A Way Back Home: Full of warmth, laughter, tears and a wedding! (The Willow Tree Hall Series)

by Alison Sherlock

  ‘It’s not that,’ said Skye quickly. ‘They’re really lovely. But I can’t keep taking advantage of them like this.’

  Will was confused. ‘Like what?’

  ‘I’m eating their food, I’m staying out here and annoying you. I should be helping them out, not the other way round.’

  ‘But you would be helping them,’ he told her. ‘Look at it that you’re paying them back, if it makes you feel better. Or how about using some of those art skills that you seem to have? Unless that doesn’t interest you any more.’

  She frowned, mulling over his words. ‘It does. Of course it does. I’ve just never had the time to use them before now.’

  ‘You know what I think?’ he said. ‘I think you’ve spent your whole life taking care of your little sister and then Norman. You’ve sacrificed your skills and maybe even your dreams for everyone else. Maybe you can be selfish for a week or so and do something that you’d like to do for a change.’

  Skye sighed. ‘I don’t know how to be selfish.’

  Will let his hands drop from her shoulders. ‘Take it from someone who’s been selfish their whole life. I’ve done what I like with no consequences and no thought either as to how it impacts other people.’

  ‘You saved my life during the storm,’ she told him. ‘I wouldn’t call that selfish.’

  ‘And yet I let you stay in that freezing cold trailer when you should have been living in the lodge instead of me.’

  ‘That’s okay,’ she said.

  Will shook his head. ‘No, it’s not. But everything is going to change from now on. Look, they need you. Hell, I think I need you.’ He smiled softly at her. ‘I don’t know why and don’t ever make me say that again.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘I know I’m imposing on you,’ he carried on, interrupting her. ‘The family would understand if you’ve had enough and really don’t want to stay. And if that’s the case, I’ll drive you up to your sister’s. Okay?’

  Skye stared up at him, obviously still trying to make up her mind.

  ‘Try being selfish, for once,’ he told her. ‘Who knows, you might even enjoy it.’

  She eventually nodded her head.

  Will sighed and smiled at her. ‘That’s great. Thank you.’

  The relief flooded through him that the wedding might just be able to go ahead.

  But his smile faltered as he was aware how relieved he also was that Skye wouldn’t be leaving yet.

  30

  Skye woke up the following morning feeling both energised about helping out with the wedding preparations and nervous that she might just ruin the whole thing.

  She was equally anxious when she rang her sister and braced herself for what she had to tell her.

  ‘So, how’s the foot?’ asked Summer.

  ‘Good,’ said Skye, taking a deep breath. ‘Much better, actually. But that’s not why I’m calling. The family have asked me to stay on, possibly until after the wedding, which is New Year’s Eve.’

  She prepared herself for Summer to be upset. But instead, her sister replied, ‘I think that’s great.’

  ‘Don’t you want me to come up and stay with you?’ asked Skye, grimacing at how needy she sounded.

  ‘I want you to get a life of your own and not have to follow me round the country,’ said Summer in a pointed tone.

  ‘Well, I don’t have an actual life here,’ said Skye, trying not to feel hurt by her sister’s words. ‘It’s only a temporary thing whilst the lodge is done up and I help out with the wedding.’

  ‘That’s not what it sounds like, especially with your hunky lodge mate.’

  Skye frowned. ‘I never said he was hunky.’

  ‘You didn’t have to,’ said Summer, laughing. ‘I googled him. Go, sis! He’s a hottie!’

  Skye rolled her eyes. She didn’t need to be thinking about Will that way. Especially as she was still exchanging texts with Jamie.

  She spent most of the morning with Annie, helping out with cancelling various contractors for the wedding. They were back to square one without a wedding planner.

  ‘I have no idea where to start,’ Annie had told her. ‘But at least we’ve booked the church so I guess that’s all that matters.’

  Whilst Annie was on a particularly lengthy phone call, Skye wandered along the west wing and into the ballroom. She stood for a moment, counting around twenty paintings of various sizes. Their colours were almost impossible to discern, and the once gilded frames were now flaking and dull. Along with the cracked paint on the ceiling and the filthy wooden floor, it seemed to her an impossible task to get the whole place even remotely ready for a wedding on New Year’s Eve.

  Whilst deep in thought, Skye almost didn’t hear Annie and Rose come into the ballroom, followed close behind by a short, dark-haired man who strutted into the middle of the room before speaking.

  ‘Jeez, I’d forgotten how bad it was,’ he said, with a grimace. ‘This is where happy ever after comes to die.’

  Annie, who had been about to introduce him, spun round in horror. ‘Don’t say that! This is my wedding venue.’

  ‘Darling,’ he snapped back, rolling his eyes. ‘This is a UN disaster zone, not a place to hold the most glamorous wedding of the year.’

  ‘But…’ Annie’s voice trailed off and Skye could tell that she was biting her lip to stop crying.

  ‘Oh Lordy, don’t cry again,’ said the man, rushing over to give her a hug. ‘We’ll get Cinderella to the ball somehow.’ Over her shoulder, he focused dark brown eyes on Skye for the first time. ‘Love the hair, sweetheart. I take it you’re a My Little Pony fan.’

  Annie drew back to give the man a shove. ‘Alex!’ She spun round to look at Skye. ‘I’m sorry. Just ignore him. He’s rude to everyone.’

  ‘I’m not rude, I’m Italian,’ said Alex. ‘Besides, that was an actual compliment, I’ll have you know. Twilight Sparkle is my Tinder name.’

  Annie sighed. ‘Skye, this is our friend Alex.’

  So you’re the saviour of art and weddings, are you?’ said Alex.

  Skye grimaced. ‘Hardly.’

  Alex looked back around the room, narrowing his eyes. ‘You’ve got your work cut out to get this done in time.’

  ‘Skye will be fine,’ said Annie, in a bright tone of voice.

  Skye decided it was best not to say anything.

  ‘Listen, bridezilla,’ said Alex, going over to stand in front of Annie. ‘You’re going to have to get realistic regarding the wedding. Sam’s going to marry you and it’s going to be the happiest day on earth ever, but…’ He paused to give her a stern look. ‘You’re going to have to accept that it isn’t going to be perfect in here.’

  Annie looked downcast but nodded, sadly.

  ‘You wouldn’t be so desperate if you hadn’t hired that awful wedding planner that I told you not to,’ said Alex. ‘Can I say I told you so?’

  ‘You can say what you like if you’ve got any ideas what on earth we’re going to do now,’ said Annie in despair. ‘We’ve lost all our deposits so have got hardly anything left to spend.’

  ‘I didn’t like her ideas anyway,’ said Rose with a sniff.

  Alex nodded. ‘It did seem a bit OTT. All velvet and dark colours. Too gothic for my taste.’

  ‘But it’s not your wedding,’ said Rose, gently.

  ‘That’s what you think,’ said Alex, with a cackle. ‘Okay, okay. Lemme think for a second.’ He did a slow 360-degree turn around the room. ‘Well, let’s try to focus on the positive. The floorboards are good. They just need a decent polish.’

  ‘We can do that,’ said Annie.

  ‘I can get my decorators in to give the walls a fresh coat of paint. If your friend here can get the paintings done then they will look better,’ said Alex, nodding his approval. ‘The trouble is, I just don’t know how you can decorate it when it’s already so ornate.’

  Skye opened her mouth to speak but closed it quickly before anyone noticed. They had obviously brought Alex in
to salvage the mess so she didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.

  ‘We’ll think of something,’ said Alex, with a sigh. ‘Now, I seem to remember being promised lunch?’

  They all headed back to the kitchen where Will and Sam were getting themselves a drink. So they sat at the table whilst Annie made some sandwiches.

  ‘The contractors have started on the water leak,’ said Sam, reaching across the table to help himself to some crisps.

  Annie rolled her eyes. ‘It’s going to look a bit of a mess on the driveway for a while,’ she said.

  ‘But at least you’ll be able to flush the toilet,’ snapped Alex. ‘So stop worrying and get thinking as to how you two would like your wedding reception to look. We haven’t got long.’

  Sam’s handful of crisps faltered on its way to his mouth. ‘That’s your department,’ he said, looking at his fiancée as she sat down next to him. ‘I haven’t got an artistic bone in my body.’

  ‘Yes, I remember your efforts in art class,’ drawled Alex.

  ‘But can’t we just use my wedding planner’s ideas?’ said Annie. ‘I mean, it’s not like she’ll know, will she?’

  Alex shook his head. ‘They were awful, sweetie. Like something out of Phantom of the Opera.’

  There was a long silence. Skye privately agreed with Alex but couldn’t say anything to Annie that would upset her. Then she realised that Will was looking at her, as if recalling something.

  ‘Where’s that sketchbook?’ he asked.

  Skye was stunned. She thought he wouldn’t have remembered knocking it onto the floor when he had been hungover. Besides, that had been quite a while ago and he hadn’t mentioned it since.

  ‘What sketchbook?’ asked Alex, immediately alert.

  Skye shook her head at Will. ‘I don’t think that will help,’ she told him quietly.

  ‘What sketchbook?’ repeated Alex.

  ‘It’s nothing,’ she muttered. They were just some silly drawings. Why was Will bringing this up now in front of everyone?

  ‘I disagree,’ said Will in a firm tone.

  ‘I swear to God if someone doesn’t tell me about this sketchbook soon I’m gonna bust through my botox!’ said Alex, banging his can of Diet Coke down on the kitchen table.

  ‘Why don’t you go and get it?’ said Will.

  With everyone staring at her, Skye finally got up from the table and went back to the lodge. After pulling the sketchbook out of her bedside drawer, she stood staring down at it for a few minutes, wondering how she could dare show anyone the contents. But she knew that Will wouldn’t give up about them so she really had no choice.

  She hesitated before returning to the kitchen, by now her cheeks were glowing with embarrassment at being the centre of attention.

  ‘They were only some ideas I had,’ she said, slowly drawing out her sketchbook from under her coat as she made her way back into the room.

  But before she could go on, Alex had snatched the book from her and was flicking through the pages. Rose and Annie looked over his shoulder and then all three of them looked up at Skye.

  ‘This is good,’ said Alex. ‘Really good. And I should know as I’m one of the best interior designers the world has ever seen.’

  ‘And the most modest,’ added Will in a smooth tone.

  But it was Annie who was looking wide-eyed at the drawings. ‘This is beautiful,’ she said, looking a bit teary. ‘Such a contrast to the original ideas we were given.’

  ‘Much better, as well,’ said Alex, nodding his approval. ‘Talk us through it.’

  Still blushing, Skye sat down next to him. She gently removed the sketchbook from his hands and flicked back to the first page. ‘I just thought that the ballroom walls were beautiful enough without the need for much more,’ she said, with a slight stammer. ‘So, to go with all that gold, I thought that the remaining colours should be much softer. I was thinking of white to contrast, some rose gold touches here and there. So that it softens the overall effect.’

  ‘Fabulous!’ cooed Rose.

  ‘Sounds expensive,’ said Annie, looking worried.

  Skye shook her head. ‘No, it doesn’t have to be. There are so many ways of decorating that hardly cost anything. That’s how I did the Airstream.’

  ‘We must take a look inside it,’ said Rose.

  ‘Right after lunch,’ said Annie, nodding her head. ‘What else?’

  ‘We can buy lots of white candles in bulk, so they’ll be cheaper,’ Skye told them. Feeling more confident, she found she couldn’t stop talking now. ‘There are so many branches in the woods that have come off the trees that we can dry and then spray in a pale gold perhaps. You can then wrap fairy lights around them. Sparkly but cheap.’

  ‘Glamorous but subtle,’ said Rose, nodding.

  Skye carried on. ‘You could also buy some white tealights and put them in old jam jars or vases. We could spray them. I’ve done that before. It’s quite simple to do.’

  Annie was nodding. ‘This sounds wonderful for the ballroom which we were going to use for dancing, but what about the marquee? We’ve had to cancel it.’

  ‘Meh!’ said Alex with a shrug. ‘It would have been freezing cold out there anyway. Have the dining tables set up in the entrance hall. We can eat in there. Much easier and a fabulous setting with the chandelier anyway. We can wrap fairy lights around the stairs.’

  ‘With lots of candles in jam jars on each step,’ added Skye, warming to the idea now.

  ‘Some of the bigger sprayed branches either side,’ said Alex, his eyes gleaming at the possibility.

  ‘We could even have a few small tree stumps with shallow glass bowls full of floating candles in them,’ said Skye.

  ‘So we bring some of the grounds inside as well,’ said Alex, clapping his hands with glee. ‘This is wonderful. Soft green, the brown of the bark and lots of white twinkly stuff everywhere.’

  Skye was also nodding.

  They both turned to gauge Annie’s reaction but Skye needn’t have worried. Tears were pouring down Annie’s face but she was grinning widely.

  ‘It sounds wonderful,’ she said, between happy sobs. ‘I’m so glad that we’re poor!’

  ‘Yes, well, let’s not go that far,’ said Sam, laughing. ‘I have to agree though. It sounds amazing.’

  Skye looked at Will who was also smiling and nodding his approval at her.

  ‘Now that you’re part of the family, can I at least call you Pinkie Pie?’ asked Alex, giving Skye a playful nudge with his elbow.

  She shook her head. ‘Not if you want me to talk to you ever again.’

  But he was smiling and she realised that he was joking.

  She was also thinking how much work was going to be involved, but she found herself thrilled that, for the time being at least, she would be using her artistic skills to help the family. And how nice it was to feel involved and needed once more.

  31

  After lunch, Sam and Will headed back to their work whilst the wedding plans continued in a flurry of excitement. Even more so now that Megan and Eleanor had been drafted in for an emergency meeting.

  ‘You know, I did think that I’d never even seen you in purple, let alone design your whole wedding around the colour,’ said Eleanor, flicking through Skye’s sketchbook. ‘This looks beautiful. Much more you.’

  Annie shrugged her shoulders. ‘I just thought that if that wedding planner had created all those amazing weddings for so many famous people, then ours would look good too.’

  ‘Style doesn’t have to cost loads of money, does it?’ Eleanor looked at Skye.

  ‘No, it doesn’t,’ said Skye.

  ‘And we must remember that it’s only for one day,’ said Rose. ‘The wedding is important, don’t get me wrong. But it’s what comes afterwards that really counts.’

  Annie smiled at her. ‘I know.’

  ‘Yeah, but let’s still make the day look amazing,’ said Megan.

  ‘Absolutely!’ said Rose, grinning.

/>   ‘Right, let’s break down the original ideas from your list,’ said Megan, who appeared to be the organised one and had a copy of the wedding planner’s ideas. ‘Candelabras, it says here.’

  ‘We were going to have at least two on every table,’ Annie told her.

  ‘We’d have died underneath all that candle wax,’ snapped Alex, looking across at Skye. ‘What shall we have instead?’

  Skye thought for a moment. ‘You know, I’ve seen centrepieces that were sprayed wine bottles. I’ve got a picture somewhere.’ She took the scrapbook and flicked through the pages. ‘Here we are. Look, they’ve grouped together three bottles. One in gold, one in rose gold and one in gold glitter.’

  There came a collective ‘oooh’ from around the table.

  ‘I like it,’ said Alex. ‘And we shall have enormous fun emptying all those bottles as well.’

  ‘That can be my job,’ said Rose, with a wink.

  ‘What about those cream roses?’ said Megan, looking through the list.

  ‘Hay fever in December probably,’ said Alex. ‘I like the sprayed branches idea. More funky. Less Kardashian.’

  ‘Who wants to cover up that ballroom anyway with a wall of flowers,’ said Eleanor. ‘It’s beautiful. Or it will be.’

  ‘Hopefully,’ muttered Skye.

  ‘What about the food?’ asked Rose.

  ‘Canapés, then starters, main course of roast beef and then dessert plus wedding cake,’ read Megan. ‘I’m getting IBS just thinking about it.’

  ‘Lose the starters,’ said Eleanor. ‘We can all stuff ourselves on canapés until dinner. And I’m talking sausage rolls and decent stuff. Not those filo pastry frou-frou things that don’t touch the hunger.’

  Annie was nodding. ‘I agree. So canapés and then roast beef.’

  ‘And lose the dessert,’ said Rose, to everyone’s surprise. ‘We’ll just have wedding cake.’

  ‘Perfect!’ said Megan.

  But Annie made a face. ‘It’s just that the cake was going to be seven tiers of chocolate and lavender and…’ She took a deep breath. ‘Okay. Too much, I know. What shall we do instead?’

  ‘I know!’ said Rose. ‘Lovely Beryl, our ex cook. She’s making Christmas cakes every single day at the minute. Intended to sell most of them at the Christmas market, although heaven knows if that will go ahead now. We’ll use those instead.’