paradise Cookery School. The flowers had been delivered straight to the villa that morning and were being kept cool in one of the bedrooms with the air-con on full blast. They were expecting the crockery and glassware to arrive from the hotel at midday and now all Millie and Ella had to do was the food shopping.

  They had spent their time on Friday afternoon planning every part of the meal in careful detail, from the hors d’oeuvres to the fish course, from the main meal to the desserts and the petit fours. Millie experienced the familiar wriggle of excitement that every professional chef feels before the preparation of a celebratory feast, and she knew that if she managed to pull it off Imogen and Alex’s wedding would be one of the major achievements of her professional life.

  Her thoughts briefly lingered on the telephone conversation she’d had with Claudia the previous afternoon.

  ‘Hi, Claudia, it’s Millie.’

  ‘It’s great to hear from you, Millie, and I have to say I’m more than a little envious that you’re over there soaking up the Caribbean sunshine whilst the UK is submerged under a cloud of incessant gloom. I don’t think it’s stopped raining since you left.’

  ‘How are you feeling?’