Cheryl and Lee were in a Christingle meeting when Steve arrived at the Church, so it was Sally Swift who met him and showed him the system.
Sally’s day job was working
in the harbour master’s office, but she was also a Committee member at St Joan
of Arc, but her real passion was as a singer with the Church worship band.
“So what would you like to
see first?” she asked
“The sound system is my main
area of expertise” he said “and I’ll need to see the control desks please”
“No problem” Sally responded
After showing him where
everything was, she said
“I’ll leave you in peace
while I make a drink, what would you like?”
“Black Coffee if I may” he
replied
“You may” she replied and
smiled
Sally made him a coffee and
then half an hour later she made him another one and by the time he’d finished
it Lee appeared.
“Typical” Steve said “He
suddenly appears when I’m done”
“Of course” Lee retorted, and
the friends embraced
“But I left you in very
capable hands”
“Very capable” he said and
smiled at Sally who blushed
“Anyway what’s the verdict?”
Lee asked
“Well it’s not a complicated
system,” Steve retorted
“So I can easily patch it up
in the short term, and after Christmas I can do a more permanent fix”
“The Church doesn’t have much
money,” Sally added
“Not an issue” Steve said, “I
have a small stock of refurbed equipment”
“And you’d do the work?” Lee
asked
“Absolutely, it will give me
another reason to come to the island” he replied and made Sally blush again
“Will it take long?” Lee
asked “It’s a big week for the Church”
“We’ve got St Lucy’s,
Christingle and the Carol Concert over four days”
“I can have it finished by
the end of tomorrow” Steve said directly to her “And I can be on hand to
nursemaid the system for the big events”
“That would definitely be
useful” she replied flirtily
“Well let’s go and make
Cheryl’s day then” Lee said
“Oh I think you should go and
make her day” Steve said making Lee blush and Sally looked confused.
It took about twenty minutes
for Lee to track Cheryl down and in the end, he found her sitting in the Vestry
looking glum and when she saw him, she stood up and said.
“Its bad news, isn’t it?”
“No” he replied and after he
explained what Steve had suggested she looked at him without speaking and tears
started to well up in her eyes and then ran down her cheeks and she threw
herself into his arms.
“Oh Lee” she sobbed and
buried her tearstained face in his neck.
He held her close and stroked
her back for a few minutes as Cheryl’s sobs began to get shallower and
shallower and eventually abated.
Cheryl held on to him tightly
and sighed into his neck before she lifted her head, smiled at him briefly
before she kissed him on the mouth.
Late afternoon Elke Offord
was down by the harbour walking her dog when the “Maid of the Bay” finished
unloading their catch and Conrad awkwardly disembarked.
“You idiot” Elke shouted “You
were told to rest”
“So now you’re talking to me”
he retorted
“The Doctor told you to rest”
she stated
“I have rested, I’ve been sat
in the wheelhouse for the whole trip” he said “And I’ve used my stick for
getting around”
“You’re still an idiot” she
said crossly
“Why do you care?” he
retorted “You couldn’t have been less caring at the hospital, what was all that
about?”
“What’s it about? What’s it
about?” she snapped
“You promised to call me
after we met on New Years Eve”, and guess what? You didn’t call”
“I didn’t call because you
didn’t give me your number” Conrad replied
“Yes, I did, I put it in your
phone” she corrected him
“No the number you put in my
phone was for a plumber in Pipershaven, I still have it” he said and showed her
the number
“Ah” she exclaimed and rushed
off
“Slowdown” he called as he
hurried after her “Slowdown”
“Why?” she barked “So I can
be humiliated some more?”
“No I was thinking of a quiet
drink and taking the weight off my knee”
“Oh ok… sorry” she said and
took his arm.
When Sally walked past the St
Joan of Arc on Tuesday on her way to work, she saw Steve Sharpe’s van parked
outside the Church and there were a lot of strange noises emanating from
inside, she wished she’d had the time to go and investigate but she was already
running late.
Also that morning Molly
Barrington and her fiancé Danny Nightingale left the island on a Christmas
Shopping expedition to Abbottsford, so they caught the midday ferry to
Pipershaven before driving to Applesford, where they stayed at his flat for the
night.
No comments:
Post a Comment