The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (142 page)

  
He dashed downstairs and stood in the hall. He felt an immense sense of
pride as Harley swanned downstairs, clutching a bouquet of white roses tied up
with blue ribbons, Courtney and baby Daisy, following.

  
‘Wow! You look like a real princess today,’ Roy
said, taking a deep breath. ‘Truly stunning.’ He kissed her and she took his
arm as he led her out to one of the waiting vintage Rolls. Harley waved to
Courtney and Daisy who got into the one behind with Jason and Jules.

  
‘You ready for this, sweetheart?’ Roy
asked as the car pulled away down the drive on its short journey to Ashlea
Church.
 

  
‘Yes,’ Harley nodded. ‘But I’m feeling a bit nervous. You okay, Dad? You
don’t look too clever. You’re very pale.’

  
‘I’m fine,’ he replied. ‘Like you, a bit nervous, I guess.’ He was
bloody terrified, but he couldn’t admit that to his daughter. He felt like
jumping out of the moving car and legging it down the road to the nearest pub.

  
‘Where’s your hat?’ Harley asked, frowning.

  
He looked at her, one eyebrow raised. ‘I stamped on it.’

  
She started to giggle. ‘Dad, why? Mom’ll go mad.’

  
He laughed with her. ‘Can you honestly see me wearing a top-hat? Come
on, Harley, I’m Roy Cantello,
The Raiders
front-man. I don’t wear hats and I’d never live it down once the photos were
published. I’ll tell Livvy I sat on it by accident.’

  
‘Your secret’s safe with me,’ Harley said, grinning.

  
He smiled and gently stroked her cheek. She snuggled into him and he put
his arm around her. He wouldn’t let her down. If he did nothing else right
today, he’d make sure he handed her over to Jack’s safekeeping.

  
‘Here we are,’ Roy said as
the car pulled up outside the church.

  
‘There’s Faye, Nathan and Jamie with Jess, Jon and Daniel.’ Harley waved
as Roy helped her out. The second
car pulled up behind them and Courtney hurried over to help straighten Harley’s
dress. Jason handed Daisy over and he and Jules followed Jess and everyone else
into church. Daniel was smiling over Jess’s shoulder at Roy
and he waved his arms about and called something that sounded like Dadda.
 

  
‘Did you hear that?’ Roy
said. ‘He called me Dadda. He’s never said it before.’

  
‘He’s been saying it for a few days,’ Harley whispered. ‘You should
spend more time with him. Then you’d know.’

  
‘Chance’d be a fine thing,’ Roy
muttered. ‘Livvy never let’s me do anything for him. Right, that’s our cue,’ he
said as the throaty rasp of Enrique Iglesias declared
Let
Me Be Your Hero,
the
song
Harley and Jack had chosen for
her walk down the aisle.
  

  
Jason and Jules, in their usher’s positions, gave Harley a kiss each and
shook Roy by the hand. Jason also
gave his dad a quick hug. Harley tucked her arm through Roy’s
and they began the slow journey. He nodded at Phil and Laura, Carl and Cathy,
and Sean and Tina. He could see Ed standing at the front next to Jack with
Nathan, who was Jack’s best man. Jane was in the second pew with Pat and Tim,
Kate and Zak, and Jess, Jon and Daniel. Harley smiled at everyone as she
passed, as regal as a true princess. Roy
didn’t think he’d ever felt so choked and proud all at the same time.
  

 
 
The press gang from Hello were
assembled in the left front pew, cameras at the ready. Bloody hell, Livvy, he
thought, this was difficult enough without the whole world knowing their every
move. He couldn’t believe how camera and reporter shy she’d been when she’d
first moved into Phil’s place. Alright, so it was to make sure she got custody
of Courtney, but that had changed rapidly once Danny had passed away and they’d
moved in together. It wasn’t like any of them needed the bloody money for the
exclusive. Even her parents were living a comfortable lifestyle now, thanks to
their daughter. Maybe he’d suggest the money went to The Christie for cancer
research.
   

  
Jack turned and caught Harley’s eye. He was beaming, his dark curls
neatly trimmed, blue eyes sparkling. She smiled back and took her place beside
him.
 

  
Roy moved to stand by Eddie.
‘One down two to go,’ he muttered as Eddie nodded.

  
‘Soon be over,’ Eddie whispered. ‘Think of tonight. Right, get ready.
Here’s your future wife.’

  
Roy felt the lump in his
throat threatening to choke him as Livvy walked down the aisle on Peter’s arm.
She’d chosen the traditional wedding march and was smiling and looking straight
at him. She looked beautiful, but there was a steely glint of determination in her
eyes and it was something he’d never seen before. He didn’t like the look of
it. He felt like a rabbit caught in headlights. Peter led her to stand beside
him and then turned to wait for Gina, who had also chosen the traditional
wedding march.

  
The vicar asked who was giving Harley to Jack and Roy
stepped forward. As the service progressed he couldn’t look at Livvy, who kept
pulling on his arm, concentrating instead on his daughter and Jack. When Gina
and Peter took their place in front of the vicar to say
their
vows, Roy thought
his head might explode. He felt sick and the banging noise in his ears was
getting louder. Each breath he took didn’t seem to be reaching his lungs. He
turned to look at Eddie.

  
‘You okay, mate?’ Eddie whispered. ‘You look dreadful.’

  
Roy shook his head and
turned to face the congregation. He felt panic stricken, gulping in great
breaths of air. He saw Jane staring at him and shaking her head. She was
mouthing something to him, but he couldn’t tell what. He missed the vicar
asking him and Livvy to move forward as he keeled over beside Eddie. The last
thing he was conscious of was the vicar’s shiny shoes and Livvy’s anxious face,
her voice seeming to come from a distance, asking was he alright, as he slipped
into peaceful oblivion.

***

Eddie shouted to Jane to call an
ambulance. He rolled Roy into the
recovery position and loosened his tie and undid his shirt. Everyone was
panicking and Livvy and Harley were crying and crowding round. ‘Get back and
give him some air,’ Eddie ordered as the photographer from Hello started
flashing. ‘Livvy, get rid of them. He doesn’t need it.’
 

  
‘Oh my God,’ Harley cried. ‘Dad, Dad. Is he dead?’ Tears streamed down
her cheeks and she clung to Jack. ‘He wasn’t very well earlier. He looked so pale
in the car.’
       

  
Jason sprinted up the aisle and whispered to Eddie that his dad had been
smoking dope earlier and had no doubt had a drink or two. Eddie nodded, but
told Jason he thought it was something more than that. He was worried that Roy
had suffered a stroke or a heart attack. He wasn’t coming round, but Jane was
checking his pulse now and he was still breathing, a bit erratic, but
breathing, nevertheless.

  
‘He said he couldn’t do this earlier,’ Jason whispered to Eddie, out of
earshot of Livvy, who was weeping in her father’s arms. ‘But he didn’t want to
let Harley down.’

  
‘Well he didn’t,’ Eddie said. ‘Nor Livvy’s parents. It’s just he and
Livvy that didn’t quite make it.’

  
The paramedics arrived and Jules led them to Roy.
The congregation left the church at the vicar’s request and made for the
church-hall next door, with the promise of a cup of tea and an update as soon
as there was one.

  
The paramedics checked Roy’s
vital signs, gave him oxygen and he began to come round.

  
‘Have you got any chest pains?’ he was asked.

  
He shook his head, looking totally bewildered. ‘Just feels a bit tight
when I breathe. What happened?’

  
‘You passed out,’ a paramedic told him. ‘Might be a panic attack, but
we’re gonna take you to hospital and get you checked over. Can you walk to the
ambulance, or shall we get a stretcher?’
 

  
‘I can walk, I think,’ Roy
said as they helped him to his feet. ‘I feel a bit groggy, but I’m okay.’

  
‘I’ll come with you,’ Livvy cried, grasping his hand.

  
‘No.’ He pulled quickly away, which didn’t go unnoticed by Eddie. ‘No
need. Ed will come with me. You stay here and look after the girls. In fact,
don’t let
me
being ill spoil the day
for everyone. Get them all to the hotel for the reception and I’ll join you
later.’

  
‘But, Roy, we’re not married
yet,’ she yelled, more tears spilling down her cheeks.

  
He stared at her and slowly shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t do this
on purpose. Look on it as an omen. Maybe the marriage was never meant to
happen.’ He turned to Eddie, who gripped an arm, one of the paramedics held the
other, and they walked back down the aisle towards the door, leaving Livvy
looking stunned. She made to run after them, but her dad pulled her back.

  
‘Leave him be, hen. Let them sort him out. I thought he was a goner
then. You can talk later when he comes home.’

***

Jane followed Roy and Eddie out of
church. She took out her mobile and dialled a number. ‘Are you at the airport?
– Good. Get on that plane. Roy
needs you.’ She went back in church and spoke to Harley and Jack. ‘Your dad
will be okay, love. He has a habit of passing out when he gets a bit stressed.
He’s done it on tour a few times and frightened us all to death. I think
everything just got too much for him today. But at least he gave you away,
Harley and heard you take your vows.’

  
Harley nodded. ‘I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him.’

  
‘He’ll be fine, love, you’ll see.’ Jane gave her a hug. ‘He just needs a
bit of space. Maybe they’ll keep him in hospital overnight so he can get some
rest.’

***

Eddie felt a bit of an idiot in
his morning suit, sitting in the hospital waiting room, while the doctors
checked Roy over. A nurse came out
of the curtained-off cubical and told him they were sending Mr Cantello for an
ECG as his heart rate and blood pressure were high. She said he could go in and
see him for a few minutes.

  
Roy was still pale faced and
very anxious looking as Eddie popped his head around the curtains.

  
‘Come in, Ed. Bloody hell, what a time to faint. She’ll think I’ve done
it on purpose.’

  
Eddie smiled. ‘And did you? Jason told me you didn’t think you could go
through with the marriage. Well, ending up in hospital is one sure way of
getting out of it.’

  
‘She’ll hate me now. She’ll say I fucked it up on purpose. If that
stupid magazine hadn’t wanted us to take our vows last, we’d have been married
now. Not my bloody fault she wanted to flaunt it to the world.’

  
‘No, but it’s your fault you got stoned and had a drink on an empty
stomach. You should have had some breakfast.’

  
‘I did. Black coffee and two sneaky fags, my usual. Do you think it’s
fate? That I wasn’t meant to marry her after all? It didn’t feel right, Ed.
Maybe someone is looking after me up there.’ He raised his eyes to the ceiling.
‘I was thinking about Nick and Sammy earlier and I realised I couldn’t do it. I
should have said something then. But I didn’t want to let Harley down.’

***

Jane met Eddie in the hospital
waiting room and handed him a small holdall. She told him the wedding parties
had done as Roy suggested and moved
on to the reception. Jess had taken Livvy and Daniel back to Ashlea Grange and
Jess had let Jane in when she’d arrived to get clothes for Roy.
Livvy had begged to come to the hospital with her, but both Jane and Jess had
persuaded her to wait until Roy
asked for her.

  
‘He doesn’t want her here,’ Eddie said. ‘He was freaking out about the
marriage, that’s why he passed out. To be honest, I think he’s on the verge of
a breakdown. Hardly surprising, considering the last twelve months. They’re
gonna do some tests on him. I think we’ll take him back to our place if they
let him home tonight.’

  
Jane nodded. ‘If that’s what he wants. Can I go in and see him?’

  
‘Yeah, come on.’ He took her hand and led her to Roy’s
cubicle.

  
Roy smiled wearily as she
bent to kiss his cheek.

  
‘How’s Liv?’ he asked.

  
‘Okay. She’s waiting at home for you to get in touch and tell her what’s
happening.’

  
He nodded. ‘I’ll call her when I know. I can’t face seeing her just yet.
I need some peace and quiet, not her going on about the bloody non-wedding.
Christ, it’ll be front page news tomorrow. Me lying prone at the vicar’s
feet!’
    

  
Jane smiled and patted his shoulder.
 
‘Not to worry. It’ll be a five-day wonder.’

 
 
Roy
grasped her hand. ‘When I turned to face you in the church you were mouthing
something at me. I couldn’t tell what it was.’

  
Jane felt her cheeks heating and she looked away for a moment. ‘You
looked so panic-stricken,’ she said. ‘I just knew it was wrong for you to marry
Livvy. I was saying, “Don’t do it. Sammy still loves you.”