‘How about two weeks, Saturday?’ said Flynn. ‘Do you think you can pull it off by then? Callie and I will get on to the TV news people, we can upload news about the event on Facebook, Twitter and all the social media channels. If you can organise the artists, you will need to think about timings, how long is each one going to perform?’

Ella gulped, two weeks on Saturday – that was going to take some organising.

‘Two weeks?’ Ella was suddenly feeling overwhelmed and was looking for reassurance.

Which she received immediately from Callie: ‘Yes, two weeks – you can do this!’

Ella was on a roll. ‘Flynn, I’ve just had another idea, how about getting the locals involved? Maybe throughout the night they can share their own memories of The Lakehouse, making them feel more connected to the place? I can ask them for any old photos, maybe video footage? It shouldn’t be too hard to organise.’ Ella knew she was babbling but she had lots of ideas whizzing around in her mind and couldn’t wait to get started.

‘Ella, you’re a genius!’ bellowed Flynn. ‘Let’s get this show on the road.’

As soon as Ella hung up the phone, she had mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation. It was going to take a lot of hard work to pull this off, but she was going to give it everything she’d got.

‘You’ve made their day.’ Dolores grinned at Ella, opening the black book. ‘All the names no longer with us are crossed out and the rest are still contactable.’

Ella’s eyes widened. ‘Dolores, look at all the famous names in here!’

‘My whole life is in that book.’ She held up the decanter. ‘Another tipple?’

Ella shook her head. ‘I’d best not, I’ve got a lot of organising to do.’ She gripped the book. ‘And I will guard this with my life.’

‘You have, and I’ve only got two weeks to pick my outfit, and that will take a lot of planning.’

The last thing on Ella’s mind was her own outfit. She had a star-studded bash to organise and she knew just the man who could help her… Roman. Ella knew she had brilliant organisational skills and could pull the night together, but what she was unsure about was all the technical stuff – microphones, amplifiers and instruments. She knew she had a lot to learn in the next two weeks, but she was ready for it.

Slipping the black book into her bag, Ella thanked Dolores and stood outside on the pavement whilst she rang for a taxi. She was going to take the bull by the horns and go over and see Roman straight away. She was eager to get the ball rolling and knew she was capable of making this the best night ever. She kept her fingers crossed that Roman would agree to help.

Chapter Ten