Thirty-nine
Beth had only one week to go before she became Mrs Collier. She’d ummed and ahhed about whether to try to see Charlie before the wedding. Lisa was keen, of course. But Beth was sure it would only cause more upset. Instead, she decided to throw herself into the last-minute preparation. Most of the jobs had been ticked off the ‘To Do’ list, and finally there was just one thing to be done – collect the wedding cake.
The cake they’d chosen was an elaborate construction. Three tiers, all iced to a smooth white finish, with delicate icing flowers in the palest of pinks cascading their way down the side.
The Campbells were discussing who was going to collect it.
‘I’d rather not. You know how nervous I am about driving, and God only knows if it’ll fit in my car.’ Beth wasn’t ashamed to admit defeat on this one.
Don waded in with his thoughts. ‘I’d rather drive a tank full of dynamite than drive the car that transports that bloody cake.’
‘You pair of wimps. Come on, Pat, we’ll go.’ With that, Nanna picked up the keys to Pat’s car and tossed them at her daughter-in-law.
‘OK. But it’s going on your lap.’ Pat followed her to the car.
Within half an hour they were back from the bakers. Both were uncharacteristically flustered.
‘What’s up? Oh no, the cake! Did it fall?’ Beth made towards the front door ready to inspect the damage. Terrified of what she might see.
‘No, nothing like that.’ Pat looked shifty.
‘What, then?’
As usual, it was Nanna who got to the point. ‘They haven’t made the cake. Apparently nobody’s paid the balance.’
‘WHAT?’ All of a sudden, Beth was light-headed.
Pat put her arms around her devastated little girl. ‘I know. We tried telling them it was definitely paid. Dad gave James the money weeks ago. He went in and paid the balance. But they just kept saying it wasn’t paid for, so they hadn’t made it.’ Squeezing for all her worth, she added, ‘I’m sorry.’
Beth was horrified by what she was hearing. The wedding was already a small affair. The cake was the only grand gesture. How can this have happened? She asked Nanna, ‘Couldn’t you sort it out?’
‘I did try. You know me and your mum, we don’t give up easily. But there was no payment written in the book ‒ so, there was no cake!’
‘They should’ve called me.’
‘It seems there was a mix up with the phone number too.’ Pat continued to hold her.
Too livid for hugs, Beth freed herself and grabbed her car keys. ‘James will clear this up.’
She was fuming as she drove to James’s place. Stupid bakers. They’re hardly going to have time to make a decent cake now. Even if they sort out the problem today, they’ll still be pushed for time.
James was also furious. He confirmed he’d paid the balance when Don had given him the money. ‘I’ll go and see them as soon as I can.’
‘No, not as soon as you can – NOW! There’s barely time for them to sort out their mess. We need to go now.’
‘OK, I’ll go now, you take yourself home. You’re far too upset to ‒’
‘No way. I’m coming with you.’
‘No, no, that’s not necessary. I’ll sort it. You know what you’re like.’
Beth was unusually forceful. ‘I’m coming. I was the one who chose the cake. I need to be there.’
James didn’t look as if he relished the thought of her accompanying him one bit, but nevertheless he allowed it.
‘Are you sure, you definitely don’t have the receipt?’ The lady who was in charge of the bookings had seemed lovely when Beth and Pat had pored over the book of laminated pictures. However, now there was a problem, her tone had become slightly officious. She seemed ready for an argument. Well that was fine, Beth knew James wouldn’t back down.
‘No. I just told you, I don’t have a receipt, because I wasn’t given one.’ James was breathing heavily through his nose, like a bull about to charge.
‘Sir, as I’ve already explained ‒ when the balance is paid, they write it in this book. It has carbon paper; do you see?’
James’s face grew red. ‘Yes, I see. I’m not an imbecile. But I’m telling you. I wasn’t given a receipt.’
‘OK. Well, even if by some huge oversight, they forgot to give you the receipt, it would still be written here in this book.’ The lady waved the receipt book at him. ‘And … I think you’ll agree, Mr Collier, we’ve now been through the book three times and there is no mention of a balance payment from you.’
James and the lady attempted to stare each other down.
‘You keep going on about that bloody book, but I can’t help it if your staff don’t fill the stupid thing in, can I?’
‘May I ask who you gave the money to, Mr Collier?’
James’s colour darkened. ‘I don’t know.’
‘A girl, a middle-aged lady, a young man?’
‘Yep, that’s it, it was a lad. It’ll be his fault. You know what young blokes are like?’ James nodded his head, emphatically.
‘We don’t have any young men working here, Mr Collier.’ With that, the lady closed the receipt book with a snap. ‘I think you must be mistaken.’ She transferred her attention to another customer.
James clenched his teeth, he looked fit to burst.
Beth was gutted, but she could see they were beat. ‘Let’s just leave it. We don’t need her rotten old cake anyway.’
‘Fine. But I’ll be writing to the manager. This is no way to treat good customers.’ James marched towards the door and was out in the street in no time.
As soon as the shop door closed behind them, tears began to snake their way down Beth’s face. For all her false bravado, she’d fallen in love with that cake and she’d been looking forward to posing for photographs, knife in hand and handsome husband by her side.
‘Fucking bitch. She was trying to catch me out. So what if I can’t remember who took the money?’
‘Forget about it. It’s not worth letting her spoil our special day.’ Beth was trying her hardest to control herself, she didn’t want to have a full-on howl in the street.
‘I’m still going to write and complain though. They need telling!’ James seemed ready to punch something.
‘Good idea. We’ll make sure they know how angry we are.’
Lisa butted in, ‘I’ll bet you a fiver he never writes that letter.’