by Lovett, Jo
Evie
Evie gave one final tweak to Sasha’s veil, and stepped back.
‘Oh. My. Goodness,’ she breathed, blinking away sudden tears. ‘You look stunning. Fairy tale. So beautiful. Angus is a very lucky man.’
Lucie, Dervla and Dan all nodded and chorused their agreement.
‘You ready?’ Dan asked.
‘Yes,’ squeaked Sasha.
‘Let’s go then.’ Dan held out his arm and Sasha took it.
Dan and Sasha stepped onto the centuries-worn Cotswold flagstone in the entrance of the church and through the doorway. Evie was overwhelmed for a moment by the idea of tradition – so many brides must have stepped over this threshold on their wedding day.
She, Lucie and Dervla followed as the now extremely elderly Mrs Bird from the village started thumping out ‘Pachelbel’s Canon’. There was a new, younger, arguably much more competent organist at the church now, who did most Sunday services, but Sasha had gone with nostalgia and Mrs Bird.
Wow. The florists and Sasha and Evie’s mums and two of their friends from the village had done the most incredible job. The church was decorated beautifully with orange, purple and green flowers and leaves. And the pews were packed with beaming guests dressed to the nines.
And two of the guests, sitting in the back pew, were a very striking woman with a sleek black bob wearing a spectacular, very tailored-looking, scarlet dress, and the very cute baby she was holding. The baby had a shock of red hair and, given the way Dan and Sasha’s heads had both turned in that direction, had to be Katie.
Evie had to fight really hard with herself to maintain her serene, perfect-bridesmaid half-smile and continue to look straight ahead. She really wanted to turn back round and stare.
If she was honest, she’d have preferred Dan’s ex to be a little less beautiful.
Obviously, Evie was with Matthew and it wasn’t that she was jealous of Hannah. She had no reason to be, after all. But, okay, she was a little bit jealous. And a little bit uncomfortable at being in the same place as her.
Shiiiit. Dervla reached out and grabbed Evie’s arm as she nearly tripped headlong.
‘Thank you,’ she mouthed. The floor of the church was so uneven. She’d better start paying a lot more attention to where she was walking and think a lot less about Dan and Hannah.
Angus was standing at the front looking adorably anxious and proud at the same time. ‘You look amazing,’ he said in an extremely loud whisper to Sasha when she joined him, and the guests in the front few pews all laughed.
Fifteen minutes later, the service was in full flow.
Sasha, who Evie had been best friends with since they were both six years old, was getting married to her soulmate, right now. Laura, the vicar, was gloriously sarcastic. The service was lovely. Everyone was happy. This was literally the most wonderful wedding Evie had ever been to and she should be drinking in every moment of it. She should totally not be thinking very frequently about Dan sitting a few feet away as she stood near to Sasha during the ceremony, and the stunning Hannah sitting at the back.
Dan did look good in his tails and fancy tie, and he did have a particularly gorgeous twinkle in his eye today, but still; he shouldn’t be occupying so many of her thoughts.
Max did a beautiful reading about love and then Angus’s grandmother, who was French, did one in French, which also sounded beautiful and which Evie was pretty sure had something to do with boats. Odd. She’d have to ask someone who spoke more than GCSE French about that later.
Evie got shivery goosebumps during the hymns, though if she was honest it was more from Dan’s baritone a few feet away from her than the familiar and deeply meaningful words.
It was obviously because Dan was right behind her when Laura did the you-may-kiss-the-bride thing that Evie’s mind leapt to when she and Dan had had their kissing-straight-after-the-marriage-ceremony moment. She’d tried really hard all year not to think of that. And now she was feeling it right to her stomach.
Anyway, time to pull herself together and proceed out of the church with Angus’s best man, a very nice man called Seb, who had a lot of hair and a kilt.
The photographer was a very enthusiastic man named Kev, who, in his quest to produce the perfect wedding portfolio, wasn’t letting anyone off the hook, no matter how young, old, infirm, desperate for the loo (or a beer) or freezing cold (the temperature was about ten degrees below the August average but all the women were in summer dresses) they might be.
Evie stood up from arranging the hem of Sasha’s dress for the photos and bumped straight into Dan, who was holding the auburn-haired baby.
‘Oh my goodness,’ she said. ‘Is this Katie?’
‘Yes,’ said Dan, rocking her slightly and looking at her with the most gorgeously proud expression. ‘Say hi to Evie, Katie.’
Evie said, ‘Hello, Katie,’ and Katie smiled at her, windmilled her arms and connected with Evie’s necklace. She was like some kind of baby ninja; she had her fingers firmly wound in the necklace chain within no time at all and was pulling with surprising strength.
‘Oh, my God, I’m so sorry,’ Dan said while Evie choked a little. He prised Katie’s fingers open and got the necklace away from her.
‘Thank you.’ Evie took a step backwards. ‘I should have remembered that you should always keep a good distance from a baby when you’re wearing any kind of dangly jewellery,’ she said, hoping that no-one would realise the effect Dan’s fingers briefly touching her chest just then had had and also that she wasn’t sounding rude.
Katie had turned her attention to Dan now and had her fingers twisted in the knot of his tie.
‘Wow,’ said Dan, a little red-faced, when he’d disentangled himself. ‘My daughter’s got some serious strength in those fingers. Just going to shift her around a bit so that she can’t reach anyone’s neck attire.’
‘Can you clap?’ Evie asked Katie, clapping her own hands together.
Katie gurgled and swiped at Evie’s hands. Dan and Evie both laughed.
‘Bride’s family and bridesmaids,’ hollered Kev.
Evie found herself standing next to Dan and Katie in several of the photos. It felt like they were together in that moment, and it was hard not to feel like she was blossoming under the strength of that feeling.
‘And this is the final one before the big one with everyone,’ Kev announced. ‘Friends and siblings of the bride.’
Hannah took Katie and now, somehow, Evie and Dan were squashed right up against each other within the group, so much so that Evie could feel Dan’s solidity and the warmth of his body against her side. She wriggled a little to try to dispel the feeling of raised hair on the back of her neck. God, she was so conscious of him. She was wearing high heels, and if she turned towards him now, her mouth would only be a couple of inches below his.
‘And a big smile from everyone in my direction,’ instructed the photographer, pulling the kind of face a kindergarten teacher might pull to get very young children to laugh. Everyone laughed obligingly, and Evie felt Dan’s warm breath against her forehead.
‘And now everyone,’ Kev shouted. Hannah brought Katie over to Dan and everyone piled in together. Evie had no option but to stay where she was, so now instead of being deliciously close to Dan like it was just the two of them together in a sea of people, she was clamped pretty much between Dan and his ex and their baby. Really not great.
Kev hadn’t actually needed that many takes on his other photos but on this one he just would not stop snapping, so Evie held herself rigid, a fixed wide – possibly rictus – smile on her face, for what felt like a really long time.
Eventually, Kev said, ‘And we’re done. Cracking photo, everybody.’ He clapped and all the guests joined in with the clapping too. Probably not so much because they were pleased with the photos but because finally they were going to a) be able to go inside – it was so cold for August; and b) get a drink. ‘I’ll be taking more,’ he shouted over the clapping, which then stopped pretty
abruptly, ‘but mainly inside the venue.’
‘Thank God for that,’ Dan said in Evie’s ear as the clapping re-started, and she smiled. And then felt really awkward because she could feel Hannah’s presence on her other side. And thinking of Hannah and the fact that she was Dan’s ex suddenly reminded her that she had a boyfriend and that she should therefore not be feeling this attracted to Dan.
It was so annoying that he could still have this effect on her. They’d crossed the friendship line and slept together and it was now clear that nothing serious would ever happen between them, and now it was just pissing her off, frankly, that her stupid feelings for him got in the way sometimes of her actual, real-life relationship with Matthew, who was safe, solid, lovely and very interested in her.
She should sneak a moment to text Matthew this afternoon, actually, for a quick catch-up to see how his holiday was going.
‘I think we can go now.’ Sasha lifted her skirt as she walked delicately back over the grass to the non-green-staining safety of the church’s path.
‘I’ll round the guests up.’ Dan turned round, clapped loudly and bellowed, ‘Could everyone follow us over to the house now?’ The reception was being held in a marquee in Sasha’s mother’s garden.
Max, standing next to them, did an incredibly piercing wolf whistle and a big beckoning motion with his arm, which arguably had a bigger effect than Dan’s bellow, and they all started the walk round the green, rather than across it, to avoid ruining everyone’s shoes.
Evie really didn’t want to walk with Dan and Hannah. Fortunately her schoolfriend Millie was nearby, so she did an exaggerated Hi, Millie and hung back to walk over with her. Which gave her an excellent view of Dan walking with Hannah. They didn’t look remotely lover-like, more just like old friends who were comfortable with each other, but they did share an intimate parenting moment when Katie did some particularly manic waving with her arms and Dan caught Hannah’s eye and they laughed together. Any new partner of either of them would always have that to contend with.
‘That is so sweet,’ said Millie, sounding incredibly insincere. ‘They aren’t together, though, are they?’
‘I don’t really know.’ Evie shouldn’t have chosen Millie to walk with.
‘I don’t think they are,’ Millie said. ‘Tonight might be my night.’
Evie had to struggle not to snarl her reply. Which, again, was utterly ridiculous, because she was with Matthew, and Dan’s love life was nothing to do with her.
‘I’m just going to pop to the loo,’ she told Millie, to escape her. That would give her an opportunity to text Matthew too.
She could see that he was typing his reply immediately. He was loving his holiday but he was really missing Evie. She was missing him too. Not really missing him but that was because it was a busy day.
Evie walked into the marquee and immediately saw Hannah and Katie with Dan, and suddenly just wanted to talk to her mum. She looked around and saw her with Grant and Autumn. She could go over and speak to them and calm down and then go and mingle.
On her way across the marquee, Mrs Bird waved her stick at her and called, ‘Evie.’ Loudly. Her lung capacity didn’t seem to have deteriorated with age at all.
‘Hi, Mrs Bird.’ Evie sat down next to her. ‘Your organ-playing was amazing today.’
‘I’ll tell you a secret. I got a few of the notes wrong.’
‘No way,’ said Evie. ‘No-one would ever have guessed.’ ‘Pachelbel’s Canon’ had literally morphed for several bars into ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’, more than once.
‘I think I cover it up well. A lifetime of experience. What you do if you lose your thread is you just play something you’re very familiar with, just briefly.’
‘Wow,’ said Evie. ‘Such a good idea.’
‘Thank you.’ Mrs Bird leaned towards Evie and patted her on the knee. ‘How are you feeling, dear?’
Evie leaned back a bit. Maybe it was because Mrs Bird’s hearing was failing a little that she always spoke at such high volume nowadays. ‘Very well, thank you. How are you?’
‘I’m very well. I meant how are you? It must be terribly awkward for you being around Danny.’ How had even Mrs Bird, who Evie was pretty sure didn’t have either a smart phone or a computer of any kind, heard about the Evie-and-Dan thing?
Evie kept on smiling and said, ‘Not at all. We’re friends.’
‘Really? After a messy divorce?’ Mrs Bird practically yelled. She’d clearly heard a very garbled version of the truth. ‘And him now with a baby.’
It was taking an increasing effort, but Evie carried on with the smiling, directing the smile both at Mrs Bird and around at the various groups of people close to them who’d turned to look, and said, trying to pitch her voice loudly enough that the same people would hear, but not so loudly that she’d sound as though she was shouting, ‘It wasn’t a messy divorce. It wasn’t a divorce at all; it was an annulment because it was just a silly evening, which meant nothing. You know, high jinks. You know, these things happen.’
‘You must have been devastated, though, dear. After so many years.’
‘It was less than twenty-four hours.’ Oops, it really wasn’t right to sound snippy with an elderly woman whose heart was in the right place.
‘I’m not talking about your marriage, I’m talking about your relationship,’ Mrs Bird fog-horned. Evie winced and tried really hard not to swivel her eyes around to see who’d heard. ‘The divorce and then to find out that he’d got someone else pregnant.’
‘We don’t have a relationship,’ she said, trying to chuckle light-heartedly. ‘Anyway, how are you? Mum told me you went on a coach tour of Holland this year?’
‘Yes, we went to see the tulips. They were absolutely splendid. Now, you and Danny. You’ve had a very long relationship. I remember the time when you woke me up canoodling on your doorstep in the middle of the night. When was that? A long time ago. I remember it because I was wearing my green and pink floral night-dress and I think I’ve had that about ten years. You must have been very young then. How old are you now? I know you’re all career women nowadays, but I always thought you’d be one of the ones who settled down young and had children early. You must be so upset that Danny had a baby without you.’
‘Ha,’ Evie said. Bloody hell. ‘Honestly, no. I love my job. I’d love to have children one day but my career’s very important to me and having children really isn’t the be-all and end-all.’ Genuinely true. Not so true that she hadn’t had feelings for Dan for a very long time, though. ‘I’d love to see the tulips. Such beautiful flowers. Were they in lots of very long straight rows like vines and olive plants are when they’re farmed?’
‘Some in rows, some not,’ said Mrs Bird. ‘I hope you get over Danny soon.’
‘Nothing to get over,’ said Evie, squashing the sudden memory of the far-too-intimate dream she’d had about Dan last night. This was karma. She shouldn’t have been dreaming about Dan; she should have been dreaming about Matthew. Although, again, everyone was allowed a secret fantasy that they’d never act on, surely.
‘You’re so brave, dear,’ Mrs Bird boomed. ‘It must be very hard for you to see Danny today.’
Mrs Bird was well-meaning and sweet and lovely and part of the fabric of Evie’s whole life since she and her mum had been welcomed so kindly into village life twenty-five years ago. Wow, quarter of a century. Evie was incredibly fond of her, but right now she wasn’t loving her. The nearby – and not so nearby, because Mrs Bird was loud – guests had been earwigging like mad. And a lot of them had their necks and eyes on stalks looking to see where Dan – Danny – was. Evie couldn’t actually abandon Mrs Bird but she really wanted this conversation to end.
She took a deep, deep breath, and said, ‘Mrs Bird, let me go and get you another drink.’ And she could get herself something seriously alcoholic at the same time, and drink a lot of it, fast.
‘Oh, no, dear, I’m fine, thank you. I don’t like to drink too much wh
ile I’m out. My waterworks aren’t what they were. Something you’ll find out about when you’re older. You should start doing pelvic floor exercises now, even before you have a baby. Tell me all about your fancy life in London. Do you and Danny live near to each other?’
How had Evie never realised until now that Mrs Bird was an actual demon? She sighed. You couldn’t just abandon an elderly person and Mrs Bird would be sitting by herself if Evie got up and went, but this conversation was not fun.
‘I don’t live near Dan,’ she said. ‘I live in Wimbledon in a flat with two friends, near a theatre and a cinema and lots of shops. About a mile from Wimbledon Common, which is lovely for walking on.’
‘Mrs Bird, I’m so sorry to interrupt your conversation with Evie. I hope you don’t mind, but Evie’s needed for some bridesmaid duties.’ Dan was standing above them, smiling. Evie honestly wanted to hug him. Except, who was going to talk to Mrs Bird?
‘And I’d love to have a chat, Mrs Bird,’ said Laura, the vicar. Hooray, hooray, hooray.
‘Thank you so much,’ Evie mouthed at Laura as she stood up.
‘Where are your baby and your partner?’ Mrs Bird lifted her stick and prodded Dan with it.
‘Ex-partner,’ Dan said. ‘They’ve gone back to London. They just came for the ceremony and the first part of the reception. Katie, my daughter, is too young to stay for the rest of it, but we thought it would be lovely for her to be here for her aunt’s wedding, even if she won’t remember it.’
‘She’s in the photos,’ Evie said.
‘Exactly.’
‘It’s all very messy, isn’t it?’ Mrs Bird prodded them both with her stick this time.
‘Mrs Bird, could I talk to you about planning for the harvest festival?’ Laura said.
‘I love you,’ Evie mouthed over her shoulder at Laura as she and Dan made their escape.
‘You’ve got to admire Mrs Bird’s tenacity,’ Dan said.
‘I know.’ They both whisked glasses of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray and Evie took a big sip. ‘Such a one-track mind.’
