Strawberries and Suffering

by Katherine Hayton

  Derek couldn’t wipe the enormous smile off his face. Holly didn’t think she’d ever seen the young man so happy. Given that their short acquaintance had been marred by the illness of Derek’s father, that probably shouldn’t have been a surprise.

  “I can’t believe it!” Sheila pushed back from the embrace to study Derek’s face as though she wanted to commit it to memory. Then her arms went around him again, squeezing him tightly. “I thought for sure that you’d be stuck back at that farmhouse until tomorrow.”

  “Thanks to William, we got out there and back okay,” Wendy said. Sheila broke away from Derek to run to her mother and envelop her in a hug also. She rocked from side to side, tears leaking out to destroy Sheila’s mascara for the second time that day.

  “I’m so glad you’re back, Mommy. I couldn’t believe it when I got here and found you missing.”

  “Nor I, you,” Wendy replied, laughing. “We have the worst timing in the world.”

  Sheila stretched her arm out behind her and caught Derek’s hand in hers, pulling him to her side. “I think you’ve got a run for your money there. No matter what else happens, I think we’ll have a wealth of anecdotes to dine out on for the rest of our lives.”

  The knot that had been pulling at Holly’s stomach since Sheila first appeared began to loosen. Whatever else was going on, there was real affection in the gaze between the engaged couple.

  I shouldn’t rush to judgment, Holly told herself, not for the first time. Of course, the poor girl’s emotions are on a high boil today. Imagine if this had been your wedding day.

  But that wound was too painful to poke at for long. Holly’s wedding day had gone off without a hitch that she could remember. Maybe a glass of wine had loosened her tongue too much at the reception. It had undoubtedly freed up the speech from their best man.

  No, no, no. Stop thinking about it. Your marriage to Simon is over.

  Maybe one day, Holly would be able to look back with nostalgia, but at the moment, the pain outweighed the goodness of the memories.

  “Guess what?” Derek said. He leaned in close to Sheila as he did so, although his voice was still loud enough that the whole room could easily hear him.

  “What?” A note of doubt crept into Sheila’s voice. “What else has happened?”

  “I’m here. You’re here. The minister’s here.” Derek nodded at Minister Woodfield, who nodded back with a smile, catching on. “How about we get hitched, Mrs. Masters?”

  Holly wasn’t sure if the corner of Sheila’s smile actually waivered or if her eyesight was overwhelmed with a sudden rush of tears.

  “Can we really do that?” Sheila asked Minister Woodfield while Holly scurried to her table, in reach of emergency napkins in case her tears turned into a real crying jag.

  “I can indeed take you through your vows, here and now,” the minister replied.

  Aidan turned to Holly with a frown. “What is it?” she asked, feeling the knot retie itself in her abdomen.

  For a moment, Aidan just shook his head while the frown grew deeper. Then he leaned forward to whisper, “The wedding license is still at the church, on the signing table. The minister can officiate a wedding, but there’ll be no marriage until that certificate is signed.”

  Holly sighed with relief and thumped him on the shoulder. “Nice way to insert paperwork into a romantic moment.”

  Aidan gave a small chuckle and shrugged. “Hey, I work at the registrar’s office, so give me a break. I automatically think of these things.”

  “They can sign it later and make it all proper, can’t they?”

  Aidan gave in with a smile. “Of course, they can. I might even save them the trip to the office if I’m feeling generous!”

  “Every young girl’s dream. Having someone courier their documents to the registrar’s for free.”

  Aidan hooked an eyebrow at her. “Do I detect some sarcasm?”

  “Well, duh.” Holly pointed to the couple. “How about we just watch the show, okay?”

  Sheila and Derek were beaming at each other. As the minister walked them to a place where the whole room could see them, Holly held her breath and caught Wendy’s eye. The woman was beaming with delight, hands clasped at her chest. Then Sheila gave a gasp.

  “My dress!”

  Before anyone could react, she ran to the double doors and pushed through them. The taps as she climbed the stairs were clearly heard in the room.

  Holly frowned as William followed Sheila out the door and upstairs. She glanced over at Emma, but the young woman had tilted her face forward, so her expression was hidden behind a shield of her fine, straight hair.

  “Won’t it still be wet?” Aidan asked.

  “Who can blame her for wanting to dress up in some finery?” Esmerelda said from the other side of him. “With all that’s happened so far, who’d stop her from getting whatever pleasure out of the day that she can?”

  Wendy also walked out of the room, following in her daughter’s footsteps. Holly saw Derek standing, looking quite bereft in front of Minister Woodfield, and beckoned him over.

  “At least take a seat until your bride is ready.” Holly pulled a chair out for him to sit on. Derek perched on the edge of it, looking like a ramrod had been shoved up his spine.

  “Have a glass of wine to loosen you up,” Aidan said, pushing a glass of bubbly in front of the young man.

  “No, don’t.” Holly reached over and plucked the glass out of Aidan’s hand, popping it back down where it had come from. When a puzzled frown turned her way, she shook her head. “Derek doesn’t need to be guzzling alcohol to have a good time. It’s his wedding day, for goodness sake.”

  “It certainly is,” Derek said. “And I’m pretty sure this one is going in the books! I’m just glad Sheila is feeling okay, still. She can be very emotional when things go a bit wrong.”

  Holly thought of Sheila shrieking at her upstairs, accusing her of murder. With grim determination, she kept her smile fixed in place. “I’m sure every woman is emotional on her wedding day. If she’s doing it right!”

  Wendy popped back through the doorway and beckoned to a man seated at the table to Holly’s left. He nodded and got up, apparently with some idea of why he was wanted.

  “Curiouser and curiouser,” Aidan said, waggling his eyebrows.

  “I think that might be the organ player,” Derek mused. “Though I’m not sure what they expect him to play.”

  “Oh!” Holly stood up, then sat back down. An idea had run through her head, but the logistics of organizing it escaped her.

  “What’s up, Jack in the box?”

  “I just thought. We could get the chorus together from the CPR and have them hum the wedding march or something.”

  “What CPR?”

  Holly looked at Derek in horror, raising her hand up to cover her open mouth. “Oh, my goodness. You don’t know!”

  Derek began to look agitated for the first time. His knee jiggled, and a hand crept out to tap out a rhythm on the tablecloth.

  With wide eyes, Holly looked at Aidan for assistance. Should she inform Derek of all the terrible things that had happened while he was caught back at the farmhouse by the rain?

  Then Crystal was by her side, grabbing Holly’s shoulder, so she turned to face her.

  “What’s happened out in the hall?” she demanded. “Why is one of the downstairs doors covered in clingfilm, saying keep out?”

  “Let’s go out into the hall,” Aidan said, speaking with determination. “Come on.”

  Crystal looked at Holly for confirmation and when she nodded, followed along behind, catching Derek’s hand and dragging him too.

  Holly shot a concerned glance at the minister, whose eyes widened before he nodded and strode over to join them. As the small group pushed through to the entrance hall, Holly felt her heart speed up in her chest.

  “While you were away—”

  “There’s been an incident—” Aidan said at the same time, and the two of the
m stumbled to a stop.

  Minister Woodfield stepped forward and took hold of Derek’s hands. “I’m afraid that the butler of the manor house suffered a heart attack this morning. He’s died.”

  Crystal’s mouth fell open. “Oh, my. That poor man.”

  “We haven’t been able to reach the ambulance service because the phone lines are down between here and town,” Holly added. Better they know the full, horrid truth at once. “That’s why there are the signs on the door. I’m afraid that his body is still on the premises.”

  Derek’s face turned pale. “You wanted me to get married to the woman I love while there’s a corpse lying in the next room?”

  His voice squeaked over half of the words. Holly couldn’t blame him. Her own voice seemed to have gone off on holiday, needing a break to recover.

  “Have you called them yet?” Crystal demanded, looking at each of them in turn. When they shook their heads, she took a step back. “I can’t believe this. Has anybody tried the phone lines again?”

  “We’ve been trying,” Holly said, not sure if anyone had or not. “We even went up to the roof to see if we could get a mobile signal. We’re just cut off here.”

  “Then we need to go to town at once!” Crystal spoke so firmly that Holly found herself nodding along.

  “We’ll take William’s car, so we can get past any obstructions. As soon as we’re in a patch with clear reception, we can phone it in.”

  The thought was so logical that Holly felt ashamed for not thinking of it herself. Of course, they needed to make this the priority. Poor Arnold. She’d failed to keep him alive, and now she’d failed him in death.

  “No,” Aidan said, speaking with a voice as confident as Crystal’s. “We’re not risking the health and safety of anybody here just to make a phone call that won’t make any difference, at this late stage.”

  He turned to Derek. “Believe me, I’m sorry this situation occurred on such a special day, but we have to make the best of it. That doesn’t include going off half-cocked to perform an act that won’t help anyone here.”

  “It’ll help me out, knowing that someone’s coming to take his body away.” Crystal’s body language was so emphatic that she even stamped her foot.

  Aidan was implacable. “There’s no way that anybody is coming out to retrieve the body with the road still closed, so whether you phone or not is irrelevant. Our priority is to keep everyone in this building safe until the weather clears. Once that’s accomplished, then we can sort everything else out.”

  Although Crystal’s bottom lip jutted out a tiny way—a sure sign that she didn't agree with anything Aidan said—she looked at Derek and reluctantly nodded. Holly sighed a little in relief. One thing she could count on with Crystal was her sister’s big heart. There wasn’t any way she’d get in an argument when it would just add to Derek’s already large plate of worries.

  “This storm is the most infuriating thing,” Crystal said.

  Nobody gathered there could disagree with that.

  It looked like the bad news had also been broken to Wendy. When she came downstairs, following the damp train of Sheila’s wedding dress, she shot a quick glance at the offending door and shuddered.

  “You look wonderful,” Holly said as Sheila took the final step down onto the floor. “I’ll make sure to tell everybody to get their cameras out, so you get lots of photos.”

  Sheila didn’t look that great. The dress had creased and strained so severely in the long trek to the manor house that it would take a team of dry cleaners and seamstresses a few weeks to turn it decent again.

  That wasn’t the attitude that got brides turning on the radiant smiles for the reading of their vows, though, so the thought stayed trapped in Holly’s head.

  She moved back to her table, with Crystal and Wendy moving into one closer to the action. Holly took a gulp of wine and then checked to make sure her sister or Derek hadn’t noticed. When Aidan gave her a confused frown, Holly blushed. Crystal’s sobriety was hardly going to be threatened by Holly enjoying a glass of bubbles at a wedding.

  As Minister Woodfield came to the end of the first reading, the lights flickered. Holly looked over at Emma who grinned back at her and nodded. Excusing herself, Holly slipped out the back of the room through the door that Alex had introduced her to. The code was simple enough—6151—that she’d remembered it without even trying.

  Emma followed her out of the room, Holly holding the door open until she joined her in the corridor. “Do you think they’ll have the phone lines back, too?” Holly asked her as they quickly walked down the hall to the next keypad.

  “I sure hope so,” Emma said. “But as a consolation gift, we’ll soon have hot water again if not.”

  When Holly picked up the landline, she was relieved to hear the dial tone. The electricity and phone lines shared the same posts between here and the next township over, but her nerves had still told her they might not work. Relieved, Holly dialed the non-emergency number for the ambulance service. She quickly relayed the information to the operator who promised to dispatch a paramedic.

  “He’s not going to be revivable,” Holly assured her. “We just need someone to transport the body back to town.”

  “I’ll phone the police, as well,” the woman on the line said in return. “If there’s the slightest chance of a suspicious circumstance then its best we have the paramedic declare the person deceased and the police can then operate from there.”

  After hanging up, Holly gave a quick thumbs-up to Emma.

  “I really hope they find there’s nothing suspicious in Arnold’s death,” Emma said. “I’m looking forward to the road’s being cleared in time for me to get home tonight.”

  Holly groaned. “That would be lovely.” She’d almost forgotten what home felt like.

  They walked back to the reception room, slipping back into the back corridor. When they entered, all eyes turned to them in unison. Holly offered up a small smile. “The phone’s back on,” she said. “We’ve put through an emergency call.”

  Sheila turned back to the minister. “Well, it sounds like the party’s going to be cut short. We’d better get a move on.”

  The minister faced Derek with his eyebrows raised and received a nod to continue.

  “We’ll now move onto the vows that each party has written for the occasion.” Minister Woodfield’s voice sounded entirely different officiating than it had throughout the rest of the day. Holly could feel her body softening into the ritual of the ceremony. Two people pledging to spend their lives together. The blossom of hope still fresh on their cheeks. In their hearts, the thought that this feeling of love would be never-ending.

  Good luck with that.

  By the time that Holly snuck back to her table, the ceremony was coming to an end. She accidentally snagged the foot of another guest and earned a glare just before reaching her seat.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  A traditional catcall came from the back of the hall as Derek did what he’d been told. Sheila blushed and then turned to address the room at large. “Since my bridesmaids are still stuck in Hanmer, I thought I’d throw the bouquet to anybody who wants to line up.”

  Despite the mean age of the guests being on the high end of thirty, there was a push and shove to line up behind her. Aidan raised his eyebrows at Holly who shook her head back at him.

  “Been there, done that,” she said. “Not in any hurry to do it again.”

  He gave a laugh and pointed at the lighter spot on his ring finger where a band had apparently sat for years. “Me, too. Or rather, me, neither.”

  Esmerelda stood and moved to the end of the line, much to Holly’s surprise. Aidan just gave a disbelieving laugh and shook his head. “I swear, she’s only doing it for the sheer joy of depriving someone else if she catches it,” he said in a low voice. “Much as I love my auntie, she does try to suck the fun out of any joyous occasion.”

  Not only did Esmere
lda join in the catching party but she was so spry that she easily plucked the bouquet out of mid-air. Given the pouting lower lips on display, Holly felt sorry for the older woman. Why shouldn’t she still hold just as tightly to dreams of love and affection as the younger women in the crowd?

  “Those poor servers,” Aidan observed as the caterers began to dish out the meals. They piled the selections in the center of each table so guests could take their pick rather than dole out individual portions.

  “Don’t worry,” Holly said. “I’ve already volunteered everyone seated during the meal for clearing and washing up duties. It seemed only fair.”

  Esmerelda took her seat, her sagging cheeks glowing from the effort of fighting her way to the flowers. She plonked the posey down on the table without much reverence, eyes fixed on the food being delivered more than her coveted prize.

  “Did you have anyone in mind?” Holly asked, nodding at the flowers. “Or will it just be pot-luck?”

  The older woman raised an eyebrow. Despite her enormous nose and sagging skin, the sparkle in Esmerelda’s eyes lent her an air of beauty. Enough for Holly to wonder what she’d looked like back in her early courting days.

  “I don’t have my eye on anyone in particular,” Esmerelda said, clapping her hands together as the caterers began to place food on the table. “But I’m not much averse to any company these days. Not to mention, Joan could use a good male role model around the home. Someone who might explain to her the importance of wearing color rather than black.”

  “I don’t really think that’s a male role.” Aidan gave Holly a wink across the table. “Perhaps that advice would be better suited coming from a woman, Auntie.”

  “I’ve already tried, Aidan. She won’t listen to me.” Esmerelda slapped her hand on the table. “That girl needs a firmer hand than mine. At my age, I just don’t have the energy.”

  Aidan reached over to lay his hand on top of hers, his voice lowering and filling with affection. “You do a fine job, Auntie. Better than any of the family had a right to expect.”