Dangerous Shadows

by Whitelaw, Stella

  “Thank you so much,” said Holly. “I was wondering how I would manage on the plane!”

  “It will be perfectly packed. No worries.”

  Nothing for herself. She did not want a souvenir of these few weeks in Barbados. If she got home safely and in one piece, she would be lucky.

  Danielle was wandering about like a lost soul. Her wedding was only twenty-four hours away now but she did not look that happy. She was chewing on her nails, twisting her angel curls, sighing and flopping about on chairs. There was nothing to do now. A manicurist was coming to do her nails in gold.

  The caterers had already delivered all the equipment for tomorrow, gold chairs and tables, pristine clothes, glass and plate ware, cutlery. The food would be delivered the following morning. Lily and the kitchen staff were already moaning about the onslaught on their kitchen space.

  “We cannot move,” said the cook, wailing. “It’s an invasion.”

  “It’ll soon be over,” said Holly, more to herself than Lily. “Only one day.”

  “I still do your hair?”

  “Yes, please, Lily. I shall need you.”

  “I do your hair very nice with white flowers from the garden. I’ll pick them fresh. Would you like that?”

  “Lovely, thank you.”

  *

  Luke arrived unexpectedly mid-afternoon. He also looked distracted. He cadged a cold drink from the kitchen and wandered into the room where Holly was doing the service sheets.

  “So, almost ready?” he said. “Nearly signed and sealed.” He picked up a sheet and began reading it. “What a lot of words for a small service.”

  “They are important words,” said Holly. “They mean a lot to the couple who are getting married.”

  “I suppose so. It depends on the couple, doesn’t it?”

  Holly didn’t know what to make of his remark. It was ambiguous. She had decided to leave Barbados the moment the marriage service was over. She would not wait for the speeches or the reception for the happy couple. She would order a taxi and spend the night in a hotel in Bridgetown. There were plenty of small hotels where she could wait for her flight home.

  Then it was back to work at the modelling agency. She was looking forward to some normality. The last few days had been fraught with drama. She would not want to live through them again.

  “Have you come to see Danielle?”

  “Yes, of course. And to say good-bye to you, Holly. I may not get a chance tomorrow. We’ll be flying off to our honeymoon in the Seychelles right after the reception. I wanted to thank you for everything that you have done for Danielle and myself. You’ve been wonderful.”

  Holly didn’t want to be wonderful. She wanted to be needed and loved. But she managed a smile because it was Luke.

  “Always your little slave,” she said facetiously.

  “ Have you opened my little gift for you?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Remember that it comes with a lot of love and affection. I shall always care for you, Holly.”

  She could not look at him. It was not what she wanted to hear but it would have to do. She would pick up crumbs of love and treasure them.

  Luke did not stay for supper. He said he had work to do before he took two weeks off for their honeymoon. Danielle clung to him in the hallway. She did not want him to go but he prized her off.

  “I have to go, sweetheart,” he said gently. “Work doesn’t come to a halt because I’m getting married.”

  “But I need you here,” she wailed. “I want you to stay.”

  “I’ll be here tomorrow,” he promised. “On time, sweetheart. I’ll be wearing the right clothes, even the brocade waistcoat you have ordered.”

  Holly heard his Land Rover driving away. The sound would remain in her memory for ever. He was driving out of her life and into the future with Danielle.

  Lily served a simple, cold salad supper on the patio. Danielle picked at the food. Her appetite had gone. Perhaps all brides suffered these pre-wedding nerves.

  Holly was calmer now. She was almost on her way home. Her case was packed. She would change out of the bridesmaids dress into travelling clothes. She had put a jersey into her hand luggage because it would be cold when they landed at Heathrow. Cold, wet and dreary, so different to Barbados.

  Danielle was chewing on her lower lip and she was drinking rum-punch as if a water shortage was imminent. She jabbed at her salad with a fork.

  “I don’t know how to tell you this, Holly,” she said. “Everything is going wrong. My beautiful wedding is going down the drain. My life is one awful mess.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t expect this to happen. I didn’t plan anything like this to happen. I thought everything was perfect with Luke and I love him, I really do. He’ll be so hurt and upset.”

  “Why will he be upset? What’s happened?”

  “I’ve fallen in love with someone else, really fallen in love, madly, deeply. And I can’t live without him. I can’t marry Luke, never, ever. I’ll have to cancel everything. I’ll be the laughing stock of Barbados. No one will invite me to anything ever again.”

  Holly sat rigid in her chair, the shock hitting her. Danielle was going to jilt Luke. Luke was going to be free. She could barely take it in.

  “Tell me,” she said, calm and efficient once again. “What are you talking about, Danielle? Start right at the beginning.”

  *

  Jake breathed a sigh of relief. He’d done right holding onto the business card given him by Holly’s friend. He’d given him a call and been bailed out this morning on a $10,000 bond. Barry Armitage was too generous, trusting a complete stranger, probably thought it was all a mistake. The court date was being arranged but Jake planned to be off the island long before then.

  The night in HMP Dodds had not been easy. He was the only European among a lot of local small-time thieves. He had hardly slept. Someone stole his panama hat.

  There was no one to meet him outside the prison gates. They’d given him breakfast, some sort of oatmeal gruel. He hitched a ride back to Bridgetown from St Philips in a van. Now it was time to find Holly Gray and put her away for good. She didn’t know that Scotland Yard had been round to Sadie’s flat, doing some checking up, wanting a character statement from Holly.

  He’d been a fool, presenting those cheques. But the idiot owner had signed the cheques in advance. Jake only had to change the payee name to his own, scribble an initial, and he’d walked away with a pocketful.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Holly took a deep breath and another drink of her chilled paw-paw juice. This was certainly a bomb shell. “Does this person feel the same way about you?” she asked carefully, hesitantly.

  “Yes, absolutely. He’s fallen in love with me. It was love at first sight, maybe second sight. He wants to marry me. It’s the same for me. He said so this morning. He wants me to forget about the beach wedding and elope with him. Catch a plane, a taxi, anything. Go somewhere exotic together.”

  “You saw him today?”

  “And last night after Luke had gone. He came round to the house, very late, couldn’t wait to see me. You had gone to bed. We want to be together all the time. I can’t bear to be apart from him.”

  “So who is this wonderful person that you can’t bear to be apart from?” Holly knew that she did not sound sympathetic but it was hard when she knew how much this was going to affect Luke and his plans.

  “It’s Barry, of course! Barry Armitage, the Olympic gold medallist, the most fabulous man in the whole wide world. He took the Olympics by storm, he broke world records. He’ll go down in the history books. I love him to distraction. I’ll die if I don’t marry him,” Danielle added in a trembling voice. “Truly, I’ll die.”

  Barry Armitage, the best man, a man she had only known for two weeks, only met a few times before then. But this week it had been rather different, it seemed. They had been out together often.

  Holly took another deep breath, thinking of all the preparations, o
f everything that would have to be cancelled. But more than the cancellations, how would it affect Luke? He might be distraught, rush off to the other end of the world, make some documentary in Borneo or Easter Island. Had Danielle given any thought to how this would affect Luke?

  “And Barry will make a wonderful father,” Danielle went on. “That he’s a few years younger than me is a bonus really. And he’ll pass on brilliant genes to my son. My children will inherit all his talent. They may even become famous athletes themselves. Who knows? I’m over the moon.”

  Holly looked at her cousin, hardly believing what she was hearing. This was her cousin, an empty-headed woman she hardly recognized.

  “Then marry him, Danielle. Why not simply swap grooms?” Holly knew it sounded flippant, her voice hard and uncaring. Would anyone notice? Would the pastor notice? “It’s only a different name. You should both go into Bridgetown and get the right paperwork, the licence, at the Ministry of Home Affairs or wherever. I believe you don’t have to give advance notice in Barbados. Have your wedding with Barry as your groom. It could still be your special day.”

  There was a stunned silence. Only the birds twittered their approval. They hopped from branch to branch, bright eyes blinking.

  Holly made it sound almost like a joke. She did not know if she was serious or not. She had spoken without thinking. She could go home now. Almost immediately. She would welcome going back to work with Zoe.

  Danielle looked at her, on the verge of disbelieving. “You mean I could still wear my spectacular wedding dress and you would still be my bridesmaid? We could have the reception and all the same guests here? Oh Holly, what a wonderful idea. You are a genius. Everything is ready, the reception, the guest list.” Danielle’s face was lit with radiance through her tears. “No one will notice a change of name, the groom’s name, will they? I mean, hardly anyone in Barbados knows Luke. He’s from the States, always flying off somewhere. It’s my wedding.”

  “Luke will notice. After all, he’s expecting to be the groom. It’s his wedding, too,” Holly said, trying to make Danielle show some responsibility.

  Danielle’s face fell again. She plucked at her hair. “Someone has to tell Luke. How can I tell him? I haven’t the courage. I can’t tell him that I love someone else and that I don’t want to marry him anymore.”

  Her lace handkerchief was damp with tears. She began dabbing her eyes again, careful not to smudge the mascara. “This is all a terrible mess,” she whispered. “But I can’t marry Luke, Holly, I really can’t.”

  Holly put down her glass with extra care. Maybe fate had sent her all this way for this very purpose. “I’ll tell him. Isn’t it one of the bridesmaid’s duties? To tell the groom of any imminent change of plan? Isn’t that what bridesmaids are for?”

  It was as if a cloud lifted from Danielle’s face. She was all radiance again, bright and bubbly. Almost beautiful.

  Danielle flung her arms round Holly, knocking the breath out of her cousin. “You always think of everything, my darling cousin. You’re the best bridesmaid in the whole world, Holly. I love you so much. It’s going to be a wonderful day. My real wedding to the only man I love.”

  *

  Holly sat on the front steps waiting for Luke to arrive back at Tiger Bay Plantation House. She felt sure he would be there to share a pre-wedding supper with Danielle before the wedding day. Lily said a special supper was being prepared for the two of them. She said something about Pumpkin Fritters and Crab Sauce for starters, which sounded delicious.

  She heard his Land Rover bumping over the ruts in the drive. She did not relish the task ahead. How do you tell a man that he had been jilted, on the eve of his wedding? Maybe she should have let Danielle do her own dirty work. She didn’t deserve to get away with letting Luke down and riding off into the sunset with his best man.

  But Holly knew that Danielle was not the right wife for Luke. He needed someone who would take an interest in his work and not only his bank balance. His survival tomorrow depended on how much he loved Danielle, and if he could cope with the publicity of a heart broken in public.

  Luke parked the Land Rover in the shade of a big palm tree and climbed out, not bother to open the door. He waved at her.

  “Hello, Holly. This is a nice welcome. I don’t usually merit a welcoming committee. I usually have to go and find Danielle on the patio or down on the beach.”

  “I don’t know where Danielle is,” Holly said. “I think she has gone out.”

  “What is it this time? Nails, hair, teeth?”

  “Feet, I think,” said Holly, realising that this comment might be far too obscure for Luke. “She’s doing some walking.”

  “How unusual. Danielle rarely walks anywhere. Well, it gives us a chance to have a talk and a drink together before you fly back to England. Do you really have to go? You could stay on here at Tiger Bay for as long as you like. The house is yours.”

  “That’s very kind, Luke,” said Holly. “But I do have a job that I like and I would hate to let Zoe down.”

  “As loyal as always,” he grinned, unbuttoning his jacket, loosening his tie. “ I’ll never forget that summer we had together when I was working in London. It was one of the best.”

  “One of the best.” It was an inadequate remark. Those weeks had been magical for Holly. The memories were as sharp as diamonds as if the stars had melted into her hands.

  “I’ll get Lily to bring us out some cold drinks. Would you like them here on the veranda or down on the patio?”

  He looked tired, almost too tired to be an ardent groom. Everyone seemed to forget he had been working with little time off. He finished loosening his tie and pulled it off, rolling it into a ball. “Anywhere will do,” he said.

  “There’s a little seat half way down the path that leads to the beach. It’ll be in the shade and quite private. I need to talk to you in private.”

  “How very mysterious, Holly. Are you going to tell me that you have fallen for a handsome Barbadian waiter and you are going to live here forever in a beach hut, living off coconuts and rum-punch?”

  “Not quite,” she found him one of her smiles. “But there are some similar elements.”

  He laughed, quite relaxed now after a few minutes in her company. Holly had the gift of making him feel at ease with the world. And he needed to relax this evening, the last oasis of calm before the momentous day.

  “I’ll get the drinks and save Lily carrying a tray down those steps.”

  He returned carrying a tray of drinks and a dish of fruit and nuts. He had shed his jacket now, was looking cool and composed.

  “Lily has made us plum rum-punch with fruit from the orchard. Not too strong, she said to me, because of tomorrow. She’s ordering me about now. Every woman I know orders me about. Even the cook said I had to eat supper.”

  Holly smiled. “I think Lily is in charge of tomorrow. She’ll enjoy it, despite all the extra work. She’s going to do my hair.”

  Luke poured out two long drinks, handed one to Holly, and held up his glass in a toast.

  “To the most lovely bridesmaid,” he said. “Always perfect in my eyes. Have you opened my little gift yet?”

  Holly shook her head. “I’m going to open it on the plane on my way home. It’ll be something nice to look forward to. I’m sure I will like it. Thank you. A lovely thought.”

  “Aren’t you going to toast me? You know, to the handsome groom or something like that? Although perhaps to a dead-tired groom might be more appropriate.”

  Holly knew she had to say something. It was now or never. Her courage was ebbing away even with the special rum-punch to bolster her courage.

  “I have a very unusual toast to make,” she said unsteadily. “To Luke Kenyon, the wonderful groom who isn’t going to be the groom, unfortunately. To the groom who was to be but now has to hear some bad news, news he might not want to hear,” she added.

  “What on earth are you talking about, Holly? This isn’t like you, to talk in ri
ddles. What are you trying to say?” He sounded impatient.

  Holly put down her glass and took his hand. It was cold from holding the icy glass. “Danielle doesn’t want to marry you tomorrow. She wants to marry someone else. I know it’s unforgivable but better to know now rather than when it’s too late,” she finished.

  His hand gripped hers, staring into her eyes. “Do you mean Danielle’s jilting me? Not quite at the altar but pretty close by.”

  “I’m sorry, Luke. It must be terrible for you. She’s fallen in love with someone else and wants to marry him.”

  “And when is Danielle going to marry this new paramour?” He sounded grim. He turned away, drinking the rum punch, wishing it was twice as strong.

  “Tomorrow. I know it sounds odd but the wedding is going ahead as planned, only Danielle has changed grooms. She’s hoping that no one will notice.”

  Luke was shaking. At first Holly thought he was shaking with grief or trying to hide his tears, but then she realised he was shaking with laughter.

  “This is so typically Danielle,” he grinned, shaking his head. “You mean, she’s swapping grooms at the last minute? Well, I hope this one is the right choice. So who’s the lucky man? Do I know him?”

  “It’s Barry Armitage. Your best man. I’m really sorry, Luke. I know that it must hurt. But apparently they have fallen in love.”

  “Barry? She couldn’t have chosen a better man.” He took a deep breath, finished his drink. “He’s great, probably better suited for Danielle than me. And he won’t put up with any nonsense. He has a mind of his own. Hurt? Yes, I suppose my pride is hurt but to be truthful, I was never quite sure that I was the right person for Danielle. I thought she would be good for me, help me to unwind, relax a bit, encourage me to take some time off. But I think marriage to Danielle would have been like living on a roller coaster, at high speed, up and down all the time.”

  “So you are not desperately upset?” Holly asked warily.