THE TWENTY-SECOND pt2
A little while later we all pop down to the café where we are treated to a scrummy breakfast. Everyone is doing a fantastic job at avoiding any mention of the party. As far as Taylor knows, he is having a late afternoon meeting at the hotel in one of the meeting rooms, but he has reassured me several times already this morning that he will be back in Brighton in time for his dinner at eight p.m. It will be up to Michelle to get him to the ballroom for the actual party with some kind of subterfuge, something she says she is working on as we speak.
I still have plenty to do before the party so it is actually a relief when Taylor checks his watch—yes, it went straight on his wrist—and declares that he needs to head off. As he finally heads out the door, it’s like a collective sigh of relief descends over the place. Bea double-checks that he has definitely gone before pulling me to the kitchen to survey Kirri and Billy’s masterpieces.
I clap my hands in delight when I see all the pieces laid out and ready for assembly at the hotel. I can already imagine how it is going to look in my head. All my staff are practically family so we are closing the café and bakery at lunchtime so that everyone can get up to London with their partners and check into their rooms at the hotel, my treat to them for being so amazingly awesome.
With everything seemingly in place, I let everyone know that I am heading up to London and arrange when I will meet them. I am halfway up the motorway when a call comes through on my phone. Henry is asking me to meet him at the hotel to discuss security. With all the excitement of the party somehow the threat of Richard seems to have slipped my mind.
The driver of the car service that Taylor has insisted I use since getting too big to drive pulls up outside the grand entrance to the hotel and hops out quickly to give me a hand out. Henry is waiting for me on the steps and, when I step out, he grabs my little pull-along overnight bag, along with the long garment bag holding my dress before offering me his arm for support.
“Seriously, how do women do this? Pregnancy sucks,” I grumble and Henry chuckles. “Oi, don’t you laugh at me otherwise I’m going to have to start interrogating you about your relationship with the good detective.”
Henry stiffens next to me and it’s my turn to chuckle as he stammers an incredulous, “What?”
“You may be an old hand at this spy game but you wear your heart on your sleeve. Will she be your plus-one tonight?” I ask cheekily.
“I’ll be working tonight,” Henry responds gruffly.
“Come on, your team can handle it. Relax a little. A party is supposed to be fun. Besides, I know Mum has allocated you a couple of seats,” I respond.
“Humph, we’ll see,” Henry says grudgingly as he steers me through the corridors towards to ballroom.
Once inside, I spot my mother ordering various staff members around as she tweaks the lights, the decorations and the centrepieces on the table. Quite frankly, I think the place looks fantastic but my mum is an absolute perfectionist and won’t be happy until everything is just right.
My father spots me and heads over to give me an all-encompassing hug. “Look at you, Abby,” he says. “You look ready to pop.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I respond sarcastically. “You sure know how to make a girl feel special.” But the twinkle in my dad’s eyes lets me know he is just teasing and I take it good-naturedly.
“Security arrangements for tonight,” Henry reminds me seriously and I’m half tempted to tell him he needs to take some chill pills. But as he and my dad exchange looks, I realise that they have every reason to be so worried.
Henry goes on to explain about the security teams that he will have in place both in the ballroom and in the staff areas of the hotel. The biggest issue it seems is the fact Richard and Taylor are identical twins so Henry is leery of relying on the hotel staff to differentiate. The last thing we want is for some over-enthusiastic hotel security person tackling Taylor and ruining his party.
Once Henry seems satisfied that everyone is on the same page he seems to relax a little so before he leaves, I make him promise to ask Detective Stanton to the party. He lets out a snort but the pink tinge on his cheeks lets me know that I’m finally getting to him.
It has been a busy morning and I know that if I have any hope of making it through tonight, I need a rest. I head back to reception and check into the suite of rooms I’ve booked for this evening. Stix will be bringing Genevieve along in a little while so I know that I need to get my head down for a nap now before the excitement begins.