The Big Little Festival. Kellie Hailes

But she’d quit. Shit.

      He took another sip of the brain-focusing liquid. No, he wasn’t letting these two women smash the career he’d spent his life building into smithereens. He’d left London with his tail between his legs; there was no way he was going back to face the music of his great mistake without a success under his belt. He was going to make this work.

      ‘Ladies.’ The word came out with a squeak. Hardly the show of strength he’d hoped for. Still, it had caught their attention. He cleared his throat and tried again. ‘Ladies, I appreciate how hard you’ve worked on this festival. I can see how passionate about it you are. But to be honest, it’s not enough. A festival needs to be fun, it needs excitement, amusement, it needs to be something people talk about all year round as they wait for it to come around again. What you’ve planned is a start. But it’s not an end. No. We’re going to have to work together to make this bigger. To make it better than any other festival in the area. A festival people from other counties come to visit. We’re going to make this festival the biggest little festival in England. Are you with me?’

      ***

      ‘I’m an idiot. More than an idiot. I’m insane. I should be committed.’ Jody slapped her hand to her forehead, rubbed it wearily and eyed her brother, who was restocking The Bullion’s wine fridge. ‘What was I thinking using my…’ Jody stopped herself. Tony didn’t need to know she’d used her own money to pay for the event manager. If he knew, he’d offer to help her, and she wasn’t one to accept offers of help. She’d done everything on her own since the boys came along and being a little out of pocket now wasn’t going to change that. ‘I can’t believe I thought it was a good idea to hire a person who would come in and just destroy everything we’d put together. Well, what little we’d kind of put together…’ She eyed the bottles of wine lined up in The Bullion’s fridge. Was it too early for a drink? It was after midday, and surely it was five o’clock somewhere in the world. ‘Tony, pour your big sister half a glass. I need to take the edge off. And where is bloody Serena? She said she’d meet me here five minutes ago.’

      Tony snickered. ‘Edge off? You’d need a whole bottle of wine to do that, not just a half glass. I’ve never seen you so pissed off. And what’s five minutes? She probably got stuck in a sheep jam or something. Chill out, Jodes.’

      Jody stuck her tongue out at her brother. Then laughed when he stuck his own tongue out and crossed his eyes.

      ‘Seriously? How old are you two? Five?’ Serena set her tangerine-coloured tote on the bar with a whump and slid onto the stool next to Jody. ‘And why haven’t you ordered wine yet? Honestly, what kind of best friend are you? How long have we known each other? You should know by now that if you’re demanding I come to a pub then you’d better have something alcoholic ready for me when I get here. And what’s the big drama? And who’s Mr Fancy Pants? And why do we need to run him out of town, preferably with pitchforks that have sat in hot coals for a couple of hours?’

      Jody grinned at her friend. Serena had a way of bringing lightness to even the darkest situations. ‘Tony. Did you hear the woman? Wine. Now.’ She slapped her hand on the bar for emphasis. ‘And bugger the half a glass, make it a whole. Also, could you take some chips up to the boys and tell them they’re not to be playing the violent computer games. And if they do they’ll lose today’s TV privileges. And make sure you impress upon them that if they do play the violent games, I’ll know. And be sure to raise your eyebrows on the “I know” bit.’

      ‘And they believe you’ll know?’ Serena grinned.

      ‘They haven’t figured out that when I told them I had secret cameras installed upstairs and all around Rabbits Leap to keep an eye on them that I was telling them a white lie.’

      ‘Or a blatant lie.’ Tony poured the wine into glasses and slid them across the bar. ‘I’ll go sort out the chips for the boys. Don’t steal anything, I have cameras everywhere too, you know.’ He winked, and then headed out to the kitchen.

      Jody shrugged and lifted the glass to her lips. ‘A mum’s got to do what a mum’s got to do,’ she murmured, as much to herself as to Serena. ‘Anyway, you won’t believe the afternoon I’ve had. Actually, no, first of all, how are you?’

      Serena shook her head. ‘I’m fine. Forced into farm slavery. Sick of the smell of cowpats, tired of getting up at the crack of dawn to touch a bunch of udders.’ She shuddered. ‘But let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about you. So, who is this bloke who’s got your knickers in a twist? Don’t tell me you’ve finally broken that dumb rule of yours and fallen in love? Don’t do it, Jody. Love is a bad thing. Terrible thing. Never ends well. Secure that chastity belt of yours. And double-lock it.’

      Jody snorted. ‘Thank God I’m not mid glug right now, because you’d be wearing the wine. Nope, he’s of no romantic interest to me. No man is. You know that. Not until the boys have left home and no longer need me. What he is, though, is the event manager I hired to help get the festival on track.’ She laughed, short and harsh. Regretful. ‘On track? He’s blown up what few ideas we had. There won’t be Welly-wanging.’

      ‘No Welly-wanging? So? What’s the big deal about that? It’s not like we’re known for it. Haven’t won any competitions or anything. Heck, didn’t Rabbits Leap quit entering them when we came last at our first attempt?’

      ‘Well… I know… but…’ Jody twisted her wine glass round and round. ‘I don’t know. People seem to enjoy it. Families look like they’re having a good time…’ She shrugged and traced patterns in the condensation on the wine glass. ‘I guess it was a dumb idea. But it was the only idea I was able to get everyone to agree on. I guess it wasn’t so much about him saying no to it as the way he said it. He just dismissed it. Wasn’t even polite about it. He came in and took over, and well… that’s just not the Rabbits Leap way.’

      ‘So, what are you going to do? Get rid of him for hating the one big idea you managed to get past my mother and Mrs Harper? You did send him packing, didn’t you?’ Serena gave her a speculative look. ‘You didn’t. You bailed. You’ve left him to ruin the town festival. Jody!’ she wailed. ‘You can’t. We need you. You know how to organise stuff. You’ve done those bingo nights. Those book sales. The schoolkids were able to go on a trip to the Natural History Museum in London because of your fundraising efforts. But most importantly, we need a pool! Sure, it only gets used a couple of months a year. But, oh, what glorious months they are. And if we raise enough we could get some fancy heat-making thing to make the pool swimmable a little longer. I can’t believe you let Mr-Fancy-whatever-you-called-him-Pants steamroll you. God, if I meet that man, I’ll…’

      A cough, of an undeniably awkward nature, stopped Serena in her verbal tracks.

      Out of the corner of her eye Jody could see Christian loitering a few feet away. His hands in his shorts pockets. His gaze fixated on the timber beams running across The Bullion’s ceiling. Heat rushed to her cheeks.

      Serena’s eyes widened and her own cheeks flamed. ‘He’s behind me, isn’t he?’ she mouthed.

      Jody nodded.

      ‘Shit,’ she mouthed again and attempted to nonchalantly sip her wine, only to slosh it all over the bar.

      ‘Hey, Christian.’ Jody said, but the casual tone came out a croak. ‘Are you after a cold drink? Or an alcoholic one? Did Mrs Harper and Mrs Hunter send you round the bend already?’

      Christian shifted from foot to foot. Was it her imagination or had his cheeks rouged up? ‘Er, no. Not so much. They are… trying… though.’

      Serena snorted. ‘He just called my mother “trying”. Should I throw my wine over him or be happy someone else agrees with me?’

      The hint of colour on Christian’s cheeks morphed into a full flush. ‘Oh God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to insult your mother. I didn’t know. And if it’s any consolation, she’s much better than the other one.’

      Serena laughed.