Laurel wanted to find her prince. But part of her heart ached for Dan, who might never find his princess.
‘Come on,’ he said, striding ahead. ‘I want to see this castle.’
Frowning, and still lost in her thoughts, Laurel followed.
She caught up to him as he crossed the moat into the keep, standing in the centre of the square of grass inside the walls. Hands on his hips, he turned around, taking in the crumbling stone of the battlements and the sky stretching out beyond it.
‘It’s pretty impressive, huh?’ Laurel asked, leaning against the stone of the gatehouse.
‘It is,’ Dan said. ‘It’s strange. I thought it would feel like a movie set. Or something of another time. But it doesn’t. It’s here—now. It’s survived.’
‘Well, some of it has.’ She pushed off the wall and crossed the grass towards him, leaning her back against his chest as she tried to see what he saw. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the top of her head. ‘I love it here,’ she said.
‘I can tell.’
‘I’m glad I got to bring you.’ Glad they could have this moment, this perfect time together. Even if they both knew it could never last.
‘Me too,’ Dan said, and spun her round to kiss her again.
* * *
After the castle, Laurel took him down into the small seaside town and introduced him to the wonders of gift shops that sold small boxes covered in shells, and pebbles with googly eyes stuck on them. Dan smiled as she darted from shelf to shelf, fascinated by all the wonders, like a child looking to spend her first allowance.
‘What’s that?’ he asked, pointing to the flashing bright lights of a storefront across the way. It looked like a mini-casino, but there were kids walking in so he figured it couldn’t be.
‘The amusement arcade!’ Laurel’s eyes lit up as she grabbed his hand and dragged him across the road towards the lights.
Inside, the darkness of the room was punctuated by the glow of slot machines, and the air was filled with beeps and tinny music and the sound of coins falling.
‘Feeling rich?’ he asked as she stepped towards a change machine.
She shook her head as she popped a single pound coin into the slot and a cascade of coppers tumbled into the pot she was holding. ‘I’m not a gambler,’ she said, turning back to him. ‘I don’t risk more than I can afford. So...’ She held up the pot. ‘Tuppenny Falls!’
Feeding the machine full of two-pence pieces, being pushed by moving bars with coins kept them entertained for a full fifteen minutes, as coins dropped off the edge of the ledge and into their pot every time they thought they were about to run out. Dan spent more time enjoying the childlike glee on Laurel’s face than he did watching the coins, loving the way she brought so much life and appreciation to everything she did.
He knew she felt she could never live up to her sister, or be good enough to win back her father’s affection—knew it deep down in the same place he knew that he could never be Riley for his parents. He didn’t need her to say it.
But he also knew that she was wrong. She was worth a million Melissas, and her family were fools if they couldn’t see it. He just wished that before he left he could make Laurel see that the only person she needed to be good enough for was herself.
Eventually their coins ran out, and Laurel shook her head when he offered to fetch more change. They headed for the exit, with the lights and sounds of the amusement arcade still buzzing in Dan’s brain.
‘So, what’s next?’ he asked as they stepped back into the brisk winter air. ‘We have—what? Another hour before the coach comes back?’
An hour didn’t seem long enough. Already it felt as if his time with her was ebbing away, like the tide going out on the pebble beach.
‘Something like that,’ Laurel agreed. ‘Ready for tea and cake?’
‘Definitely.’
The café she chose had tiny delicate tables in the window, draped with lace. Dan took a seat on a slender-legged white chair and hoped it wouldn’t collapse under him. He was under no illusion as to how out of place he looked here, even without the old women at the next table glaring at him.
Laurel sat down opposite him, her cheeks still flushed. ‘I’ve ordered us two cream teas.’
‘Sounds great.’
They sat in silence for a moment, while a million questions flooded Dan’s brain. Everything he wanted to ask her if only they had time. He wanted to know everything, but what was the point when he was leaving so soon?
In the end he settled for the questions he might get to see the outcome of.
‘So, did you decide what to tell Benjamin?’
Laurel pulled a face. ‘I’m hoping he won’t ask again. But if he does...I can’t do it. Not even to Melissa.’
Dan smiled faintly. ‘I never thought you would. Not for a moment.’
‘Because I’m too scared of Melissa?’ Laurel asked, eyebrows raised.
‘Because you’re the heroine in your own story,’ he corrected her. ‘And she wouldn’t do that. Would she?’
‘No,’ Laurel admitted. ‘She wouldn’t.’
Dan leant back in his chair gingerly, trying not to put too much pressure on the flimsy wood. ‘So, what would she do?’
‘Hmm?’ Laurel asked, distracted as the waitress, dressed all in black with a frilly white apron and mob cap, brought pots of tea and two giant scones with jam and cream on the side. ‘Look at the size of those things! We’ll never eat at the rehearsal dinner tonight.’
‘No offence to the chef, but I doubt whatever Melissa has ordered could live up to these,’ Dan said, smearing jam over half a scone. ‘What is for dinner, anyway?’
‘Seven-course tasting menu.’
‘Of course.’ Pretentious, and not enough of anything to really enjoy it. Just like Melissa’s latest movie.
Laurel took a bite of her scone and a blissful smile broke out across her face as she chewed. ‘Mmm...that’s good.’ She swallowed. ‘Sorry, you asked me something. Before I got distracted by food.’
‘I was asking what she would do next. After the wedding. Your heroine, I mean.’
Laurel gave a low laugh and looked down at her plate, tearing a bit of scone off and crumbling it between her fingers.
‘Do you know, I have no idea?’ she said after a moment. ‘For months, whenever I’ve tried to think beyond this wedding, it’s like the whole world has gone blank. Like everything ends the moment Melissa and Riley say, “I do”.’
‘The end of the movie,’ Dan said. ‘Credits roll.’
‘Exactly. They get their happily-ever-after, and I...cease to matter.’
‘Except you’re not living in Melissa’s movie, remember? You’re living in your own.’
‘I know.’
However much she said it, Dan couldn’t help but think she didn’t believe it yet. Maybe it wouldn’t be real to her until after the wedding, when the credits didn’t roll. When life went on, away from Melissa’s influence.
He almost wished he’d still be around to see it.
‘So, if you could do anything what would it be?’ he asked. ‘Would you be a film star, like Melissa? Own a castle? Marry actual royalty? Take over the world?’
Laurel laughed. ‘None of those things. I think...’ She crumbled another piece of scone, chewing on her lip as she did so. ‘I think I’d like to make my business a success. I’d like to make people’s dream weddings come true. And I’d like...I’d like my own, one day. Maybe a family. Like I said before, I want my prince—the man who is perfect for me, who comes riding up just when I need him.’
‘The right guy, right place, right time. Right?’ His chest ached. He knew that he could never be that for Laurel, even if he wanted to. He wasn’t anyone’s prince, but more than that he couldn’t even risk tryi
ng to be. Laurel deserved every happy ending she dreamt of, and he knew from past experience that he couldn’t live up to that sort of expectation.
‘Yeah. But really all I want is... I guess mostly I’d just like to be happy. Fulfilled and content and happy.’
Dan smiled, even though it hurt, and raised his tea cup to her. ‘That sounds like a pretty damn fine ambition to me.’
And she’d fulfil it—he had no doubt. That, right there, was the future he wanted for Laurel...even if it was a future he couldn’t be part of.
She clinked her china cup against his. ‘So, what about you? You already have the successful business, by all accounts. What’s next for you? True love?’
Love. Thoughts of Cassie and the day she’d left rolled through him again, turning his tea bitter in his mouth.
‘I already tried that, remember? It’s not for me.’
Something to be grateful for, he supposed—whatever was between him and Laurel, it wasn’t love. Couldn’t be after just a few days of knowing each other. No, their pretend relationship had grown into something less fake, he’d admit. But that didn’t make it real. Not in the way that hurt.
‘Then what?’
Laurel’s eyes were sad as she asked, and he realised he had no answer for her. She had all her dreams laid out before her, and he had...
‘Maybe I’m happy just as I am,’ he said.
‘Maybe...’ Laurel echoed. But she didn’t look as if she believed him.
And Dan wasn’t even sure he blamed her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BY THE TIME they made it back to Morwen Hall Laurel was ready for a nap. But instead she had to prepare for the rehearsal dinner.
The staff at the hall had been busy setting up most of the decorations, table settings and so on, but Laurel knew she wouldn’t be able to relax if she didn’t check on them. Leaving Dan to find his own way to their room to prepare, she headed to the restaurant—only to find she wasn’t the only person checking up on the arrangements.
‘Hey!’ Laurel called as she crossed the restaurant to where Eloise was slumped at a table. ‘Everything ready here? We just got back. Everyone’s gone to get changed for the rehearsal dinner. Which I’m guessing you will be too...?’
She left it hanging, not entirely sure Eloise didn’t plan on attending in her suit. Eloise didn’t like dressing up, she’d learned, and after a day of being poked and prodded by stylists for the photoshoot she wouldn’t blame her for being done.
‘Yeah.’ Eloise glanced at her watch. ‘Oh, yes, I’d better get moving. Did the tour go okay? Nice romantic day out with Dan?’
‘Yes, thank you,’ Laurel said simply.
There weren’t words to explain how perfect her day had been—or how bittersweet. Not without explaining the whole fake relationship and her feelings about the fact he was leaving in two days. And nobody had time for that this week.
‘What about you? How were the interviews?’
‘All fine,’ Eloise said, and Laurel relaxed a little.
She was incredibly grateful she hadn’t been thrust into the role of maid of honour, and so didn’t have to deal with photoshoots and interviews, but she had been a little nervous about how Eloise would cope with it. She wasn’t used to the spotlight any more than Laurel was. She was glad it seemed to have gone off without incident.
‘And how is the very gorgeous Noah?’
Laurel raised her eyebrows expectantly. Because, really, wasn’t that what everyone in the hotel wanted to know? After their kiss at the Frost Fair the day before everyone had an opinion on the possible relationship between the best man and the maid of honour. She’d heard at least three theories on the bus back from the seaside, but there was definitely a prevailing one.
Eloise groaned. ‘Don’t ask.’
‘So there is something going on with you two!’ Laurel cried triumphantly. ‘I knew the gossip was wrong.’
‘Gossip?’ Eloise jerked her head up. ‘What gossip? What are they saying?’
‘Nothing bad, I promise.’ Laurel pulled out the chair next to Eloise and sat down. ‘Nobody’s laughing or anything. In fact everyone seems to think that you’re keeping Noah at arm’s length. I take it that’s not entirely the case?’
‘It’s a secret,’ Eloise blurted out. ‘I don’t want anyone to know.’
‘Well, so far, they don’t. In fact, from what I heard people are pretty amazed. They’ve seen him hanging around, chasing after you—apparently that’s not his usual modus operandi.’ She didn’t mention the more outlandish theories—that Eloise was actually his estranged wife and he was trying to win her back, or that everything that seemed to be going on was actually an audition for a new film, or something.
Eloise sat back in her chair and stared at her. ‘Really? How do you mean?’
Laurel shrugged. ‘Seems he usually lets people come to him. He’s the chase-ee, not the chaser, if you see what I mean.’
When it came to her and Dan, which one of them had chased the other? Laurel wondered. Dan had suggested the fake relationship plan, but she’d put it into action. And she would be hard pressed to say exactly which of them had kissed the other first. And as for last night... There hadn’t been any chasing at all, she realised. Just two people coming together as if it were simply too much effort to stay apart. As if gravity had been dragging them in.
Until Sunday—when all forces would be reversed and they’d be thrown apart again.
She shook her head, hoping to dispel the depressing thought. But when she turned her attention to Eloise she realised that her friend’s expression echoed exactly the way she was feeling. She hadn’t been able to put a name to it herself, but seeing it on Eloise’s face it was suddenly so, so obvious.
‘Are you okay?’ Laurel asked, trying to ignore the lump in her throat. ‘You look...scared.’
As terrified as I feel. Like you don’t know what happens next, and you can’t see your way clear to the happy-ever-after.
There had to be a happy-ever-after. That was the only thing keeping her going through all the wedding prep—knowing that once it was over she got to chase her own dream.
So why was she suddenly so reluctant for Sunday to come?
Laurel’s heart tightened. I don’t want him to go. Not even if it means I don’t get to go searching for my happy ending.
‘I’ll be fine.’
Eloise pasted on a smile that Laurel was sure was only for her benefit. Underneath it, she looked utterly miserable.
‘I need to go get ready for tonight.’
With a groan, she pushed her chair away from the table and stood, walking away without a goodbye, leaving Laurel alone at the table, wondering how the two of them had ended up in such a mess. And whether they could legitimately blame Melissa for the whole thing.
* * *
Dan had showered, changed and headed down to the bar before Laurel came back to the room. He figured he might as well give her the time and space to get ready for the rehearsal dinner in peace.
He wasn’t avoiding her. Really he wasn’t.
Well, maybe a bit. But only because if he was there and he knew she was in the shower...naked...there wasn’t a chance of them making it to the rehearsal dinner on time. Or at all.
Besides, he still needed to find his brother. Theirs was a long overdue conversation that couldn’t wait much longer.
He knocked on Riley’s door on his way down, but there was no answer. Still, when he saw how many guests were already congregating in the bar he figured it was only a matter of time before Riley appeared too, so he might as well have a drink while he waited.
He signalled the barman over and ordered a beer, trying not to think how much more fun he’d be having if he’d stayed in the room and waited for Laurel.
Despite his decision to
enjoy every second of the time he had left with her, somehow that seemed to be getting harder as the hours ticked by. Already he was counting down to Sunday, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that everything would change then.
Laurel had said she couldn’t see beyond the wedding itself, except for some fantasy happy-ever-after. He’d never had that problem—he’d known exactly what he was going back to, what was waiting for him, what his life would be.
The only problem was for the first time in a long time his life didn’t seem like enough.
It was crazy—he knew that. He’d known Laurel all of sixty hours. That wasn’t enough time to make any sort of decision on their acquaintance. And even if he wanted to, he couldn’t.
Because however good it felt, being with her, he knew the truth: that it was all an act. He wasn’t her prince, her happy-ever-after, or anything except her fake boyfriend. Yes, they had chemistry. Yes, they had fun. But he’d had that before, with plenty of women who’d seemed perfect—and they’d all left him when something better came along. Someone more famous, someone who could help their career more. Or just someone who was willing to marry them.
He couldn’t do that again. Not after Cassie. And Laurel deserved that fairy tale she wanted—which meant she couldn’t have it with him.
End of story. Credits roll.
‘Starting early, are we, son?’ His dad’s voice echoed across the mostly empty bar. ‘Your brother seems rather less inclined to indulge after last night.’
‘Have you seen him?’ Dan asked quickly. With the wedding less than twenty-four hours away his time to talk to his brother about Melissa was running out. He should have done it sooner, he knew, but he’d been...distracted.
Wendell nodded. ‘He was just heading to Melissa’s rooms—that honeymoon suite out in the gatehouse.’
Dan cursed silently. If Riley was with his fiancée, then he had no hope of getting him alone. Why had he waited so long to do this?
Because I didn’t want to, he realised. It wasn’t just that he’d been busy with Laurel. He hadn’t wanted to potentially ruin all Riley’s hopes and dreams for the future.
Proposal for the Wedding Planner Page 12
