orange bunting and a large canvas sign had been hung from the station entrance announcing the event.
Porthmellow Search and
Rescue Fundraising Spectacular
give generously to our coastal lookout
and lifeboat crews
Well, ‘spectacular’ was probably pushing it, but it was very charming. She would have genuinely been looking forward to it if … well, it was too late to worry now.
The whole thing was quite retro and reminded her of her old school fete with its hoopla and a ‘splat the rat’ sideshow. There was a second-hand bookstall, bric-a-brac and refreshments were being sold from the ground floor of the harbour office. It was an overcast breezy day, cool for the time of year. Tiff was in jeans, a white shirt and padded gilet; she didn’t do fleeces – ever. Her bob was rapidly growing out so she’d added a silk scarf to keep it out of her eyes, and ditched the designer boots for low-heeled leather ones, hoping she wouldn’t stand out too much.
For now, anyway.
She made her way to the tombola stall and helped Marina put out the ‘prizes’ and the drum containing the raffle tickets.
‘Good grief, the last time I saw one of these was at the school fete,’ she said, sticking tickets on a bottle of vodka that had a price ticket on it marked ‘Porthmellow Super Booze’. The price was improbable by 2020 standards. ‘Is there even a Super Booze in Porthmellow these days?’
Marina wrinkled her nose. ‘It closed at least ten years ago. Nate used to go in there.’
‘I hope this is still fit for consumption.’
‘Apparently anything over twenty per cent never goes off,’ Marina said. ‘Slap a ticket on it. We need all the prizes we can get.’
‘Has Lachlan put in an appearance yet?’
‘Aaron said he’d promised to drop by after he’d done some work at the office. I hope he pops down.’
While they finished setting up, Tiff discreetly checked out the townspeople and holidaymakers, willing to give up their spare time and precious cash to help fund the lifeboats and Wave Watchers because it mattered to their community. She wasn’t naive; they doubtless had their own problems and disagreements but for today had set aside their differences to help a common cause.
Now she had more time on her hands, she could make her contribution to the local community, help out Marina and get one over on Dirk at the same time.
However, so far her every effort at securing a standout headline lot – even one – had come to nothing. She’d hoped for a backstage pass to a gig, or front row tickets to a West End show, or hospitality at a sold-out sports event – anything that money couldn’t usually buy and would create a real stir in Porthmellow. She’d contacted a dozen people in London, yet all but two hadn’t returned her calls. She was obviously persona non grata and her editor – or Warner – had made her too toxic to even speak to. Or maybe they were simply so busy, with their eyes on the prize, that a request from an ex-colleague was at the bottom of their priorities. She knew the feeling.
Two friends, however, had responded positively and said they’d see what they could do, although they’d both warned it was very short notice. One was a young reporter whom Tiff had mentored and supported during her early career and was now entertainment ed at a glossy magazine. The other was an ‘old school’ editor, a blunt northerner, who Tiff had always got on well with. She was the one who’d agreed to pay Tiff to string some stories, and she had been outraged when Tiff had been sacked.
However, when neither had got back to her that morning nor replied to her messages, she’d known she had to admit defeat and confess to Marina that she’d been unable to deliver on her promises.
‘Don’t beat yourself up,’ Marina said. ‘We wouldn’t have had three of the lots without you.’
‘I know but I wanted to help you. I was sure I could call on my old friends – well, they’re not friends, clearly. I just wanted to make this a big success. Now I’ve let you down, and I don’t let people down.’
‘Please! You had no time to set things up.’
‘I kept on saying I could do it. People have a right to be disappointed.’
‘No one will be disappointed. I – um – managed their expectations in case things didn’t happen. They’re all too busy dealing with their own stalls and work anyway.’
Marina