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She shivered, wondering briefly if Jeff could already know about the trust fund that had been set up for Laura, and which she’d received several years earlier, on reaching the age of twenty-five. Maybe their meeting in the pub hadn’t been accidental after all?

Putting on a smile, Kerry turned to her friend. ‘How many guests are you having altogether?’

‘At the last count, about twenty.’

Laura had invited around a dozen colleagues from the Sociology Department of the university where she was a lecturer, a few of Kerry’s colleagues from the engineering company where she was a partner, and a few friends of Jeff’s from his badminton club. Kerry wondered uneasily why no one from other areas of Jeff’s life would be attending – even though he’d no family, surely he had work colleagues who were friends? In her opinion, there was definitely something odd about him, but she was not about to start pointing out his deficiencies, since Laura was clearly annoyed with her at the idea of keeping Jeff in the dark about the money she’d inherited.

‘You’d better stay with me the night before the wedding,’ Kerry said, smiling, as they gathered up their booty and left the café. ‘It’s supposed to bring bad luck if the groom sees you before you get to the registry office.’

Laura nodded, her eyes now sparkling again with excitement. She’d already given up her own rented flat and moved in with Jeff, since they’d decided to make their home in his
sumptuous Islington apartment. ‘Well then, we’ll also have to make that our hen night!’ she said, smiling. ‘Since Jeff and I wanted to get married as quickly as possible, there hasn’t been time to do a lot of the normal stuff.’

Kerry shook her head sternly. ‘There’ll be no hen night for you on the eve of the wedding, madam – I don’t want you nursing a hangover on your big day!’

Kerry suspected that Jeff probably wouldn’t want Laura having a hen night anyway, since it would mean she wouldn’t be focusing all her attention on him, and he’d see danger in the combination of alcohol and male strippers that was usually on the menu. In essence, Jeff wouldn’t want Laura having any fun if he wasn’t there to share it. Or control it.

The day of the wedding dawned bright and sunny, and Laura was already up and in the kitchen when Kerry padded out of her bedroom in dressing gown and slippers.

‘Oh, Kerry, I’m so excited!’ Laura squealed, jumping up and down, then hugging her friend as Kerry tried to switch on the kettle. ‘Here, let me get you some breakfast – I’m far too nervous to eat anything myself!’

‘You’ve got to eat something,’ Kerry warned her, managing to put two slices of bread in the toaster. ‘Otherwise, you might faint during the service, and that wouldn’t look great on your wedding day!’

Laura nodded. Her friend was right, as usual. But there were butterflies in her stomach, and she couldn’t sit still. Before leaving her room she’d checked and checked again that her shoes, bouquet and fascinator were all lined up and ready. Thrilled, she’d touched the hem of her wedding gown that was hanging on the back of the bedroom door, wrapped in tissue paper. She couldn’t wait to be Jeff’s wife.

‘Here – eat this,’ Kerry said, pushing a slice of buttered toast
across the table towards her. ‘I’m not letting you leave this apartment until there’s something in your stomach!’

Nodding, Laura took the slice of toast and began chewing obediently. She couldn’t even taste it because she was so nervous and so excited, but she knew Kerry was right, and was only looking out for her. She had to eat something. Otherwise, she might keel over just as she was taking her vows. And nothing was going to stop her from saying ‘I do’ to her beloved Jeff.

Swallowing the toast, she smiled at Kerry. ‘Can I ask you one more favour? Just in case I get a bit tipsy today, will you make sure Jeff doesn’t eat any wedding cake? I’m just worried in case he’ll forget, after having a few drinks himself. The hotel people know to prepare his meal separately, but I didn’t have time to organise a peanut-free cake.’

Kerry raised an eyebrow. ‘What do you mean?’

Laura grimaced. ‘Jeff has a severe allergy to peanuts. Even a whiff of a peanut in his food could be enough to kill him.’

Kerry looked sceptical.

‘It’s true – if he accidentally ingested any, he’d immediately go into anaphylactic shock. That’s why he has to carry an adrenaline pen with him at all times, so that he can inject himself if he has a bad reaction, or someone else can inject him if he collapses.’ Laura took a deep breath. ‘So you can see why I worry.’

Kerry smiled warmly at her friend. ‘Of course I’ll keep an eye on him! But if his problem is so severe, I’m sure he’s well aware of it himself.’ Smiling, she patted her friend’s arm. ‘So the only nuts at your wedding will be your friends!’

Laughing, Laura led the way into the bedroom. At last it was time to get dressed.

As Kerry helped her into her cream taffeta dress, Laura’s expression abruptly changed to one of sadness. ‘I really wish I had my parents and my brother here with me today,’ she said wistfully. ‘I’m missing them so much right now!’

Her eyes filled with tears, and Kerry hugged her.

‘You’re the only family I have left,’ Laura added. ‘I mean, you’re all alone too, since your mum died, so we only have each other.’ She brightened. ‘But Jeff and I will have kids eventually, so we’ll create our own family over time. And I’m sure you’ll have kids some day, too. I hope they’ll be good friends like us.’

Laura brushed away her tears and concentrated on putting on her fascinator and matching pearl earrings. She’d never got over the death of her parents and brother in a tragic car accident when she was almost twelve. All she had left of them now was a few precious photographs, which she kept in her bedside cupboard. She regularly took them out and looked at them – it enabled her to remember that she’d once been part of a happy family. And she blamed herself for what happened. She’d gone to check on an injured bird that morning, so she’d missed the planned trip to get new school uniforms for her and her brother Pete. After waiting in vain for her daughter to appear, her mother had finally decided to set off with Pete, and at the last minute her father had chosen to take a lift in her mother’s car. Laura was well aware that if she hadn’t delayed her mother, they might never have crashed, and her father would never have taken a lift because they’d have left for town already. Ever since then, Laura had carried around the guilt like a huge weight on her back.

Laura wiped away another tear. As Laura’s close friend since childhood, Kerry, too, had been devastated by what had happened, and, sadly, Kerry’s mother had died of a suspected heart attack while both young women were still at university. Without a doubt, the early loss of both their families had brought her and Kerry even closer.

‘Come on, dry those tears – you’ll ruin your mascara,’ Kerry said briskly. ‘There’s no time for sad memories today. This is a happy day, and I want to see you smiling.’

Laura obliged, giving Kerry a winning smile. Then she picked up her bouquet of freesias and roses, surveyed herself in the mirror, and gave a contented nod. She was pleased with what she saw. Looking back at her was a woman who had the clear eyes of someone in love, who was just about to marry the man she adored.

‘I’m ready,’ said Laura, taking a deep breath.

C
HAPTER
2

E
llie Beckworth rode her bicycle home from work, sensing that there was something definitely wrong with the front wheel. It was wobbling too freely, and she decided that at the earliest opportunity she’d take it to the village bicycle shop. Perhaps it needed a new tyre, or possibly the wheel frame had become slightly bent. There were so many stones on this stretch of the road, all of them waiting to snare unwary cyclists …

Widowed a year earlier, Ellie was employed as a chemist in the laboratory of the local canning factory. Her job had proved a lifeline after John’s sudden death, since the small pension from his job didn’t come near to covering her mortgage payments. Besides, returning to work had occupied her mind and distracted her from the loneliness that had enveloped her since John had passed away.

She and her husband had moved to London only a year before his death, when he’d been offered a partnership in a small accountancy firm in the city. They’d left the north of England behind, intent on making a new life, and hoped to raise a family in the London suburbs. They’d even found the house of their dreams, near a village on the outskirts of London but within commuting distance of the city – a small house called Treetops, with a huge three-acre woodland garden, just made for half a dozen kids. But no children were forthcoming, and now there never would be.

Deep in thought, she didn’t hear the car approaching until it was almost level with her. It gave her such a fright as it swept past that she and the bicycle wobbled dangerously, teetering for a few seconds before veering sideways and crashing into a ditch.

‘Aaagh!’
Covered in debris, and with her bicycle clearly beyond repair, Ellie surveyed the mess. Her clothes were dishevelled, and she was having difficulty extracting the twigs that had become knotted in her curly hair.

‘Are you okay?’ said a voice, and Ellie found herself looking up into a pair of dark brown eyes.

‘Does it look as though I’m okay?’ she retorted. ‘I don’t usually choose to dress in muddy clothes, and wear half a tree in my hair!’

As she struggled to extricate herself from the muddy ditch, a hand gripped hers firmly and pulled her up. Ellie recognised the owner of the factory where she worked – Alan Thornton, or ‘Mr Alan’ as the employees called him.

‘You’re Ms Beckworth from the laboratory, aren’t you?’

She nodded, raising her eyebrows. ‘I’m surprised you know who I am. I mean, you’ve got hundreds of employees.’

‘Who couldn’t help noticing you? You’re gorgeous,’ he said, smiling.

‘Well, I’m not exactly at my best right this minute,’ she said tartly, continuing to pick leaves and debris from her hair and clothes. ‘But then again, I don’t usually make a habit of spending my time in ditches.’

Alan smiled down at her, and she noticed how very tall he was. ‘I’ll pop your bike in the boot, and give you a lift home,’ he said, effortlessly hoisting it out of the ditch. ‘It’s the least I can do. I feel responsible for what happened – it’s obvious that I drove too close to your bike and gave you a fright.’

‘Thank you,’ Ellie said, climbing into the front passenger seat and telling him her address while hoping she wouldn’t leave too much debris in his pristine car. The interior was magnificent, and she looked appreciatively at the leather seat covers and the elaborate walnut-and-chrome dashboard. ‘Very nice,’ she said, running her hand along the edge of her seat. ‘How the other half live, eh?’

He laughed. ‘It’s not mine. All the company cars are leased.’

‘Well, I’d be happy to drive something like this, even if it wasn’t technically mine,’ she replied, trailing her hand along the dashboard’s walnut fascia. ‘Right now, I don’t even have a bike!’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that,’ Alan said, starting the engine and pulling out onto the road. ‘I’ll order a replacement bike right away.’

‘Well, if you’re feeling generous, maybe you’d get me a leasehold car instead of a bike? ‘Ellie said, smiling impishly at him.

He laughed. ‘The fall doesn’t seem to have affected your brain, does it? You’ve still got all your wits about you!’ He smiled at her kindly. ‘How are you managing? It’s about a year since your husband died, isn’t it?’

Ellie nodded, surprised once again that he knew so much about her. Then she remembered that she’d seen him at John’s funeral, and had considered it a nice gesture that the company’s owner had bothered to attend a mere employee’s husband’s funeral.

‘I’m fine, thanks,’ she told him. ‘Anyway, work keeps me busy.’

Alan darted a glance in her direction. ‘If the fall’s genuinely shaken you, please don’t hurry back to the laboratory tomorrow,’ he told her.

Ellie gave him a scornful look. ‘Do I look like some ridiculously dim damsel in distress? It would take more than a fall off my bike to wind me!’

‘Yes,’ he said softly, ‘I can see that now. You strike me as quite a remarkable woman.’

As Alan turned in off the road and drove up Ellie’s driveway, he whistled in admiration. ‘Wow, I’d no idea there was a house tucked away in here – it’s so secluded! And you’ve quite a bit of woodland behind the house, too. It’s lovely! I really like the veranda, too.’

‘Thank you.’ Ellie smiled sadly to herself, remembering that she and John had bought the house with a future family in mind.

As the car drew up outside the front door, Ellie hesitated, unsure what to do.

‘Would you like some tea?’ she asked.

‘Yes, please.’

In the kitchen she filled the kettle, knowing that Alan was watching her. It made her feel intimidated and excited all at once. To have such a powerful and attractive man looking at her was a strange yet heady feeling. At the same time, she felt embarrassed at her untidiness, and hurriedly tucked a stray stand of hair behind her ear. She knew she must look a fright.

‘Here – there’s a bit of grass stuck behind your ear.’

Suddenly, he was beside her, removing the offending grass and placing it in her outstretched hand. It seemed such an intimate thing to do, as though they’d known each other for a long time.

‘Oh, thanks.’ Flustered, she took the piece of grass and dropped it into the bin beside the worktop. ‘I must look a mess,’ she said self-consciously. ‘Excuse me, I’ll just go to the bathroom and tidy up –’

She felt his hand on her arm, restraining her, and it seemed to sear through her skin.