Lottie spotted Connor and Keegan, who was sitting on the dais, her face lit up by Shayla’s torch.
‘Can I help?’ Shayla asked, taking Lottie aside.
‘Yes, please. Could you make sure that everyone is OK for me? Let me know if you’re concerned about anyone?’
‘Will do.’
‘Any ETA for the lights to be back on?’ her boss asked.
Lottie decided to be honest with Shayla. ‘They should have already kicked in,’ she said discreetly. ‘Jay’s on his way to the generator now. If you could help me keep people calm in the meantime, I’d be grateful.’
‘Let’s hope it’s sorted soonest. Keep me posted.’ Although Shayla was calm, there was a distinct edge to her voice.
Lottie turned her attention to Keegan.
‘Should we light the candles or something?’ Connor suggested.
‘At least that would be romantic,’ Keegan said.
Lottie was a bit worried about the fire risk but relented, thinking anything that kept Keegan happy was a good thing and it really would be romantic … ‘OK. It shouldn’t be too long before we have power. Jay’s gone to sort some emergency lighting.’
She asked the catering staff to bring in some tealights for the tables from the store room and soon the ballroom was lit by flickering candlelight. It was all very Christmassy and the delighted photographer took his chance to get some photos of a very happy couple by the tree. With the holly, ivy, decorations and romantic lighting, the room looked stunning and would make a wonderful showcase for future weddings.
Lottie’s relief that Keegan was happy was undercut by her growing concern that the generator hadn’t kicked in. Any moment now, the lights would flare into life and the disco ball glitter again but the minutes ticked by and the ripple of unease among the guests grew louder.
Just as Lottie was beginning to worry, the emergency lights came on to a collective murmur of thanks. A sea of relieved faces materialised in the low-level lighting, including the band, looking very pissed off that their set had been cut off.
‘Thank goodness for that,’ Fiona murmured.
Even though the lights made it safe for people to move around, they were hardly festive and there was still no power for the band or disco. With people at least able to see each other and visit the bar, Lottie went into the hall to take a call from Jay who was in the facilities room at the rear of the house.
It wasn’t what she’d had hoped for.
‘The diesel generator isn’t working. I’ve no idea why so I’ve called the generator company and they’re sending an emergency team but they’re twenty minutes away. It’s lucky the snow’s melting but even in the best case it could be an hour before the power can be restored.’
‘It’s only seven,’ she said in dismay. ‘The party’s barely started but I’ll have to ask everyone to be patient.’
‘The band could still play unplugged, and they can manage without the mikes,’ Jay said. ‘Why not ask them to do that?’
‘Do you think they would?’ Lottie said.
‘I don’t see why not. That’s what I’d do. Do you want me to have a word? I recognised the guy on the bass guitar from the local gig circuit.’
‘That would be great, thanks. I’ll update Keegan and Connor.’
Jay was back in a couple of minutes and spoke to the band, while Lottie attempted to placate her bride and groom.
The novelty of the candlelight was already wearing off. ‘What else is going to go wrong?’ Keegan said. ‘We’ve paid a fortune to have the perfect wedding here and so far, it’s been one disaster after another.’
‘Now, Keegan, that’s not exactly fair, is it?’ her mother said, obviously used to her daughter’s tantrums. ‘If this snow hadn’t come down, you’d never have arrived by sleigh. You must be the only bride who’s ever done that. And this candlelight is gorgeous.’
‘I suppose so,’ Keegan said grudgingly. ‘But this is your responsibility,’ she flung at Lottie.
‘The power failure is due to the weather,’ Lottie said patiently. ‘And while we couldn’t have foreseen the generator problem, please accept my sincere apologies. The engineer is on his way and I’m confident we’ll have it up and running soon.’ She crossed her fingers mentally.
‘Lottie’s right. The power will soon be back on, nutkin,’ Connor said.
In the nick of time, Jay came up. ‘The band are going to carry on until we get the power restored. Don’t worry, I’ll watch out for the generator engineer and stress how urgent it is.’
After a short delay, the music started up again and Lottie was relieved to have an excuse to escape into the vestibule where Jay delivered the good news that the generator engineers were only moments away. The warm front had brought drizzle and a thaw, which must make it easier for them to get there.
A minute later, the lights of a van wavered on the driveway and pulled up outside.
‘There they are,’ Jay said. ‘I’ll take them to the facilities room.’
‘I want to hear how long they think it will take,’ Lottie said, pulling on her coat and following him, not adding that she’d like to get away from Keegan’s moaning.
The engineer climbed out and Jay approached. From the way both men suddenly stopped and kept their distance from each other, she knew in an instant it was Ben.
They faced each other, Ben with a toolbox, Jay with a torch, like two gunfighters ready to draw, except it wasn’t funny.
Lottie intercepted them both, standing between them.
‘You’re not going to make a thing of this, are you? I need this generator fixing now, or I’ll have a furious bride and groom demanding their money back. Jay, you go back inside and make sure everyone’s OK. I’ll take you up to the generator, Ben.’
He glanced
