‘It won’t make up for it completely though, will it?’ Marie asked.
‘Leave it, Marie,’ Ed said.
Izzy shook her head. ‘No, Ed, she’s right. It won’t make up for it, but we’re hoping that the beautiful setting at the manor will be good publicity for us and might help us get bookings for future events.’ She looked from Marie to Ed. ‘Do you think the Seigneur could be persuaded to take further bookings, or is he still only willing to allow this wedding to take place up there?’
Ed moved from one foot to the other. ‘I’m not sure. I’d like him to reconsider and agree to make the most of the manor, but he’s stubborn.’
‘It’s a shame,’ said Marie. ‘I’d love it. It can get a little boring working at the manor sometimes and I’d love to maybe do some of the catering.’ She looked up at Ed, giving him some sort of message Izzy wasn’t a party to. ‘After all, that’s what I’m trained to do, isn’t it?’
Izzy wasn’t sure why this information surprised her, but for some reason she’d simply thought that Marie’s job entailed looking after the house in some way. ‘You’re a chef?’
Marie nodded. ‘Trained in Paris, it’s how we met.’
Izzy could feel her eyes widening but was unable to hide her surprise. ‘Oh, I hadn’t realized.’ She looked up at Ed. He shifted his weight on to the other foot. Why was he so uncomfortable discussing this, she wondered?
‘Yes, I was staying with Roman in Paris and he persuaded me to go out with him and his then girlfriend and Marie.’ He looked down at Marie and smiled at the memory. ‘He thought we would get along well because we were both fluent in English.’
Marie laughed. ‘I can speak French, though, and was there to learn the language more thoroughly as well as training to become a chef.’
‘So, how long were you together?’ Izzy asked. There, she’d said it. Now he had to talk about it whether he liked it or not.
Ed stared at her for a moment before speaking. ‘Two, or three years, wasn’t it Marie?’
‘Yes, not too long, but it was fun while it lasted.’
They both laughed at the in-joke.
Izzy frowned. She opened her mouth to speak. ‘But …’ she began, tempted to ask him why they’d split up if they’d had so much fun together.
‘Izzy,’ bellowed Jess from a few yards away. ‘Come here, quickly.’ She waved her over frantically. ‘Hurry up.’
Izzy groaned. She looked up at Ed and could see an unmistakeable twinkle in his eye at this reprieve. She wished she’d discovered more, but when Jess shouted for her again, she rolled her eyes heavenward and went to move away. ‘I suppose I’d better get over there and see what she wants.’
Marie smiled. ‘We’ll catch up with you later.’
Izzy hurried as fast as the soft golden sand would let her to Jess’s side. ‘What did you do that for?’ she asked, irritated with her noisy friend.
‘What’s the matter with you? I thought you’d want to hear this.’
‘Go on then,’ Izzy said, trying to hide her annoyance. She hoped she’d get another chance to speak to Ed, but glancing over her shoulder in his direction, noticed that Lacey, her mum, and a few aunts had circled him, looking very determined, and it didn’t seem as if they had any intention of leaving him for a bit.
‘This is Jack’s brother,’ Jess said.
Izzy held out her hand and shook the tanned one being proffered to her.
‘I’m Dan,’ he said.
‘Good to meet you, Dan,’ Izzy said, still not sure why Jess had dragged her away from Ed to introduce her to this handsome man. ‘Are you the best man?’
He nodded. ‘Yes, and I’m terrified as hell. I still haven’t worked out what to say for my speech and Jess thought you might be able to give me some pointers.’
‘Me?’ She glared at Jess who seemed very pleased with herself for some reason. ‘I’m not sure how though.’
Jess nudged her. ‘Why not? You’re great at knowing what to say and the poor guy needs help. She’s being modest.’ She smiled at Dan. ‘She’s very good at speeches, and if she can’t come up with the goods I don’t know who else can.’
‘Great,’ Dan beamed at Izzy. ‘Can we maybe meet up for a coffee tomorrow and go through what I’ve drafted so far?’
‘Well, I …’ This was a blatant lie; she’d never written a speech in her life, and Jess was clearly trying to set her up with him. She was about to say no when Dan spoke again.
‘Please,’ he said. ‘I’m desperate.’ He looked over at Lacey, laughing loudly at something Ed had said. ‘She’ll kill me if I don’t come up with something. When I asked Jack for help, he said he had too many other things to do.’
Izzy couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. She could only imagine how much of a nightmare it had been for them all since the fire at the Encore had put paid to their original plans. ‘OK, I’ll do it,’ she said. ‘But I really don’t have any experience, whatever Jess might have insinuated.’
‘Maybe not, but you’ve done enough weddings, so you must have heard loads of speeches.’
Put like that, how could she refuse? ‘I’ve got a busy few days, so shall we say nine at St Catherine’s tomorrow? I’ll have a think tonight and see what I can come up with.’ She tried to recollect what she’d heard other best men saying in their speeches. ‘You’ll need some anecdotes.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘Clean ones, mind.’
‘Great stuff.’ He gave her a hug. ‘I really appreciate this, Izzy. We’ll have breakfast, on me.’
‘No problem,’ she said, not looking in Jess’s direction but aware her friend was amused by this scenario. ‘It’ll have to be a quick breakfast though because I really have a lot on this week.’
‘You’re brilliant. Thanks, girls.’
They watched him go and as soon as he was out of earshot, Izzy glared at Jess. ‘What did you go and do that for?’
Jess looked nonplussed. ‘I thought you’d like him. He’s hot, don’t you think?’
Was she serious? Didn’t she realize how much work they had on over the next few days? ‘I honestly didn’t notice, Jess.’
Jess looked bemused. ‘Listen, whether you admit it or not, I can see you’ve got the hots for Ed and by the looks of things he’s got the hots for that housekeeper woman, Marie. So, there’s no harm is showing him what he’s missing and spending a little time with the best man, now is there?’ She winked slowly at Izzy. ‘Especially as he’s tasty. Hey, imagine how delicious he’s going to look dressed in a morning suit.’
Izzy barely managed to refrain from telling her friend exactly what she thought and if they hadn’t been in public and surrounded by clients then she would have done so, in no uncertain terms. ‘You can be so bloody irritating sometimes, do you know that?’ she said quietly through gritted teeth. ‘Just don’t do it again, OK?’
‘Fine, I won’t.’ Jess sniggered. ‘Unless you don’t get a move on and stop wasting your time mooning over the count.’
‘Food’s ready,’ Lacey’s dad shouted, saving Jess from an earful.
Lacey’s dad waved his metal tongs in the air, looking very proud of himself. ‘Grab a plate and then line up for some of the best nosh this side of France.’
Izzy and Jess picked up a plate each and stood in line. The food did look mouth-wateringly good and she was looking forward to tasting it. Lacey’s mum pointed to a picnic table with salads, baguettes, and cheese on it. They waited their turn and were treated to a delicious-looking chicken breast each.
‘Come on, let’s go and sit over here,’ Jess suggested, making her way over to several rugs that had been placed in a semi-circle on the outskirts of the barbequing area. ‘This family know how to organize a beach party, don’t they?’
Izzy popped a cherry tomato into her mouth and nodded. It was delicious. She sat down next to Jess and kicked off her flip-flops.
‘That was pretty insensitive when you tried to set me up with Dan just then,’ she said, unable to mask her irritation with her
friend.
Jess frowned, her hand stopping mid-air on its way to lifting a small Jersey Royal into her mouth. ‘Sorry, I just thought it was time you tried seeing someone else,’ she said, biting off one half of the tiny potato and eating it. ‘You need to forget about Ed and meet someone who you can feel as much for as you did David. But I didn’t mean to upset you.’
Izzy believed her. After all, hadn’t Jess been the one who’d pushed her to do all the things that had eventually culminated in her coming to terms with David’s loss? ‘I know,’ she said. ‘But please don’t do it again.’
Jess stared at her briefly. ‘I won’t,’ she said eating the rest of her potato.
Izzy closed her eyes. Just like all their arguments over the years, as soon as the issue had been dealt with, they moved on. This was just what they needed, she decided, forgetting her annoyance as her toes wriggled in the warm, soft sand.
They were halfway through their plates of food when Ed and Marie came over. ‘Hi, ladies, mind if we join you?’ she asked sitting down before they had a chance to reply.
Izzy looked up and saw Ed looking uncertainly at the sand where they were sitting, and then at his laden plate. ‘Let me take that for you,’ she suggested, reaching out for it. ‘We don’t want you spilling that lovely steak.’
‘No, we don’t,’ he laughed.
For someone who rode a horse with such lightness and grace, he really could be quite cumbersome, Izzy thought with amusement as he struggled to sit down. It was good to know that Ed wasn’t perfect at everything.
‘Thanks,’ he said, when he was finally down. ‘I’m starving.’
Marie shook her head. ‘There’s nothing graceful about you, Ed,’ she teased. ‘Do you know that?’
Izzy laughed to hear Marie echoing her own thoughts.
‘He’s too big to be light-footed,’ Jess said trying to spear a piece of sweetcorn with the prongs of her plastic fork.
‘Er, he is here,’ Ed said. ‘And if you must know, he can be light on his feet when he needs to be.’
Izzy laughed. ‘Poor you, do you feel outnumbered?’
‘Never.’ He smiled at her cheekily.
Ed shook his head and took a mouthful of steak, eating quietly as Marie chatted about the beach party and how it had been too long since she’d last been to one.
They were interrupted by a loud cheer as a couple Izzy vaguely recognised walked over.
‘You came,’ Lacey shouted, running over to greet them. ‘Look, Jack, it’s Bea and Luke.’
Jack ran over, beer in hand, to put his arm around Lacey. ‘Where did you park? It’s packed up there.’
‘We came in Luke’s boat,’ Bea said. ‘We’ve been making the most of this glorious weather and sailing round the island.’
‘Which is why we’re a bit late,’ Luke laughed. He held up a bag for Jack. ‘Here are a few mackerel, caught about an hour ago.’
‘Brilliant,’ said Jack looking delighted. He took the bag, peeked inside to inspect the contents and nodded. ‘I’ll take these over to her dad, he’ll be stoked to have them.’
Ed got up and headed over to the new arrivals. ‘Hey, guys, I didn’t expect you two to be here. Good to see you.’
Izzy watched the tall men. They both had wavy hair and powerful physiques, but Ed was clean-shaven, unlike Luke, who still looked like he’d rather spend time fishing than battling with a razor. ‘Remember how nervous we were when we took on the planning for Luke and Bea’s wedding,’ Jess said.
‘Yes,’ Izzy said, remembering how grateful they’d been to Bea and Luke for letting them arrange the reception for their wedding. ‘Our first professional wedding.’ She recalled the chaos of the mislaid linen and their disorganisation. ‘We learnt a lot from that day.’
Bea laughed. ‘I’ll bet you did.’
‘Blimey, he’s still as tasty as ever,’ Jess whispered when Bea walked off to speak to the others.
Izzy had to agree. Luke was lovely to look at, certainly, but by his long glances at Bea whenever she spoke he was still very much besotted with her. She was pleased. She’d love for someone to look at her in that way. An image of Ed doing just that popped into her mind.
‘Are you daydreaming about him, Izzy?’ Marie teased.
‘What? Of course not. I was …’ She stopped herself just in time from admitting what she’d been thinking about. She needed to stop this nonsense. She and Jess had far too much at stake to waste time dreaming about unattainable men. ‘Nothing.’
Marie frowned thoughtfully. ‘I’m not sure.’ She thought for a moment. ‘If you weren’t thinking about Luke, then you must have been thinking about –’ she hesitated and raised her eyebrows, ‘Ed?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Izzy said, forcing a laugh and deciding it was time to go and get a refill. ‘Anyone want a drink?’
Jess held out her empty glass and Marie shook her head slowly. ‘Izzy?’
‘Stop it, Marie. You’re completely wrong,’ she said taking her plate and scrunching it into a bin bag.
She walked over to the makeshift bar area, and while waiting her turn to pour some drinks, looked over at Marie and saw the way she was watching Ed. She’s a strong woman, Izzy mused. She could see, even if Ed couldn’t, that Marie still loved him very much. Yet they were no longer married. It didn’t make sense.
She refilled their plastic tumblers and turned to go back and join Marie and Jess. She became distracted by Luke’s beautiful blue and white yacht, moored just outside the harbour wall. She couldn’t help picturing herself and Ed on it, off on a long, lonely sailing trip, just the two of them.
‘Somewhere nice?’ a deep voice asked behind her.
Izzy jumped, spilling the rosé. ‘Shit. Will you stop doing that to me?’ She gathered herself, embarrassed to have been caught out. ‘Sailing off into the sunset, if you must know,’ she said , laughing.
Ed looked over at Luke’s boat and shrugged. ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It would be my ideal boat, but he’d never part with it. He lived on it for a while before he and Bea got together.’
She didn’t explain that she hadn’t meant Luke’s boat, but the sailing off bit.
‘For pity’s sake,’ Jess groaned, reaching the pair of them and taking two glasses from Izzy’s hands. ‘We’re dying of thirst waiting for you to come back with these.’ She walked off back to the rug.
He stared at Izzy for a few seconds as if he was trying to make up his mind about something. ‘Do you fancy a bit of a walk to work off all this food?’
‘That would be lovely.’
They began walking down towards the wetter sand near the waves, away from the others. ‘It’s good to see you again, one-to-one,’ he said eventually. ‘I think we need to clear the air.’
‘I think that would be nice,’ she said honestly.
He looked down at her as they walked, slowing his step. ‘I’m not sure but I feel like something has been said.’
‘About you and Marie?’
‘Ahh, that. Yes, she told you then?’
‘Yes, she told me that you were married,’ Izzy said, determined to keep any hurt from seeping into her voice. She stopped walking, scrunching her toes up in the wet sand. ‘I have to admit it came as a bit of a shock, Ed.’
He pushed his hands into his shorts pockets. ‘I can imagine. I know how this must seem, but it’s not what you might think.’
‘Go on, then.’
She knew she was being curt, but she was fed up with not knowing the score.
He looked out across the bay. ‘Marie and I are very close, that much must be obvious,’ he admitted quietly. ‘And yes, we were married.’ He began walking again; almost as if he’d forgotten she was next to him.
Intrigued and needing to discover just how close Marie and Ed still were, Izzy followed.
‘She told you we met in Paris. Roman’s girlfriend thought we’d get along.’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘and did you?’
‘Yes. We spent a couple o
f weeks together. I showed her the city and all the places I loved best.’ He looked down at Izzy. ‘It was a strange time in my life,’ he said, without adding any further explanation as to why.
‘So you fell in love.’
He hesitated before nodding. ‘Yes.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I’m nearly ten years younger than she is. She was much more mature than I was then.’
‘Go on.’
‘Marie showed me life was for living and that it was wrong not to make the most of each day. I just …’ he hesitated, ‘Well, I did, I fell in love with her.’
His honest words pinched at Izzy’s heart, but she needed to know more about this man and the woman he’d loved enough to marry.
He took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. ‘It didn’t take long to discover that I wasn’t the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.’ He smiled down at Izzy to soften his words. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I was devastated when she sat me down after a couple of years and told me she needed her freedom. She insisted I go off and live the life I should be living, rather than settling down. I really wasn’t ready for that then.’
She could still see how deeply this must have hurt him, and without thinking she reached out and took his hand.
‘You must have been heartbroken when she did that?’
He nodded. ‘I was. She was my first love, I suppose.’ He smiled at her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. ‘It’s fine, though, I’m over it now. I’m used to having Marie as a close friend rather than as a wife.’
Izzy wanted to believe him. She liked the comfort of having her hand in his, but not wishing to impose herself on him, pulled away. She looked over to the others and surprised they’d walked so far, said. ‘Are you sure she isn’t still in love with you?’
He laughed. ‘Hell, no, and if you asked her she’d tell you straight. We just work together now.’
Maybe she’d imagined the meaning behind the looks Marie had given Ed when she thought he wasn’t looking. It was a relief. She didn’t often like being proved wrong, but this time she was glad of it. ‘I suppose we’d better get back,’ she said. ‘We don’t want everyone to think we’re ignoring them.’
The Jersey Scene series box set Page 79
