The Wedding Invite (Lakeview) (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 6)

by Melissa Hill

  Nice, Laura thought. No apology, no excuse, just ‘Hey!’

  “This is my good friend Laura –” A clearly flustered Helen made the introductions, glancing meaningfully at Laura as she did so. “And this is Nicola.”

  “Hello, Paul. Nice to meet you,” Laura said, smiling warmly at him.

  “Good to be here, Laura.” He grinned back at Laura, his smile faltering as he turned to Nicola who gave him a curt nod.

  “Glad you could make it –” Laura said, and couldn’t help adding, “eventually.”

  “Paul was working late,” Helen offered quickly, by way of explanation. “So, by the time he got to my place, and then of course our little detour …”

  “I got a bit lost on the way,” Paul admitted bashfully.

  “In the metropolis that is Ballinteer?” Neil asked, winking at Laura.

  “Well, I tried to give him directions but you know what men are like,” Helen batted her eyelids playfully at the two men present.

  “Hey” Neil piped up, rising to her bait. “I’ll have you know that men are proven to be much better orienteers … orientators … what’s the right word again, Paul?”

  “Exactly my point,” Helen jibed. “You know what men are like.” She ducked giddily as Neil aimed a tea towel at her.

  “Can everyone go inside and sit down now?” Laura said testily, deliberately refusing to make eye contact with Helen though she could feel her anxious gaze fixed on her. At Laura’s words, Nicola had promptly headed back to the dining-room, thereby robbing Helen of any chance to have a private word with her. Out of the corner of her eye, Laura saw Neil put a friendly arm around Helen’s shoulders and usher her out of the kitchen in Paul’s wake.

  Laura was now seriously annoyed. Not only had Helen landed her in another dreadful situation, but she was sick to the teeth of her friend’s incessant flirting with her husband. It was the same every time Helen called to pick up Kerry. Laura knew that her friend just couldn’t help herself – get her within two yards of a man and she was batting her eyelids as if she was in a sandstorm, and wiggling her backside like Kylie Minogue – even in her present state of tension.

  After taking a minute to try and calm herself, Laura began carrying the first course into the dining-room.

  ”So, are you a farmer or a forester or something, Paul?” Nicola was asking.

  Paul looked at Nicola as if she was on drugs or something. “No why?”

  “Well, seeing as you were working late, I suppose I just wondered why you couldn’t get to a phone.”

  Ken nudged her chair beneath the table, and Helen shot her a venomous look.

  “Paul misheard the time. He thought I said dinner was at nine o’clock.”

  Paul gave Helen a quick glance, which suggested he thought anything but.

  “Well, look, we’re all here now, anyway,” Laura said, trying to relieve the obvious tension. “Now get stuck in before it all goes cold.”

  “Great,” Paul rubbed his hands together. “I’m starving, haven’t eaten a thing all day and I’ll tell you this, I have one hell of an appetite.” He winked at Helen.

  “Good thing we waited for you then, isn’t it?” Nicola said sweetly enough but, to anyone who knew her, her voice was tinged with sarcasm.

  Laura rolled her eyes. It was going to be a long night.

  61

  Nicola sat and watched the gorgeous Paul wolf down his lamb as if he had never eaten before in his life. Ass. What did Helen see in him? OK, that was fairly obvious: he was bloody fantastic-looking. But still. He was as artificial as you could get. And where did he think he was going with the American accent? All ‘hey’ and ‘wow’ and ‘guys’ this, ‘guys’ that.

  “So, Paul, where are you from?” she asked innocently.

  He wiped the side of his mouth with a napkin. “Cork.”

  “Oh.”

  Helen shot Nicola another look, knowing exactly what she was getting at. “Paul spends a lot of time abroad on business,” she explained.

  “What you do?” Ken asked him.

  Paul looked pleased to be asked. “I’m an investment advisor – pensions, stocks, bonds – things like that. We advise our customers on how best to invest their extra cash.”

  “He’s given me fantastic advice,” Helen trilled. “Now I know exactly what to do with my money.”

  “Oh, are shoes considered a valid form of investment these days?” Neil teased, and Helen made a face at him. Grinning, he got to his feet. “I’ll get some more wine, will I?”

  “I’ll get dessert.” Laura shuffled out to the kitchen with him, leaving the others alone at the table.

  Nicola thought it odd that, despite her earlier enthusiasm about her new man, Helen seemed rather tense and uncomfortable at the table tonight. Every time Paul opened his mouth to say something, Nicola noticed that her friend’s eyes kept darting here and there as if she was afraid he might not make a good impression on everyone. And any time the others opened their mouths, Helen all but started, as if nervous of what they might say. She supposed she might have been a bit unfair to her, really – it had evidently taken a lot for Helen to work up the courage to introduce him to her friends and, looking at her now, it was obvious she was anxious they all get along. For her friend’s sake, she should try and get on with him.

  “So, you two have been seeing one another for a while now?” Nicola injected some enthusiasm into her voice.

  “Yes, and she’s one hell of a babe.” Paul looked at Helen with real devotion, something Nicola hadn’t seen anyone other than Kerry do in a long, long time. Yes, men loved Helen; men had always loved Helen but usually didn’t have a hope once her friend decided they weren’t up to standard.

  Might Paul actually be the right one for Helen, the one to banish the ghost of Jamie for good? For her friend’s sake, Nicola hoped so. It would be terrific if Helen could finally find someone for her and Kerry to love.

  Speaking of which …

  “So have you met Kerry?” she asked Paul, just as Laura and Neil returned from the kitchen. Laura’s eyes widened, and she shot a look at Helen who, horrified, was sitting ram-rod straight in her chair, her eyes meeting Laura’s for support, inspiration, anything.

  Paul looked blankly at Nicola. “Kerry?”

  She watched him curiously. “Well, of course, Helen’s –”

  “Dog,” Helen cried out.

  Paul turned to her, his mouth full. “What?”

  “My dog,” she said again, and Nicola stared at her, shocked. “Kerry’s my dog, a Kerry Blue, lovely little thing, I’ve had her for years.” Helen gave an apparently carefree little laugh but her eyes told a different story. “Oh right.” Paul laughed too. “You never mentioned a dog before.”

  Nicola turned resolutely towards the kitchen, her mouth set in a thin angry line. “Helen?” she barked. “Let’s get the coffees and give Laura a little break.”

  She heard Ken and Neil engage Paul in mindless chatter, anything it seemed to relieve the tension. But apparently Paul had noticed nothing amiss.

  Alone with Nicola in the kitchen, Helen was shamefaced. “Look, he doesn’t know, I haven’t got around to it yet.” She studied a piece of carrot that had fallen on the ground. “I didn’t expect you and Ken to be here this evening and –”

  “You haven’t got round to it yet?” Nicola repeated. “Helen what the hell does that mean? You’ve been going out with this man what, nearly four months, and you’ve just told him that your daughter –” Helen winced, and looked back towards the dining-room, presumably hoping that Paul couldn’t hear, “yes, your daughter, Helen, is a – a dog. What the hell were you thinking?”

  “Nicola, please, I know, I’m sorry – it was the first thing I could thing of –”

  “First thing you could think of? Helen, why should you have to think of anything? Why didn’t you tell him the truth? That Kerry is a sweet, loving child, the most important thing in your life, the most precious thing in all of our lives.”

&n
bsp; And it was true. Kerry was the child that Nicola had never had, that she might never have and she loved that little girl with all her heart. And as far as she knew, Laura felt the same. The two of them had been there for Helen and for Kerry through thick and thin, and Nicola knew that if she had to, she would fight to the death for Kerry. If she felt this way, then how could the child’s mother, her own mother, deny her like that?

  “Nicola, please, I know it was awful! And I really didn’t mean for this to happen but I wasn’t prepared for … I just …” Helen shook her head sadly. “I know it was stupid and I feel so guilty about not telling him, really I do.” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “But you don’t understand, you don’t know how it is. You don’t know what it’s like trying to find someone, someone decent and nice and – and I’m just afraid that if I tell him about Kerry it’ll all be ruined. Men run a mile when they hear about Kerry. I don’t want that to happen this time. You don’t understand – I really like Paul.”

  At this Nicola felt a familiar rage rise within her, something she hadn’t felt in a long, long time. She took a deep breath, and struggled to remember every piece of advice she had ever heard about anger management. She began to count to twenty but didn’t even reach five. ‘I really like Paul.’

  Her face hard, Nicola looked one of her oldest friends straight in the eye.

  “Helen, you are a selfish cow.” She spoke slowly, pronouncing each word clearly and precisely.

  “What?” Helen stared at her, dazed. “What did you call me?”

  “I called you a selfish cow.” She couldn’t believe Helen’s selfishness, her callousness, her blatant cruelty towards her own child. Kerry adored Helen, looked up to her, would do anything for her.

  Helen’s back straightened. “Nicola, you’re my friend. I know you’re angry but believe me that is the one reason – the only reason I am taking this from you.”

  “The only reason?” Nicola went on. “The only reason, huh?”

  “Yes.” Helen amazingly seemed to be keeping her calm.

  The two woman glared at one another, barely noticing as Laura quietly entered the room.

  “Are you sure it’s the only reason, Helen?” Nicola went on. “Because I’m such a good friend? Or is because I know what you’re really like?”

  “Girls, don’t …” Laura was soothing.

  Helen frowned. “What I’m really like? What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You know damn well what I’m talking about and don’t pretend that you don’t.”

  “Nicola, I don’t know where all of this is coming from but –”

  “No, of course you don’t, Helen. You don’t know where this is coming from because you’re so consumed in your own little life, you’re so immersed in what’s happening with you, that you don’t know or care what’s going on around you, do you?”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking not just about denying your own child in front of your new – new boyfriend, but denying on her on a regular basis. If you’re not dumping her on me, you’re dumping her on Laura, who goodness knows has had enough to contend with these last few months between planning a wedding and setting up a new business without having to look after a four-year-old.”

  “Helen, it’s OK, I don’t mind having Kerry –” Laura began.

  “But you don’t care about what Laura has to contend with, do you, Helen?” Nicola went on as though Laura hadn’t spoken. “As long as she serves your purpose, you don’t give a damn. And she’s just too nice and too loyal a friend to tell you to stuff it. She’s too good to you and you and I both know you don’t deserve that.”

  “Anything else?” Helen said, her hand on her hip.

  “Well, now that you say it, yes there is. Kerry needs her mother’s attention, she needs you to help her with her speech, she needs you to listen to her. You know that – the speech therapist has advised what you need to do. But you don’t give a hoot about that, do you? You don’t believe in helping people, you’d just prefer to bury your head in the sand and pretend it isn’t happening.”

  Helen’s expression would have been same had Nicola slapped her across the face.

  “That’s not true … I try my best, you have no idea how hard I try but it just doesn’t work –”

  “It is true!” Nicola spoke over her. “That’s what you always do. You’re not there for Kerry, for your friends – anyone. Helen, we’ve all done our best for you over the years, and you’ve never been there for any of us. Quite the bloody opposite.”

  “Oh, I get it now,” Helen began, her eyes hardening. “Now I know exactly what you’re getting at. It’s all coming out now, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it certainly is.” Nicola felt like she was on a runaway train. She was on dangerous ground but couldn’t stop herself – she just wanted to catch the silly wagon and shake her.

  “Nicola, please calm down,” Laura beseeched.

  “No, Laura, let her speak, let good old Nicola get it over and done with,” Helen interjected, glaring at Nicola. “So come on then, while you’re at it, why not get it all off your chest, why not have a good old dig at me – you haven’t done it for ages so go on.” Now Helen was in full flight, her voice high and artificial. “I know you’re dying to bring it up, you’ve been dying to bring it up again for years so why the hell don’t you?”

  “Helen, please!” Laura implored.

  “Alright then, seeing as you asked me, seeing as you seem to take some kind of sick pleasure in hearing it, then I will tell you straight out. Do you think I’m stupid? I saw you with Neil earlier and you just can’t help yourself, can you? Old habits die hard!”

  Helen clapped her hands in fake applause and the two women stared angrily at one another. “That must have felt really good, did it, Nicola? All the old resentment coming home to roost. Just because I didn’t drop everything and come running when you wanted me to. Just because I made a mistake – a single, stupid mistake – something that could happen to anyone. Just because I wasn’t a candidate for best friend of the century. Then again,” she added bitterly, “I couldn’t possibly beat good old Laura for that particular prize.”

  “Don’t be so bloody stupid.”

  “For goodness sake, will you two stop it!”

  In shock, the two women spun around to see Laura standing there, tears in her eyes.

  “This is my home,” she pleaded, her hands held out in front of her. “This is my home.”

  For a long, long moment a tension-filled hush descended on the kitchen.

  Then Helen looked at Laura and her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, Laura, I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, we didn’t mean … you don’t know what we were – ”

  “What you were talking about?” Laura finished for her, her expression hard. “Of course I know what you were talking about, Helen. I’ve always known.”

  62

  “I’ve always known,” Laura repeated wearily slumping down on one of the kitchen chairs.

  Helen stood rooted to the spot, unable to meet her friend’s eyes.

  “Did you think really that Neil – my husband – would have hidden something like that from me? What kind of a sap do you think I am – both of you?”

  Nicola tried to make amends. “Laura, it was nothing, really. I saw the whole thing – it was a long time ago …”

  “I know,” Laura said wearily, her head in her hands. “I know all about it. Only unlike you two, Neil thought enough of me to tell me. What kind of a relationship did you think we had? Neil loves me; there was no way he would have kept it a secret from me. Helen, I’ve known since the very beginning.”

  Just then, the door from the dining-room opened softly and Neil popped his head around it. “Is everything okay, love?” he asked.

  Helen looked guardedly at him.

  “Everything’s fine,” Laura answered stonily, not taking her eyes off Helen.

  “Well look, the lads and myself might pop down to the loca
l – get out of your hair for a while, okay?” he said softly.

  “Okay,” his wife gave a tired nod as the door closed after him.

  Oh no, Nicola thought. She should have told Laura at the time. She wanted to but it wasn’t her place and she had been torn …

  63

  Nicola remembered the whole thing as clearly as though it happened yesterday. It was Christmas – not long after Jamie had abandoned Helen and six-month-old Kerry. Nicola was living in England at the time. She had come home to see her family, mostly to convince them she was doing OK, but also to attend a New Year’s Eve party at what had been Laura and Neil’s old rented house in Rathmines.

  There was quite a crowd, and everyone had been drinking heavily with the exception of Nicola, who that night was feeling particularly sorry for herself. New Year’s Eve was often a very lonely night for single people, especially newly separated single people. Laura went to bed early while Neil stayed up mingling with the guests.

  Despite her recent pregnancy, Helen looked absolutely stunning. She had a salon tan, and was wearing a jaw-droppingly sexy, gold, knitted dress, which clung to every curve and emphasised her newly flat stomach. Every inch the social butterfly, Helen flitted teasingly from one man to the other, flirting madly all night.

  Feeling a bit of a headache and deciding she might just go to bed early, Nicola made her way to Laura’s spare bedroom, trying to remember if she had left her overnight bag there or in the living-room upon her arrival earlier. The party was already beginning to break up and she suspected Helen might have left already, as she hadn’t seen her in a while. Nicola opened the bedroom door and, switching on the light, stopped short.

  There, on the bed, bodies moulded tightly together and kissing passionately, were Helen and Neil.

  “What the …?” Nicola couldn’t contain her anger. “What the hell do you two think you’re doing?”

  Eyes glazed, Neil sat up and, horrified, looked drunkenly at Nicola and then back to Helen. Immediately he pushed her off him. “Oh,” he gasped, “oh no, Nicola I … it’s not what you think … I would never –”