Anna picked up her phone and was happy to see that the forecast for tomorrow was much better than today.
Daniel nodded. ‘Good, if they give us the go ahead, we’ll need to get on to the agency and book some more models for first thing tomorrow. Let’s just hope everyone can accommodate us.’
Anna nodded silently, not daring to ask the question of who was going to pay for the reshoot, although at least he seemed to be blaming the weather more than her late arrival.
When Daniel came off the phone, he seemed relieved that a reshoot due to the weather conditions had been accepted and Anna quickly set about rebooking the models for tomorrow morning.
‘So that’s that, then,’ Daniel said once it was all in place. ‘Seven a.m. at the same place tomorrow and don’t be late!’
‘I won’t, I promise.’ Anna felt contrite. She would set her old alarm clock as well as her phone to make sure that she woke up in time. The last thing she wanted after today was to be late again.
‘Of course, having to shoot tomorrow is going to make the deadline really tight.’
Anna thought she could make amends. ‘I’m happy to work the weekend to meet the Monday morning deadline.’
‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to,’ Daniel said. ‘But I need to leave here at lunchtime tomorrow. Ben’s in an athletics competition after school and I promised I’d be there to watch him.’
‘That’s okay, I can edit the photographs here and send them to you.’
Daniel shook his head. ‘No, I need to do them myself, but I don’t want to eat into my time with Ben. It would be better if you came with me to Cheshire. You can do the preliminary editing and we can work on the final images together when Ben’s asleep.’
‘You want me to come to Cheshire?’ she asked, astounded at his comment. ‘But I—’
‘Sorry. I’m sure that’s going to upset your social life, but we’ve already cocked up on this once and I need to make sure what we send over on Monday is as good as it can be. I’m not comfortable working at a distance on this one.’
‘Yes, of course. I wasn’t thinking about my social life, it’s just . . .’
‘Just what?’
‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘Of course I’ll come to Cheshire. I’ll make these the best pictures they can be.’
She did feel partly responsible that they had to reshoot, so she really had no choice but to go along with what he wanted. Though, after last night, she wondered what her family would think of her going away with her boss for the weekend. Her dad would hit the roof and Jack would be full of snide comments. Well, she’d just have to deal with that when she got home.
‘Thank you, Anna. I do appreciate it.’
‘That’s okay. But, as it is short notice, do you think I could have some time off today to get myself sorted?’
‘Of course,’ Daniel said. ‘You can take the rest of the day off. I’m sure you’ll want to make it up to your boyfriend, not being around for the weekend.’
Anna didn’t bother to tell him that it wasn’t her boyfriend who would need consoling, but her dad and brothers.
Chapter Ten
On her way home, Anna called into Tesco to buy food for the weekend. She knew her dad wouldn’t be happy about her going away, but she needed to do this and he would just have to put up with it. She thought that if she stocked up the fridge, cooked some meals for the freezer and did all the washing before she went, then maybe they wouldn’t be too put out. And if they were, it might show them how much she did for them, and that she wasn’t going to put up with doing it all on her own any longer.
By the time her father and Jack returned home, the house was clean, the washing had all been dried and ironed, and she was just about to dish up a beef casserole with mashed potatoes. Harry had said he was going to the library to study, so she plated some food up for him for when he got home.
The response from Jack was surly, but her dad came over and gave her a hug. ‘Thanks, love, I hate it when we argue and it’s good to know you want to make amends for last night.’
Anna was so stunned she couldn’t speak. And now was not the time to tell him the real reason she’d cooked dinner. That would be better said once he’d eaten.
After he’d had his fill, her father leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. ‘That was lovely, Anna, thank you.’
‘Glad you enjoyed it.’
Andrew looked to Jack. ‘Jack, say thank you to your sister for dinner.’
‘Thanks,’ Jack said gruffly. Anna and Jack had always squabbled, but recently he’d changed, becoming more chauvinistic, and he wasn’t a person she liked anymore. She tried to do as little as possible for him, purely because he expected her to do it and never offered any thanks for her efforts.
