Beth and Jack stared at each other, their eyes wide with glee as they both turned to face Tollek, who looked slightly unnerved.
A week later Beth opened the door to an almost pale-green Carly who dashed past her and up the stairs to the bathroom while Fergus lugged in three large cases and two suit carriers.
‘Morning sickness that lasts most of the day,’ he said, nodding towards the stairs. ‘Anyway, hello, fabulous wedding coordinator and bridesmaid, how are you?’
‘A bit stressed out but otherwise okay. It’s good to see you looking better,’ said Beth, pulling him into a hug. The memory of his pale figure lying in a hospital bed a few weeks ago still vivid in her mind. ‘That’s a whole lotta luggage you’ve got there!’
‘Wedding,’ he said, pointing at the suit carriers. ‘Honeymoon,’ he pointed at the two largest cases, ‘and stuff for the next couple of days,’ he said, pointing at the last case.
Beth peered behind him. ‘I thought your best man was coming with you?’
‘Budgie has gone straight to the B&B; he was on the night shift so he’s knackered. He’ll be right for the rehearsal though.’ Fergus stepped into the hall. Beth paused for a moment when she saw the estate agent’s car pull up outside. He got out and waved.
‘Okay if I put the sign up now?’ he called.
Beth swallowed hard. The estate agent had been round yesterday and taken the photos; he’d gone on a lot about the impact the ancient bathroom would have on the price but there was nothing she could do about that now. And here he was knocking in the For Sale sign. Leaving Willow Cottage had suddenly got very real.
‘The cottage is looking terrific,’ said Fergus behind her. ‘Does it have a ghost? That could be a great selling point.’
Beth retreated into the cottage and shut the front door.
‘Thanks, and no, there’s definitely no ghost.’ They heard the toilet flush upstairs and Carly reappeared looking very ghostlike and far from the epitome of the blushing bride. ‘You look …’ started Beth and with a tilt of her head Carly willed her to lie to her … ‘like shit,’ finished Beth and Carly started to laugh.
‘I feel it too,’ she said as they hugged each other. ‘Why aren’t the tents up on the village green yet? Will the flowers be wilting if they start making them today? Have you checked if this photographer is any good? And what’s happening with the cars?’
‘Whoa!’ said Beth. ‘Champagne and elderflower fizz first then we’ll talk about the wedding but it’s all under control. Please relax and enjoy it.’
‘To be honest, it’s a bit late now anyway,’ said Fergus with his usual relaxed shrug and before Carly could start to protest again he pulled her into a hug and she visibly relaxed in his arms. Beth watched them for a second – that was what she wanted, someone who took all the stress away, who put things in perspective and had you at the top of their list. She let out a sigh and tried hard to dispel the image of Jack that had popped into her mind.
They were clinking glasses and Carly was eyeing her sparkling elderflower with a resigned frown when Jack appeared at the window. Fergus jumped up and went to greet him at the door like an old friend. There was lots of mutual male adoration before Jack came inside.
‘Could you get another glass for Jack, please?’ asked Fergus, lifting up the champagne bottle.
‘Hiya, Carly, you look … well,’ he lied. Carly and Beth exchanged looks and Beth went to get a glass for Jack. ‘I just needed a quick word with Beth about tomorrow.’
‘Is there a problem?’ asked Carly, sounding anxious.
‘No! Heavens, no. Everything is completely fine,’ said Jack, his eyes darting about. He picked up the nearest cushion and plumped it vigorously.
Beth returned and along with the others watched Jack self-consciously return the cushion to the sofa. He took the proffered champagne glass, which Beth filled while mouthing, ‘What’s up?’ Jack gave a twitch of his head. Beth was feeling uneasy.
‘Happy wedding eve,’ said Jack, raising his glass, and he glanced at Beth and mouthed ‘cake wars’. Beth shook her head at him because Fergus was watching and if he was watching he was lip-reading.
‘What was it you needed to speak to Beth about?’ asked Fergus, looking mildly amused as he took a long slow sip of his champagne.
‘Ah,’ Jack faltered and his eyes darted between the two worried women surveying him. ‘Well, the thing is …’ His expression changed when he appeared to have a flash of inspiration. Beth found she was holding her breath and willing him not to announce a disaster at this, the eleventh hour. ‘The thing is, Beth and I wanted to let you know that the wedding car is sorted. It is something that we –’, he stepped closer to Beth and she felt his arm brush hers making the hairs on her body stand to attention, ‘have arranged as our wedding present to you.’
‘How lovely,’ said Carly, taking Fergus’s hand and squeezing it tightly.
‘And because it’s a present, you don’t get to see it until tomorrow,’ said Jack, taking a welcome slug of champagne.
‘It’s a surprise,’ said Beth and she indicated to Jack that they should speak outside.
‘That’s really good of you,’ said Fergus, kissing Beth and shaking Jack’s hand, but worryingly for Beth he still had that faintly amused expression on his face.
‘Jack, can you come and have a look at my back door, it’s sticking a bit,’ she lied as she took him by the elbow and steered him out of the living room, through the house and into the back garden, shutting the perfectly good stable door behind her.
‘Don’t mouth things in front of Fergus, he lip-reads. Did you say cake wars?’ said Beth, trying to keep her voice down although the adrenalin was taking control, making it quite difficult.
Jack nodded. ‘I’ve come straight from the tearoom. Maureen and Barbara were having a stand-up row about how to decorate the cake.’
‘Right,’ said Beth, already feeling relieved that there was a cake. ‘Do they need me to make a decision or something?’
‘Barbara’s made all the flowers out of icing and wants gerberas on top, Maureen wants them cascading. Barbara wants roses round the base, Maureen hates roses and doesn’t want them spoiling the cake she’s spent hours making.’ Beth looked bored and waved a hand to hurry him along while she gave a quick peek into the kitchen to check they hadn’t been followed. ‘So anyway, Barbara almost shoved a rose up Maureen’s nostril, Maureen flicked it on the floor and it got trodden on. Barbara cried.’
Jack winced at the memory and Beth made a noise as she took a very sharp intake of breath. ‘You’re right, it’s cake wars,’ she said in a low voice.
‘I know. I left Rhonda comforting Barbara while Maureen was knocking back a large espresso. What do we do?’ asked a troubled-looking Jack.
‘You stay here, talk Minecraft to Fergus and tents to Carly. I’ll sneak off and sort it out. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ said Jack as Beth stepped away towards the side entry. He reached out and caught her fingers, stopping her in her tracks.
Beth turned and stared at Jack; his fingers were gripping the tips of her own – they were almost holding hands.
‘Thanks, Beth. You’re amazing,’ he said.
Beth’s pulse quickened and she suddenly felt very warm. ‘Thanks. You’re not all bad yourself.’ She smiled and he chuckled, letting her hand slip from his own before she disappeared down the side of the cottage feeling a lot happier than she had in a while.
Chapter Forty-Two
With cake wars calmed to a cold war of stares and a cake beautifully decorated with brightly coloured cascading gerberas and the odd rosebud dotted around the base, Beth was pleased to be walking back into the cottage.
‘That’s my cue to leave,’ said Jack, shaking Fergus’s hand. He reached Beth at the door and put an arm around her shoulders, making her emit a tiny gasp. ‘How did it go?’ he speed-whispered into her hair.
‘Fine, all sorted. How about here?’
‘Great,’ said Jack, kissing Beth
on the cheek and releasing his grip. ‘I’ll see you later at rehearsals.’ She opened the door for him and he turned round and put his hands together as if in prayer and mouthed ‘thank you’. Beth couldn’t help grinning as she shut the door.
‘Shit! Shit! And triple shit!’ shouted Carly from upstairs and Beth ran to investigate, closely followed by Fergus who must have sensed there was something wrong when Beth shot upstairs. Carly was sat on the bed, tears streaming down her face and a pair of shoes on her lap.
‘What’s the matter?’ said Beth, flopping down onto the bed next to her. ‘Oh, I see,’ she said, spotting the problem with the once very pretty suede shoes with a silk ribbon bow. She peered a bit closer. ‘What colour is that exactly?’ asked Beth, pointing at the blue nail varnish that was dripping off the shoe having covered one side of one and the tip of the other – it had turned the previously pale ivory shoes into a hideous two-tone affair.
‘Frisky Freeze,’ said Carly with a sniff and Beth handed her a tissue from the box on the side.
‘At least it’s sparkly,’ said Fergus from the doorway.
‘Get out! It’s bad luck to see anything before the day!’ said Carly and she started to cry again.
‘Sorry,’ signed Beth. Fergus shrugged and left her to it.
‘It’s not his fault,’ said Beth, taking the shoes from Carly.
‘No, but …’ She sniffed again. ‘They’re ruined and now I’ve got nothing to wear. They were the perfect height for the dress and I’ve been breaking them in for two weeks.’
‘Yep, definitely ruined. If there’s nothing to lose will you let me try something?’ said Beth, studying the worst of the shoes closely.
Carly shrugged, emitted a sniff and a reluctant ‘Okay’.
They were about to leave for the church rehearsal when Beth emerged from the kitchen.
Carly came off the phone. ‘That was my uncle. Him, my aunt, cousins and my nan are all settled in Tewkesbury and looking forward to tomorrow and they’ve seen two minibuses arrive and boxes of wine being unloaded so the Dooleys have landed too!’
‘Great, do you want to see what I’ve done?’ asked Beth as she presented Carly with the bridal shoes on a tea tray. ‘Now, don’t touch ’cause they’re not dry yet but how do these grab you?’ Beth smiled at Carly and her eyebrows danced.
Carly stared at the shoes, lifted them up and scrutinized them at close range. The shoes now had a spiralling sequin and crystal design that came along the sides and finished across the toe and was identical on both shoes. ‘How did you do that?’
‘Got the worst of the nail varnish off with remover but it had stained so I got to work with the glue gun and the sparkly stuff I had left over from making Christmas gifts.’ Unless you peered very closely you couldn’t see any of the demon nail varnish and even then it wasn’t obvious.
‘Verdict?’ said Beth, feeling a little apprehensive because Carly was still inspecting the shoes.
‘I love them and I love you. You are totally brilliant,’ she said and she started to cry again. Beth figured the baby hormones were getting to Carly at the moment.
‘Great, that’s another crisis sorted. Let’s get to the rehearsal,’ said Beth, putting on her shoes.
‘What do you mean, “another” crisis?’ questioned Carly, her face contorting.
‘Oh, nothing. Come on!’
Apart from Carly having to leave twice due to the all-day morning sickness the rehearsal went okay. Leo got very bored very quickly with his job of ring bearer but hopefully he’d be okay tomorrow when he was needed to stand still and stop letting go of the ring cushion to scratch his head every few minutes. They had confirmed the hymns and Carly had given Beth a crash course in how to sign the words to ‘Amazing Grace’, which was more than a challenge, but she’d give it a go for Fergus’s deaf friends that would be attending.
Shirley was in the church supervising the flower arrangements that were arriving like a floral relay race every few minutes as the ladies of the WI dropped them off. Shirley had sidled over to Carly like the worst spy in the west, checked the coast was clear and boomed, ‘Are you up the duff?’
Carly pulled all kinds of embarrassed ‘how could you even think that’ faces while Fergus answered, ‘Yeah, shotgun!’ And got a swift elbow in the ribs from Carly. Shirley had gone back to her flower arranging giggling away to herself.
By the time they left the church the scent of freesias and stocks filled the air and pretty posies, all slightly different, were tied with ivory silk ribbon and fixed to the end of the pews, with two large cascading arrangements placed at the front of the church. It looked and smelled fabulous and Carly seemed happy apart from when she had to say goodbye to Fergus, who was spending the night at the Bleeding Bear and was very excited about the impromptu stag do that Jack, Simon and Budgie were throwing with Petra’s help.
The last visitor of the day had been Shirley with some apple cider vinegar and instructions that Carly add one teaspoon to a half-pint of water and sip it. Carly decided to give it a go because she was at the point of being willing to try anything to stop the dreaded sickness that was threatening to turn her wedding day into a vomitfest.
There was no more Beth could do now but try to get a good night’s sleep. Carly had sent Fergus a final text telling him she lived him very mush and that she’d see him tomato – Beth wondered if Carly would ever get the hang of her new phone.
Carly was already tucked up in bed and sleeping peacefully when Beth tiptoed through the cottage. As she switched off the light on the landing she turned towards her own bedroom door to see floating in front of her a headless woman in white. Beth’s scream was involuntary and a louder noise than she thought she was capable of making. The shock made her fumble for the light switch. In those few moments all the times Leo had asked her about a ghost shot through her mind. Mid-scream realization dawned.
An alarmed-looking Carly appeared on the landing, her face almost as pale as her wedding dress that hung resplendent from the doorframe. They both stared at it.
‘Whoops!’ said Beth, feeling like a proper idiot. ‘Not a ghost after all. Sorry. Night, night.’ And she scuttled into the bedroom with the sound of Carly’s groans echoing behind her.
The wedding day dawned in a perfect Dumbleford style with the dawn chorus and sunshine streaming in through the gaps around the blinds. Beth yawned and stretched. She rolled over and squinted through the window. It was early and already the sunshine was bouncing off the roof tiles and making the dewy grass sparkle. The still sky was a Disney blue apart from the rippled striations of pure white cloud that had been expertly painted on. She wasn’t that familiar with the view out of Leo’s window; the fields were all distinctive, each one growing something different – the grooved brown of fields nursing crops about to sprout, the cheerful yellow of rapeseed and the varying shades of grass dotted with lambs all across the rolling hills that tumbled out of sight, making her smile. It was going to be a beautiful day.
Beth blinked; she didn’t have to get up yet. Having a pregnant bride at least meant that neither of the ladies were waking up with a hangover. Petra had been a star by having Leo overnight to keep the sleeping arrangements at Willow Cottage nice and simple. Beth was in Leo’s room and Carly had her room because it was decorated and there was no step to trip over on the way to the bathroom. Beth hadn’t slept that well with all the arrangements that had been popping up in her mind as if needing her to make one last mental check on each of them but she was stirred fully awake by a text message arriving on her mobile. It was from Petra.
Boys have nice
Beth squinted at it and smiled. Petra’s English was first-rate but there were odd occasions when she got things slightly wrong that meant you could tell it wasn’t her first language. A second message arrived.
Bloody autocorrect. LICE the boys have LICE!
Beth sat bolt upright in bed and rang Petra. As she held the phone in one hand she was already scratching her head with the other one. P
etra answered immediately. ‘Lice?’ said Beth, dispensing with any greeting.
‘Yes, I thought they were messing about but I have checked and they are both walking head lice nests. I have soaked them in olive oil …’
‘Olive oil?’ Beth had no idea where this was going.
‘It stops the lice breathing and when they are dead I will comb them out. But I have the lice too and I wondered about you?’
Beth hadn’t realized she was scratching her head again. ‘Bugger. I think I might. The hairdresser is due here in a couple of hours. He will freak out!’
‘Come over now and we sort out each other,’ suggested Petra and while Beth really wished she had a better idea at seven in the morning she simply didn’t. ‘Okay, give me five minutes.’ She was now seriously worried about Danny the hairdresser finding a nit on her or Carly because she had heard the stories of him stopping mid-haircut and refusing to continue when he’d found lice in someone’s hair once and that was the last thing they needed today.
After leaving a note for Carly, a few minutes later Beth found herself sitting on the floor of Petra’s bathroom with her head tilted back over the bath, her scalp dripping with olive oil. Denis and Leo had already been treated and were in the living room with their oil-doused heads covered by shower caps.
Petra was sitting next to her, humming. ‘Why are you all jolly?’ asked Beth.
‘I’m not sure,’ said Petra, moving her eyes in Beth’s direction but keeping her head still. ‘It is a beautiful morning, there will be a wedding in the village and a party on the green. And above all my boy is happy, even with the nits.’
‘You are funny,’ said Beth. Petra definitely knew how to give you perspective on things. ‘Not everyone gets the mother and son bond, do they?’
‘We are indestructible. Whatever life throws at us, we can fight it because we have each other. Denis was my greatest heartache and my greatest prize.’ Petra swallowed hard.
‘Heartache?’ asked Beth tentatively, not moving her head – to make eye contact would have changed the intensity of the moment.
Escape to Willow Cottage Page 38
