Twelve months later
‘You look stunning, Emilie darling. I hope Matt knows what a lucky guy he is.’ Marcus smiled. He looked as immaculate as ever in his dinner jacket and pale pink cravat, the latter a nod to Lucinda’s apron theme.
‘Of course he does, I make sure I remind him every day!’ She giggled.
‘And, Alice, my dear, I do believe congratulations are in order! That is some rock on your finger. Where is the hunkiest DJ alive?’
‘Still setting up his equipment for the party later. Don’t worry, he’ll be here,’ said Alice, her charm bracelet tinkling at her wrist. She had removed every charm except for the two Karl had bought for her: a tiny replica of her engagement ring and a silver surfboard.
Emilie cast her eyes around the sumptuous Music Room at The Ritz where the launch of Lucinda Loves…Desserts was due to take place in less than half an hour. The place was packed with the great and the good of the culinary and literary worlds and a low rumble of conversation reverberated around the room. Huge blown-up posters of the front cover of the hottest cookbook to be published that season were scattered around the room, along with framed photographs of the recipes within. A battalion of tailors’ dummies had been dressed in pastel pink aprons, one from each stop of Lucinda’s Cornwall tour. The aprons would be signed and auctioned off at the end in aid of Gingerbread and the NSPCC.
At the back of the room were tables groaning with copies of the glossy hardback masterpiece. Emilie was inordinately proud of her contribution, but that wasn’t why her heart was pounding out a symphony of joy and anticipation.
She couldn’t prevent herself from stretching high on her tiptoes to seek out a glimpse of Matt amongst the packed congregation. When she saw him, his golden hair as unruly as ever despite the introduction of a dash of gel in honour of the auspicious occasion, her thoughts rolled back to when he had kissed her goodbye in her flat that morning before dashing out to collect his excited parents from King’s Cross station and drive them across London to the luxury hotel.
‘Why are you laughing?’ Matt had asked.
‘Because I’ve never seen you in a suit before. You look so, well, so handsome.’
‘Did you expect me to wear shorts and flip-flops?’
‘Yes!’ She had giggled.
‘And I suppose I should travel over there in an orange-and-cream camper van?’
‘Yes!’
In reply Matt had grabbed her by the waist and delayed his departure to King’s Cross by half an hour.
There he was, over by the door, chatting animatedly to both her parents and his own, who must have been the proudest people in the room that afternoon – after all, as well as herself and Marcus they were the only people who were in on the surprise. Well, apart from Lucinda who had engineered the whole thing.
A spasm of emotion shot through her body when she thought about what was about to happen, and her heart gave a reassuring flutter that this gorgeous man was in love with her and had told her as often as possible over the last twelve months whilst they worked together to resume production at the microbrewery. The first ale off the production line had been named JamieJack in memory of Jamie Jack Ashby, and she had designed the label to complement it.
They were already getting orders from all over the country, not just from Matt and Jamie’s former customers but from high-end restaurants and bars. Her smile stretched and her spirits soared to the ornate ceiling of the elegant suite as she sent up her thanks to her personal guardian angel for bringing Matt into her life.
‘Okay, everyone! Let’s get this launch under way!’ called out Lucinda Carlton-Rose’s publicist. ‘Please bring your drinks and take a seat. Lucinda is on her way down. After the auction of the aprons from the Cornwall shoot, she will be signing books for anyone who wants an autographed copy, as well as posing for photos.’
Emilie grabbed Matt’s hand and directed him, along with their respective parents, to the reserved seats on the front row. Her breath had started to come in spurts as she tried to hold on to her emotions. A surge of excitement spun through the room as the guests settled into their chairs and waited expectantly for the star of the show to arrive.
But it wasn’t Lucinda who came through the door. It was two members of staff from Lucinda’s publishers wheeling in additional, life-sized posters with only the blank, reverse side showing. The girls stood on either side of the dais facing the audience and waited. A murmur of interest rippled through the gathering as more staff arrived, this time carrying a table with a starched white cloth draped over the top to disguise a pyramid of books underneath. Finally, Lucinda glided into the room to a crescendo of applause.
‘Hello, everyone, and welcome to The Music Room at The Ritz. I’d first of all like to thank you all for attending today’s launch of my brand new Lucinda Loves… cookery book – Lucinda Loves…Desserts. As most of you will know, many of the photographs were taken on location during an extravagant road trip around Cornwall last year by the very talented Emilie Roberts, who is with us this afternoon.’
There was a polite ripple of acknowledgement and a gush of heat spread across Emilie’s cheeks. She felt Matt squeeze her hand in his.
‘I hope that you will enjoy creating the recipes in the new book and sharing them with your family and friends, for, as we all know, it is the company of others whilst tasting the food that we have created that brings us the most joy and happiness. However…’ Lucinda paused and glanced around the room before her eyes landed on Matt and remained there.
‘What we seem to have forgotten is that, accompanying the food we prepare and the desserts we bake, there is always something to drink – whether it be a cup of Earl Grey tea with our cucumber sandwiches and patisserie or a fruit punch at a children’s party or something a little stronger when celebrating a milestone birthday or an engagement. The Great British Beverage has been sadly underrated…until now.’
Lucinda stepped off the platform. She nodded to the girls holding the posters, stepped behind the laden table, and whipped away the cloth.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me immense pleasure to reveal today The Great British Beverage Book written by Matt and Jamie Ashby!’
A crescendo of applause ricocheted around the room. Matt’s mum dabbed at her eyes with a lace handkerchief she had brought specially and his father swallowed down hard on his emotions, with pride written boldly across his features.
Matt’s jaw had slackened in astonishment as he stared at Lucinda, who was holding out a copy of the book he and his brother had dreamed of one day publishing.
‘Thank you,’ he managed, taking the precious masterpiece before moving over to embrace his mum and grab his father in a bear hug. Emilie beamed at the Ashby family’s joy. They deserved every bit of their happiness that afternoon.
‘I take it you knew about this?’ Matt smiled as he released Emilie from his embrace.
‘I did, but actually it was Lucinda who arranged everything. The banners, the postcards, the books, The Ritz! She’s like a whirlwind when she gets her teeth into something she’s passionate about. You know how upset she was when she found out that her surreptitious borrowing of my memory stick almost broke us up. She liaised with your parents throughout though – it wasn’t just me who was in on the surprise. The book is amazing, isn’t it? It’s going to fly off the shelves. But none of that matters. Have you seen what she’s written in the front?’
Matt opened the book slowly and read Lucinda’s neatly written message.
‘For those who can’t be with us today to celebrate in our joy, we will hold them in our hearts where they will always have a special place until the day we join them.’
‘Congratulations, Matt. Jamie would have been immensely proud of everything you’ve achieved,’ whispered Emilie. ‘The brewery, the beer dedicated to him and now the book.’
Matt inhaled a deep breath. ‘I couldn’t have done any of it without you, Em. I love you.’
‘I love you too, Matt,’ she replied.
She knew life couldn’t get any better. After all, with Matt by her side, she was the luckiest girl in the world.