Now she raised her glass in a toast and smiled at her friend. 'To the success of our two artistic friends.'
'To Celine and Richard.' Dominic lifted his glass and drank.
'Thank you, thank you,' Celine said, laughing. Once she'd agreed to the deal it seemed her brain had been in overdrive and she was sketching every chance she got. Working at the shop helped enormously as she watched women of all shapes and sizes try on the different clothes. Her pencil moved across the page at an alarming rate when she was there. Sometimes she even got irritated when she had to put down her pad to go and serve a customer!
Marina went to the counter to make the dressing, leaving Dominic and Celine talking about the show.
'I can't believe it starts tomorrow night,' Celine was saying. 'Are you nervous?'
Dominic shrugged. 'A little but once I get on stage I'm usually fine. I actually enjoy it if I'm honest.'
'I'm not surprised, you're so good at it. I'm sure you could take it up professionally.'
Dominic threw back his head and laughed. 'No thank you, it's strictly a hobby.'
'So how's the deli coming along? I had a peek in this morning and it looks like a bombsite.'
'Yes, it is a bit of a mess but they seem to be on schedule. The kitchen is nearly finished. The ovens, fridges and freezers will be delivered next week but we won't get them hooked up until we get back from Nevada.'
'Did someone mention Nevada?' Marina said carrying their salads to the table. 'I can hardly wait.'
'The most gorgeous cocktail dress came into the shop yesterday, it would be perfect for your holiday.'
Marina beamed at her. 'I hope you didn't put it on a rail.' She fetched sandwiches and a cup of milk for Josh.
'No, it's stuffed under the counter,' Celine admitted. 'As long as Sadie doesn't find it, it's yours.'
Marina sat down beside Celine and shook out her napkin. 'I have a favour to ask.'
'Oh, yes?' Celine grinned as she popped some chicken into her mouth.
'Would you design my wedding dress?'
Celine almost choked on her food and reached for her wine glass.
'Oh, sorry.' Marina patted her on the back. 'Are you okay?'
Josh looked up at her, his eyes full of concern. 'Are you okay, Aunty C'line?'
Celine smiled at him. 'Thanks, Josh, I'm fine now.'
He nodded. 'Good. Mummy, can I have some ice cream?'
'After you've eaten your sandwiches,' Marina said firmly.
Celine waited for the screams but Josh just went back to his sandwich without a word of protest. 'He's so good,' she marvelled.
'All thanks to Mum,' Marina admitted. 'Anyway, you haven't answered me. My wedding dress?'
'I don't know what to say, Marina. Are you sure you want me to do it?'
'I would be thrilled if you would.'
'Then I'll do it,' Celine said and was almost suffocated in a hug.
Dominic smiled. 'That's wonderful, thank you, Celine.'
'It's my pleasure but there's one condition.'
'Anything.'
'It's my present to you.'
'Oh, no, Celine, that wouldn't be right—'
'I won't do it otherwise.'
Marina sighed. 'I don't know what to say.'
'Thank you?' Dominic suggested.
'Thank you, thank you, thank you,' Marina said, hugging her friend once more.
'Now will you put the girl down and let her eat her lunch?' Dominic said.
Celine laughed. 'And it's a nice lunch too! Is Kay hiding in the garden?'
'Cheek!' Marina nudged her. 'No, this is all my own work. Some of my mother's talents rubbed off while we were living together. Although if we invite you to dinner I promise I'll leave the cooking to Dominic.'
'Or we could order from our new deli,' he pointed out.
'Oh, yes, won't that be handy? I'll be able to call you each evening and place my order. We need never cook again!'
'That brings a whole new meaning to the words "eating the profits"!' Dominic excused himself as his mobile started to ring.
'Are you missing work?' Celine asked Marina as he went into the garden to take the call.
'Not at all. I'm sure I'll probably get bored after a while but for now I'm quite happy to stay at home.'
'Are you really at home much? I'd have thought you'd be shopping morning, noon and night.'.
Marina laughed. 'Guilty as charged! And between that and organising our trip there's plenty to keep me busy. You know, I think it's awfully decent of you and Richard to get it together. If you had other partners we'd have had to pay for four flights instead of two!'
'You're not paying for us,' Celine protested.
'Now it's my turn to insist. You and Richard are our witnesses and you are our guests.'
Celine bowed her head. 'Okay then, if that's what you want but who's going to give you away?'
'Josh, of course,' Marina murmured, sneaking a look at her son, who was trying to hide the remainder of his ham sandwich under his napkin. 'But he doesn't know it yet.'
Celine clapped her hands together. 'What a marvellous idea. I thought it might be Kay.'
'That was my original plan but she suggested Josh. She thought it was important to give him a definite role in the ceremony.'
'Your mother is a very wise woman.'
'I'm beginning to realise that,' Marina agreed.
'I wonder if she—' Celine broke off as Dominic came back into the room, his face grim. 'What's wrong, Dominic?'
'What is it, darling?' Marina looked at him, her eyes anxious. 'It's not Mum—'
'No, no, nothing like that but there's been a fire down at the community centre.'
'Was anyone hurt?' Celine asked.
Dominic shook his head. 'But I'm afraid some of the costumes were destroyed.'
'Oh, no, that's terrible,' Marina clutched Celine's hand. 'After all your hard work.'
'Maybe I could repair them,' Celine offered, although she wasn't sure how she could do it with the show opening tomorrow night.
'There's nothing to repair.' Dominic sat down and took a drink. 'I think we're going to have to cancel the show.'
Marina sighed. 'Oh, that would be such a shame, all the tickets are sold.'
Dominic shrugged. 'I don't see what else we can do.'
'Why don't we go over there and examine the damage?' Celine suggested.
'Good idea.' Dominic stood up again and reached for his car keys.
'Does Cathy know?'
'She's down there already.'
'Then let's go. Sorry for eating and running, Marina.' Celine gave her a quick hug.
'Don't worry about it.'
Dominic kissed her. 'I'll phone you and let you know what's happening.'
Cathy was standing in the car park with a few other people when Dominic and Celine arrived. She threw up her hands in a gesture of resignation when she saw them.
Celine climbed out of the car and hurried over, Dominic hot on her heels.
'Is there much damage?' she asked.
'Not much at all,' Cathy told them. 'A chip pan went on fire when they were preparing the old folks' dinner.'
Celine frowned. 'But I don't understand, the costumes—'
'Were in the storeroom that backs onto the kitchen. Only a stud wall separates them and that went up in smoke straight away.'
'We could hire some costumes,' Dominic suggested.
Cathy shook her head. 'Not at such short notice and anyway, it would cost a small fortune.'
'Let me see the costumes, I might be able to do something.'
Cathy led the way inside. 'Be my guest, Celine, but I don't see how you could sort this lot out in twenty-four hours.'
Inside, rails of clothes now stood in the middle of the hall. They were soaked, stank of smoke but were undamaged. Cathy fingered one suit. 'The fire brigade were here in minutes but unfortunately the water does nearly as much damage as the fire.'
'Rubbish,' Celine retorted as she moved from rail to rail. 'We can easily get these cleaned in time.'
'Maybe,' Dominic agreed, "but what about that lot?' He nodded towards the rail that stood just outside the burnt-out store room.
Celine groaned as on closer examination she discovered that she was looking at the scarred remains of the Ascot dresses. 'Of all the lousy luck. If it were the ballgowns we'd have had some chance of replacing them but where are we going to find fourteen cheap gowns in black and white?'
Dominic turned back to Cathy. 'We could explain the situation to the audience at the beginning of the show and let the women wear ordinary dresses.'
Cathy nodded. 'I suppose that would be better than cancelling.'
'Or we could postpone,' he continued.
Cathy shook her head. 'No, the centre is booked up for months ahead and, anyway, we still couldn't afford new gear.'
Celine had been looking speculatively at the tables laid for lunch, the white cloths now blackened with soot. 'Could the budget stretch to a few tablecloths?'
'I suppose,' Cathy replied, following her gaze. 'But you don't have to worry about the damage to the centre. That's covered under the insurance.'
Celine smiled. 'Good. Will we definitely be able to use the hall tomorrow night?'
'Yeah, I got the all clear on that. The kitchen will be boarded off and obviously we won't be able to serve tea and coffee at the interval but apart from that, once we clean the hall and it has had a good airing, it should be fine.'
'Thank goodness we're having a summer this year.' Dominic murmured, looking up at the cloudless sky. 'Even if it is still smelly we can leave the doors and windows open.'
'And I think I can sort out the Ascot gowns,' Celine told them.
'How on earth can you do that?' Cathy stared at her.
'Leave it with me. Can you organise that the rest of the costumes are laundered?'
'Of course.'
'Right. Dominic, can you take me to the shopping centre?'
'Sure.'
'And I'm going to need some help. Can I use your house as a base?'
'Of course.'
'Great. Now, if you could call Marina and ask her to get Kay and Rose to meet us there around eight.'
'Rose? Is she back?'
'Just for the show, she wouldn't miss that for the world.'
'Right, well, I'd better arrange to pick her up.' Dominic went back to the car to make his calls.
Celine turned to the producer. 'Cathy, can you phone around the cast and get them to arrive an hour earlier tomorrow night? That way we can have a try-on and I can do a quick fix if there are any problems.'
'Sure! Celine, I really appreciate this.'
'Wait until you see some results before you thank me. I'll see you later.' Celine climbed in beside Dominic just as he was finishing his call.
'All organised,' he said, starting the car.
Dominic followed her around the shopping centre, mystified at the kind of things Celine was buying. She'd spent nearly an hour in Roches Stores household department, finally emerging triumphant with twenty tablecloths. Then she'd gone to the office equipment shop and bought a large stapler and then spent what seemed to Dominic like hours in an accessory shop selecting flowers, scarves, feathers, beads, and various other bits and pieces. Her last port of call was the hardware where she bought three containers of black dye and some Superglue. She burst out laughing when she saw the expression on Dominic's face. 'Don't worry, Dominic, all will become clear.'
When they finally returned to the car with their purchases it was almost five o'clock. Celine urged Dominic to drive faster and got very annoyed when he refused to use the dedicated bus lane.
'Everyone else does,' she protested.
'If I did, I'd be caught,' Dominic replied calmly. 'Now instead of criticising my driving why don't you make a few phone calls and check how everyone else is doing?'
Celine scowled at him but obediently phoned Cathy.
'Hi, Celine, how's it going?'
'Not bad, what about you?'
'We've got three different dry-cleaners working on the costumes and, get this, they're doing it for free!'
'How did you manage that?' Celine asked, impressed.
Cathy laughed. 'I got the parish priest to ask them.'
'Very clever. Will they be ready on time though?'
'We've to pick some of them up in the morning, the rest, they promise, will be ready by five.'
Celine winced. 'That's cutting it fine. I just hope nobody's put on any weight.'
'If they have they can leave buttons and zips open,' Cathy said airily. 'That's the great thing about theatre. The audience are too far away to see the detail.'
Celine absorbed this piece of useful information. 'Right, Cathy, I'll talk to you later. Bye.' She hung up before the woman had a chance to answer. 'Dominic, we need to go by my flat on the way.'
'Well, I know that,' he retorted. 'We have to get all your sewing paraphernalia, don't we?'
Celine laughed. 'We do,' she agreed as she dialled Marina. After she'd filled her friend in on her progress so far and Marina had confirmed that both Rose and Kay were coming over, Celine rang off and called Richard.
'Hey, stranger, how are you?'
Celine told him quickly about the fire and the work that lay ahead of her.
'And I thought I'd had an exciting day,' he murmured.
'Oh, Richard, I completely forgot! How did it go at the gallery?'
'Not bad.'
'What does that mean?' she asked impatiently.
'They're going to give me a solo exhibition in October.'
'You're kidding? Solo? That's fantastic.'
'Yeah, I know, I can hardly believe it. They seemed really impressed and they're planning to send out invites to all the important people, including the press.'
'That's wonderful.' Celine beamed at Dominic and gave him the thumbs up. 'Listen, I have to go. We're setting up a sewing room at Dominic and Marina's and Rose will be there too. Why don't you come over? I'm sure Dominic would welcome some male company.'
'Ask him could he collect Rose,' Dominic said.
Celine passed on the message and nodded at Dominic. 'Great, thanks, Richard.'
'No problem, see you later. Bye, love.'
'Bye,' Celine said and wondered as she hung up if she'd ever get used to this gorgeous man calling her 'love'.