A Wedding at Sandy Cove Read online

  ‘That’s a shame. I was going to ask about bridesmaids.’

  ‘You’re cutting it super fine for ordering bridesmaids’ dresses and I’m sorry, but I have no space to make any more alterations.’

  The bride chuckled. ‘Oh no. I mean I was going to ask you if you would be my bridesmaid.’

  Ella had no idea what to say.

  Over a beautiful dinner at a gastro pub she retold the story to Kit. He almost choked on his sea bass. ‘What did you say?’

  Ella bit her lip. ‘I said her wedding clashed with my friend’s hen night.’

  ‘And does it?’

  She winced. ‘No.’ Kit playfully wagged a finger at her. ‘Don’t. I feel awful enough as it is.’

  ‘Ella, seriously. You worry about things that you shouldn’t be thinking twice about. It’s not your fault this woman has no friends. She only needs to go to a Star Wars convention in her wedding dress and she’d make a hundred besties in a few minutes. She chooses not to.’

  ‘She has friends. Just none that are prepared to dress up like Yoda.’ Kit burst out laughing. He had a hearty laugh and it set Ella off too. ‘Anyway, aren’t we meant to be conjuring up some genius ways to hoodwink my father into believing Jane is having an affair.’ She waved a finger in the air. ‘Another affair.’ She got a pen and notebook out of her bag

  Kit sipped his wine. ‘I thought maybe you could send Mum a text when they were out and sign it off with a guy’s name. She won’t know your number.’

  ‘Okay. I’m up for that. But what if she replies?’

  ‘Try to keep it going for a bit. It might be enough to interrupt their meal. She never puts it on silent because of Isaac.’

  ‘Sneaky.’ Ella felt a little giddy at the subterfuge. ‘Jot down Jane’s mobile number for me.’ She pushed the notebook and pen across the table. ‘I wondered if you could have a few work emergencies so she has to cancel a few times. That would start to look suspicious.’

  ‘Not many emergencies in the building trade and I have a laptop and can work from home if I need to.’

  ‘A builder who works from home?’ She gave him a quizzical look.

  There was a pause before he spoke, and she sensed there was something amiss. ‘I don’t go on site any more. Mine’s more of a supervisory role.’ Kit went back to eating his meal.

  ‘We need some other way for Dad to suspect Jane is having an affair.’

  ‘I had a friend who found out his wife was cheating because he got an STD,’ said Kit.

  ‘Eurgh. That’s horrible. I don’t think we want either of them to get one of those.’ Ella was slightly worried at how far Kit was prepared to go to split up their parents.

  ‘I was thinking we could send them both leaflets anonymously. Making it look like they’ve come from a clinic.’

  ‘Ooh, you are devious. But I like that idea a lot.’

  He leant back in his seat. ‘I try.’

  She wondered what he was like when he was dating. Was he devious? A bit of a player. She wouldn’t have been surprised. ‘Have you ever two-timed anyone?’ she asked.

  He seemed to roll his head in a circle and jut his chin out. ‘Excuse me? You think I’m a cheater?’

  ‘It was a question. Not an accusation. In case you have any first-hand experience.’

  ‘No. But I have been cheated on.’

  Ella sighed. ‘Me too. It sucks. Any tell-tale signs you should have spotted?’

  He seemed to ponder this. ‘Working late. Mentionitis.’

  ‘Is that an STD I’ve not heard of?’

  He smiled – a cheeky smile that started from one side of his lips and spread. ‘It’s when your partner keeps mentioning someone’s name and doesn’t realise they’re doing it. My girlfriend had never talked about this guy at work before and then all of a sudden he kept popping up in virtually every conversation. How about you?’

  ‘He was distant. Showered more often. Changed his aftershave. Kept his mobile with him at all times.’

  ‘Wow. Quite a few clues there.’

  ‘Yeah. That kind of made it easier though. Unlike Todd. I’ve gone over and over things and there were no clues with him. No sign he was unhappy. It came out of nowhere and socked me right between the eyes.’

  Kit’s expression changed. ‘Sorry. He sounds like a shit.’

  ‘He’s not all bad.’ Kit threw his arms up but before he could give her another lecture on being too nice, she quickly added, ‘But you’re right he’s a shit and I deserve better.’

  Kit nodded. ‘There you go. Don’t be so nice, Ella Briggs.’

  ‘I will do my best.’ She gave him her most earnest expression, but he looked like he wanted more. ‘Okay. I could be unpleasant.’ She pulled a face and Kit gave an encouraging wave of his hand. ‘Or completely horrid.’ She made a noise like a low growl. The waiter appeared and instantly recoiled, making Kit laugh and Ella apologise profusely.

  They finished their meals in quiet contemplation. The waiter returned and cautiously collected their plates and they ordered coffees.

  ‘I’m glad you were free tonight. I’ve enjoyed it,’ said Kit.

  ‘Yeah me too.’ And she really had. Kit O’Leary was definitely growing on her.

  ‘I’d like to do it again if it won’t upset Stuart.’ He raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Stuart has found himself someone else. Which means I’m available.’ She splayed out her hands.

  Kit’s expression changed. ‘Oh, Ella. Sorry, I wasn’t suggesting we date.’

  She felt her cheeks burn. This was awkward. ‘I know. I meant I’m available for dinner.’

  ‘Just to clarify. I don’t mean I wouldn’t like to date you,’ said Kit. ‘I definitely would, but you said you’re not maternal, so I know kids don’t feature in your life plans. And I fully respect that. But you see it’s not only me I have to think about …’

  ‘Ah, Isaac.’ She realised Kit came with a ready-made family. ‘That’s the nicest reason I’ve ever had for not being asked out.’

  ‘Still pals?’

  ‘Pals is exactly what I need right now.’

  ‘I think we’re actually more than pals.’ He leant forward giving Ella a whiff of an earthy aftershave and making her wonder what he was going to do next. He picked up his wine glass. ‘To partners in crime.’

  ‘I’ll drink to that.’ They clinked glasses. Ella was starting to like all the cloak and dagger deception and especially the time she was spending with Kit but she couldn’t help thinking it was a shame it would never develop into anything else. Life was a slippery bugger sometimes.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The hen weekend dawned and despite her whole being telling her this was the last thing she wanted to do Lucy religiously checked she had everything covered as per the last exceptionally detailed email. This time Lorraine had done away with her usual passive-aggressive overtones instead going full psycho warning people that Brittany would be devastated if it didn’t go exactly as intended and that a special circle of hell had been reserved for anyone who ruined this meticulously planned event.

  Lucy knocked on Ella’s front door and stood back to give the converted garage the once-over while she waited. The builders had done a good job.

  ‘You’re early,’ said Ella, combing through her damp hair. ‘Come in.’

  ‘Sorry, I hate being late for things. Even a horrendously expensive hen do with an itinerary like a particularly sadistic episode of Ninja Warrior.’

  ‘I knew you’d be excited about it.’ Lucy gave her a withering look. ‘You might surprise yourself and enjoy it.’ Ella was always positive. And the price she paid for that was to be frequently disappointed. Lucy had a healthy cynicism about most things and was rarely let down.

  ‘Garage looks good,’ said Lucy.

  ‘Even better from in here.’ Ella opened the door from the hallway and Lucy peered inside. ‘There’s a partition going in this week and then it’s all being plastered.’ Ella was grinning.

  The space was much bigger than Lucy had realised but then it didn’t have anything in it. ‘I’m sure you’ll make it look amazing.’

  ‘I’ll do my best. And last night I pressed the button and put the website live. It needs a few tweaks but it’s out there. Fingers crossed some brides will find me and I get some work.’

  Lucy loved Ella but sometimes she needed steering in the right direction. ‘Rather than wait for them to come to you, you could drop some business cards into the other bridal shops in Norwich. Maybe offer a discount if they use you exclusively or something like that.’

  ‘Great idea. Let me put business cards on my to do list.’ Ella dashed off to the kitchen.

  ‘You can put some up on free noticeboards too, like the ones in the supermarket and local businesses,’ she called down the hall.

  ‘You’re a genius,’ said Ella, reappearing.

  ‘If only more people recognised that.’ Lucy shook her head. ‘Where’s your bag?’ she asked. Ella pointed upstairs.

  In Ella’s bedroom Pirate was stretched out on the bed as if it were all his. Lucy sat down next to him and gave him a stroke while Ella gathered a few essentials and added them to an already bulging overnight bag.

  ‘How’re things?’ asked Lucy.

  Ella popped her head around the door with a bottle of shampoo in her hand. ‘Stressed and one snide comment away from murdering my boss. But otherwise good. How about you?’

  ‘Still a bit twitchy.’

  ‘Has that man been creeping about again?’ asked Ella.

  ‘Not that I know of. The formal letter to his solicitor seems to have done the trick. But it has unnerved me. Made me more cautious. But I’ll get over it.’ Lucy didn’t like that it was still bothering her and occupying her thoughts.

  ‘Of cour
se you will.’ Ella patted Lucy comfortingly on the arm. She wrestled the zip closed on her bag. ‘Do I need to bring anything extra as it’s a hen do?’ She grimaced at her over-stuffed bag.

  ‘Fear not, I have all that gubbins in the car. You just need yourself, clean pants, a couple of Valium and a thick skin. Remember to leave your dignity behind.’

  ‘Do you think Brittany will love it?’ Ella looked concerned as she heaved her bag onto her shoulder.

  ‘I hope she does, but it’s not for us to worry about. That responsibility sits firmly on the shoulders of her deranged sister, Lorraine. All we can do is be there and make sure Brittany has a good time however much the weekend sucks.’

  Ella pulled a face. ‘But I’ll feel bad if it’s—’

  Lucy wagged a finger in front of Ella. ‘Repeat after me. It is not my responsibility to ensure everyone else is happy.’

  ‘I know but …’

  Lucy shooed her away. ‘Stop it. Downstairs. Go!’

  ***

  Ella hadn’t been away for a long time. Her last mini break had been with Todd to his penthouse on the Devon coast but since then she’d had two lots of leave cancelled by Wanda and the last week off she’d had was back in January when all she’d done was spring-clean the house and read a few books. Despite Lucy’s warnings she was still looking forward to getting away. The trip to Mildenhall didn’t take that long and was uneventful. Ella tried to get a bit more from Lucy about the case which was bothering her at work, but she’d brushed it away in typical Lucy style and proceeded to tell her about another couple who were arguing over the garden items and in particular who got to keep the shed, rhubarb plant and an extensive garden gnome collection.

  ‘Thanks for sorting this all out for me, Lucy. I really appreciate it. It was lovely to delete all the emails. And there were a lot of emails.’

  ‘You owe me big time. I’m thinking something along the lines of decorating your new business with a mural dedicated to me.’

  ‘I think that’s fair,’ agreed Ella.

  ‘Or you can check out the hen weekend orientation pack Lorraine sent me.’ Lucy kept her eyes on the road but pointed into the passenger footwell.

  Ella scanned the many sheets, timetables and instructions in the pack. ‘Lorraine seems very …’ She was trying to find the right word.

  ‘Controlling? Obsessive? Batshit crazy?’

  ‘Thorough,’ said Ella.

  ‘Lorraine is a suppressed megalomaniac who has found her calling. All of this confirms it. Hen do’s are basically a celebration of being a massive knob, with a massive knob.’

  ‘That’s tradition for you,’ said Ella with a shrug. She could sense Lucy was close to going off on a rant.

  ‘It’s utter madness. Why else would we spend a whole weekend with a group of people most of whom we don’t even know? Some of whom I’m certain we won’t like. Purely to see how far we can push the revelry without someone actually ending up in A&E.’

  ‘As long as Brittany has a nice time.’ Lucy looked across at her and shook her head.

  Ella received a message from Kit to say that Jane and David had a date planned for the following evening. She replied and set a reminder on her phone to fire off a message which would hopefully land in the middle of their rendezvous. It still felt unbelievable to Ella that her dad could be doing such a thing and she longed to be proved wrong.

  Lorraine’s directions included photographs of key landmarks as they neared their destination. She’d even used her mother in some of the photographs to point which way they were meant to go.

  ‘Next turning on the right after the post box,’ said Ella, reading from the sheet. They turned onto a dirt track which gave Lucy’s Nissan a bit of an off-road experience as they bumped their way over myriad potholes. At the end of the long track was a farmhouse and some agricultural buildings. ‘Bear left by bush,’ read out Ella. ‘I’m guessing down there.’ She pointed where the path disappeared behind an out-of-control hedgerow.

  They trundled a little further until they were outside a large barn where four cars were already parked. They both got out, the front door opened and Brittany appeared looking genuinely relieved to see them and the tight squeeze of a hug she gave Ella reinforced it. ‘How exciting is this?’ said Ella.

  Brittany’s lip wobbled. ‘Lorraine is uber stressed about everything, she’s been a cow all the way here. And I still don’t know what we’re doing.’

  ‘But we’re here now and this looks amazing. I’m sure we’re going to have the best time.’ Ella tried hard to sound enthusiastic. There was a flicker of a smile from Brittany.

  Lucy made her way inside with the bags and the unicorn head under her arm. The sound of another car approaching made Ella turn to watch a convertible swing in front of them at speed before braking heavily and kicking up a cloud of dust. Brittany blinked hard but Ella had a feeling it had nothing to do with the dust. ‘Shitting hell,’ mumbled Brittany.

  ‘Isn’t that your cousin?’ asked Ella, trying to place the sharp-featured woman unfolding herself from the small car.

  ‘Second cousin.’ Brittany’s jaw twitched. ‘Martha. The one who stole my high school boyfriend, broke my wrist and lost my gerbil.’

  ‘I’m sure she’s not all bad.’

  ‘Oh, she’s worse than that,’ said Brittany

  Ella was starting to think that maybe Lucy was right about hen weekends.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  There was a brief round of introductions where Lorraine pressed a sticky name label to everyone’s left breast. Apart from the labelling process Ella was pleased to meet the others. Auntie Rita was overexcited and hugged everyone and Midge turned out to be a heavily pregnant work colleague of Brittany’s with a funny story about how she got her nickname but part way through the anecdote Lorraine broke up the discussion to ensure they kept to the timetable.

  Lorraine showed them to their room which had a small double bed in it. Ella wasn’t that fussed but Lucy put forward a comprehensive case for why they should have one of the twin rooms. Lorraine was having none of it and looked like a person teetering on the edge.

  ‘We’ll be fine,’ said Ella. ‘Won’t we, Lucy?’

  Lucy mumbled something inaudible. Someone called Lorraine’s name and she dashed out of the room. Ella breathed a sigh of relief at the avoided confrontation, but it was short-lived. Brittany came flying in and shut the door. She leant back against it as if someone were chasing her.

  ‘Martha’s not coming to the wedding,’ said Brittany, her voice distorted by the frantic speed of delivery.

  ‘That’s good then,’ said Ella, unzipping her bag and almost hearing it sigh with relief.

  ‘No, it’s not good at all.’ Brittany moved away from the door and rubbed her palms over her face. ‘I didn’t invite her to the wedding because I had my heart set on it being at Sandy Cove but that’s expensive so we had to keep the list short. Martha didn’t make the cut. And now she’s here.’

  ‘Ah. I see the problem,’ said Lucy, carefully taking some neatly folded things from her wheelie case and placing them in a drawer.

  ‘You could still invite her to the wedding,’ said Ella.

  Brittany was shaking her head. ‘Or feign ignorance when she says she’s not received the invite. Blame the post,’ offered Lucy.

  ‘But then what about her parents? And her brother and his wife and four kids?’ Brittany looked anxiously from Ella to Lucy and back again.

  ‘Umm … maybe their invites all fell behind a cushion and you could discover them when you get home?’ Ella knew she wasn’t very good at this deception lark. Brittany looked at Lucy which Ella took to mean she didn’t like her suggestion.

  Lucy folded her arms. ‘Be straight with her. Say there’s a limit on numbers and you’re sorry but however much you would have loved to have invited her side of the family the budget just wouldn’t stretch.’ Lucy gave a shrug. Ella marvelled at how articulate she was.

  ‘I can’t do that,’ said Brittany, looking horrified.

  A firm rap on the door made them all turn suddenly towards it, like victims in a horror movie. Lorraine opened the door. ‘We are leaving for activity number one in five minutes. Comfy casual dress and trainers or walking shoes. Sunblock as it’s outdoors.’ She waggled a finger at Lucy and Ella. ‘Remember no spoilers. The bride is present.’ She pointed at Brittany as if she were difficult to spot. ‘I suggest you all use the bathroom before we leave. Chop, chop.’