Summer of Love (27 page)

Maybe it was because the necklace, earrings and bracelet set were for Cora. Her bridal jewellery. The things she’d chosen to wear on the most important day of her life, and she’d trusted Lily to make them. And with everything that was going on, Lily had left it to the last moment, and now she was on a deadline. Maybe that was making her nervous.

Except she’d kept a steady hand all through the moulding, heating, setting, and finishing of Cora’s engagement ring, and the wedding rings for her and Rhys,’ which were sitting securely in her office safe. So why would a few pearls and crystals be defeating her now?

More likely, it was the wine at the pub last night. Or seeing Edward. Or the idea of being friends with Alex again, when the dreams that had kept her tossing and turning half the night told her she wanted more. She wondered if he was having trouble focusing the camera, tonight. He was at his studio, just across the way, taking engagement shots for another of her clients. She could pop over and see how he was getting on. If he was going to be done in time to make Rhys’s stag do.

Or was that too relationshippy? Friends wouldn’t do that, would they?

All she really wanted to do was stop by, say hi, and feel his arms around her for a moment. Or even just step out for a drink and chat for a while, about everything and nothing, like they had back when they were just friends.

But that would be too much like a relationship, wouldn’t it? And she’d made it very clear to him that she didn’t want that. And, even if he still thought he loved her, neither did he.

Alex was the forever type. He’d declared love after one month. Nobody lost that kind of romanticism so quickly. And she couldn’t afford to encourage that. Sure, one day, he’d probably meet his perfect complement in some woman, just like it seemed Edward had done, and they’d be married in a matter of days.

But even then, maybe she’d get to keep him as a friend. As long as she didn’t let him get the wrong idea.

Except… she missed him. So damn much.

Sighing, Lily collected the last of the wandering pearls and started to string them again, interspersing them with the tiny crystals Cora had chosen, which would catch every glimmer of sunlight and make her sparkle. If she could ever get the damn thing finished in time.

She was focusing so hard, she didn’t hear the chime above the door go as it opened. In fact, the moment she realized Cora was standing in the shop was when she said, ‘Is that my necklace?’ and Lily jumped so much in surprise that she dropped the whole thing. Again.

She was starting to think this necklace was cursed. Maybe the old superstition about pearls bringing tears was true. Maybe Cora shouldn’t wear it. Actually, if she told Cora the superstition there was no way she’d want pearls for her wedding day, and Lily could get out of making the damn thing.

Except that wasn’t a very best friendly thing to do. So instead, she sighed and started collecting in the beads again as she said, ‘It is. If I can get it finished.’

‘Well, I’m afraid it’s going to have to wait a little longer.’

Lily looked up to see Cora biting her lip, eyes wide and shining. ‘Why?’

Cora held up a small statue of the Virgin Mary. ‘The weather forecast is predicting rain for Saturday, and my Great Aunt Matilda told me months ago that if I buried this in the earth it would be sure to bring sunshine. At this point, I’m thinking in a hanging basket. We’re running out of time, and she’ll be closer to God that way.’ Lily stared at her. ‘Also, I had a fight with Rhys and you have to help me fix it.’

‘Well, okay then.’ Lily put the pearls aside. It seemed there were more urgent things to sort before this particular wedding than the bridal jewellery, after all.

Chapter Eighteen

It took almost an hour to find the perfect hanging basket spot for the Virgin Mary, but less than half a bottle of wine for Cora to spill the full details of the argument. And she still looked utterly miserable, even with deity-guaranteed good weather and alcohol in hand.

‘He thinks he’s less important to me than the wedding,’ Cora said. ‘How could I let that happen?’

‘Well, you have been kind of…’ Lily tried to find a way to put it tactfully, then gave up, ‘…obsessed, lately.’

‘Weddings take a lot of planning!’ Cora objected, wine sloshing over the side of her glass as she sat suddenly upright.

‘And relationships take a lot of work if you want them to last, I guess,’ Lily said. ‘Not that I’d know, obviously.’

Cora’s eyes narrowed. ‘Seriously. What’s going on with you and Alex?’

‘We’ve decided to be friends,’ Lily said, as unemotionally as she could. ‘We agreed that things moved too far and too fast between us, and given that we both want very different things out of a relationship, it was better to just stay friends.’

‘That’s utter bollocks,’ Cora said. ‘Sorry.’

‘Well, it’s what’s happening.’ Lily looked down into her glass of wine and wished it didn’t make her feel so bloody miserable.

Cora shifted closer, their knees touching, and made Lily look up at her. ‘In that case, tell me honestly. If you could be sitting here with anyone in the world at this moment, who would you pick? And don’t say me because, quite honestly, I’d rather be with my husband-to-be right now.’

Lily wanted to lie. Wanted to make a joke and pick a celebrity, or even shut Cora up by saying Edward, or her mum, or
anyone
except the truth.

But Cora had been her best friend her whole life, and she’d know. She always did.

‘It’s not as easy as that,’ Lily said, but Cora didn’t let her finish.

‘Yes. Yes it is.’ Putting her wine glass down on the coffee table between them, Cora took Lily’s hands in her own. ‘I get that you’re scared, and that you feel you lost the real you when you were with Edward. But the real you is in love with Alex, whether you want to admit it or not.’

The truth of Cora’s words flooded through her, washing away every lie she’d been telling herself for weeks, until all that was left was the shiny clean knowledge that, yes, she was in love with Alex.

But was that enough?

‘I don’t know what to do,’ she whispered, and Cora wrapped her arms around her.

‘Tell me about it. I’m getting married the day after tomorrow and my fiancé is furious with me.’ Cora groaned, and let her head fall to rest on top of Lily’s. ‘We’re both a mess.’

‘But only one of us has to sort this out before Saturday,’ Lily said, straightening up so Cora had to move away. ‘My issues can wait. Let’s sort you out first.’ She might have been a rubbish maid of honour so far, but if she could fix this tonight, maybe she’d win back some best friend points.

‘And how exactly do you plan to do that?’ Cora asked, reaching for her wine again.

Lily sighed. ‘Okay, bottom line. What will make you feel better tonight?’

‘Seeing Rhys,’ Cora replied without hesitation.

Of course. Well, if that’s what it took… ‘You know it’s not exactly good form to gate crash your own fiancé’s stag night though, right?’ In fact, Lily was pretty sure it was written in one of Evelyn’s rules of etiquette. Although, given what she’d learnt about Evelyn and Max, she wasn’t sure even her mum was obeying those rules any more.

‘We don’t have to go in,’ Cora said, slowly, like she was thinking through an idea. ‘I just need to see him.’

‘This is like the Virgin Mary thing, isn’t it?’ Lily said. ‘Unlikely to make any actual difference at all, but you’ll feel better for doing it.’

‘Pretty much,’ Cora admitted.

‘Right then. Grab your coat.’

* * * *

‘Good grief, could you two look any more miserable?’ Gareth adjusted the bright pink wig on top of his head and signalled to the bartender for another three pints. ‘This is a stag do, not a wake. And we’ve got another three pubs to do before we hit the strip club, so you’d better both cheer up.’

‘No strip club,’ Rhys said. It was, Alex thought, possibly the most words he’d spoken at one time all evening.

Gareth tsked and rolled his eyes, then turned his attention back to the buxom blonde barmaid.

‘You promised Cora no strippers, huh?’ Alex asked.

Rhys shook his head. ‘She wouldn’t care. Probably wouldn’t even notice if I brought one of them home. But that place is terrifyingly awful.’

‘Well, I’m glad to be spared it all the same.’ Alex eyed his soon-to-be cousin-in-law carefully. ‘Everything okay with you and Cora?’

Rhys sighed. ‘It will be. Once this bloody wedding is out of the way.’

Ah. So that was the problem. ‘It does seem to have become rather… all encompassing.’

‘Yeah. And, honestly, she’s more interested in Lily and your relationship than she is in ours.’

‘Lily and I don’t have a relationship.’

‘That’s kind of the problem, mate.’

‘Oh. Sorry.’

‘So you should be. Told you that you were an idiot to get involved.’ Rhys gave him a weak smile. ‘Kidding, mate.’

‘Only partly though, right?’ Alex knew what people were saying, already. Had heard it suggested that he’d stolen Lily away from her fiancé, then dumped her when he got bored. He couldn’t imagine it was any more fun for her, knowing the truth of it. ‘But we’re just friends now. It’ll all be okay.’

Rhys gave him a look. ‘Sure. Course it will.’

‘Right!’ Gareth turned back from the bar, three pints and three shot glasses on his tray. ‘Here’s what we’re going to do. We are going to sit down at that table by the fire, and I am going to instruct the two of you in the ways of love. And then we’re going to the strip club, because this is supposed to be a bloody stag night, even if you have managed to scare off all your other friends.’

‘They’re in the back,’ Rhys pointed out. ‘Playing pool.’

‘
You’re
going to instruct us in the ways of love?’ Alex asked. ‘You remember that your wife just kicked you out, right?’

‘And we’re definitely not going to the strip club,’ Rhys added.

Gareth slammed the tray onto the table just hard enough to make a noise, but without sending anything more than foam cascading down the sides of the pint glasses. ‘Sit.’

Exchanging glances, Alex and Rhys did what they were told.

‘Okay. You first.’ Gareth picked up his pint glass and waved it at Rhys. ‘You are marrying the love of your life on Saturday. You are nowhere near good enough for my cousin, and should be pathetically grateful we’re even letting you into the family. And just because Cora has lost her mind right now doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still be worshipping the very ground she walks on.’ He pushed a shot glass towards him. ‘Now drink this.’

Rhys blinked at him. ‘What is it?’

‘Doesn’t matter.’

As Rhys cautiously sniffed at his shot before shrugging and throwing it back, Gareth turned to Alex, and Alex tried not to shrink back in his chair at the determined look on his brother’s face.

‘And as for you…’ Gareth shook his head. ‘It’s not supposed to be this hard, Al. You can’t decide to get married and just grab the first girl you see and decide to make her fit the bill. But you can’t change the way you feel, either. If you love her, you love her. Pretending to just want to be friends won’t change that, you know. You can’t wish away love just because she doesn’t fit with what you think Dad wanted you to have in your life.’

‘That’s not what I’m doing,’ Alex said, but he didn’t sound convincing, even to himself.

‘Al, if you love her, you love her. End of story. You just have to figure out where you go next. Now, drink your shot.’

Alex picked up the small glass, eyeing the contents with suspicion. ‘It’s not tequila, is it? You know I hate –’

‘Just drink it.’

A lifetime of being the younger brother kicked in, and Alex did as he was told, spluttering and blinking as the tequila went down. ‘Jesus, Gareth, couldn’t you have picked something that cost more than a quid?’

But when his eyes cleared, he realized that Gareth and Rhys weren’t paying him any attention at all. They were staring at the window behind them, and when he looked, he could see why.

On the other side of the glass stood Cora and Lily, pressed in close to the tiny window. Through the grimy glass, Alex could just make out Cora mouthing, ‘I’m sorry,’ and waving at Rhys, who grinned and waved back. ‘Goodnight,’ Cora mouthed, and blew a kiss.

Lily didn’t say anything, or make any hand movements, but the smile she gave him warmed Alex far more than the almost-lethal tequila had.

‘See?’ Gareth murmured. ‘It’s all very easy when you don’t try to make it hard.’

‘Maybe you’re right,’ Alex said as Cora and Lily disappeared from view again.

Rhys turned back to them, still grinning broadly. Apparently all he’d really needed was proof that his fiancée still remembered who he was.

‘Let’s have another of these,’ he announced, holding up the shot glass. ‘And then we’re going to the strip club!’

* * * *

The day before the wedding went by in a blur. Before Lily had time to think, she was squeezing into her fancy lingerie and tugging on her raspberry bridesmaid dress, and too busy making sure that Cora was okay to even have time to think about what had happened last time she wore that dress.

‘He’ll be there, right?’ Cora asked, a dozen times on their way to the church.

‘Alex already texted,’ Lily reassured her, each time. ‘Rhys is there, pacing the church, waiting for you. Your happy ever after starts here.’

And it did. Lily stood, bouquet in hand, and watched as her best friend since childhood promised to love, honour and cherish the man she loved – and as he promised it back. How could anyone not believe in love and marriage right then?

But really, Lily mused as the vicar droned on, it wasn’t the public ceremony that convinced her. It was the private moments. The way Rhys always took a glass of water up for Cora at bedtime, because she always forgot. It was Cora singing Rhys’s favourite song while she cooked dinner. It wasn’t a spare room full of wedding books and samples – it was Cora at the window last night, and Rhys beaming back at the sight of her.

That was the true love Alex was searching for, she was sure of it.

Glancing back, she saw Evelyn and Max sitting together, and wondered if that was what they had. She hoped so. Her mum deserved some real love, after so many years alone. And Max would be good for her.