Wedding Night (28 page)

The question takes me off guard. I sip the water, my mind working hard.

“Lottie asked me to go out there,” I lie at last. “But I’m not sure if Ben knows yet, so don’t mention that you’ve seen me, OK?”

“Sure.” He shrugs. “A little odd, asking your sister to join you on honeymoon. Isn’t she having a good time?”

“Actually, they’re thinking of renewing their vows,” I say in sudden inspiration. “Lottie wanted me there as a witness.”

“Oh, please.” Lorcan scowls. “What kind of shit idea is that?”

His tone is so dismissive, I find myself getting irritated.

“I think it’s rather a nice idea,” I contradict him. “Lottie’s always wanted a ceremony by the sea. She’s quite a romantic.”

“I’m sure.” Lorcan nods as though digesting this, then looks up, deadpan. “What about the ponies? Is she having those?”

Ponies? I peer at him blankly. What on earth—

Matching ponies
. Great. So he
did
hear me yesterday morning. My face fills with blood, and just for an instant I feel myself losing my cool.

The way to deal with this, I swiftly decide, is to be direct. We’re grown-ups. We can acknowledge an embarrassing situation and move on. Exactly.

“So. Um.” I clear my throat. “Yesterday morning.”

“Yes?” He leans forward, with mock interest. He’s not going to make this easy for me, is he?

“I don’t know exactly what you …” I try again. “Obviously I was talking on the phone to my sister when you came into the room. And what you heard was totally out of context. I mean, you’ve probably forgotten what I said. But
just
in case you haven’t, I wouldn’t want you to … misinterpret anything.…”

He’s not paying me any attention. He’s taken out a notepad and is writing on it. So rude. Still, at least that means I’m off the hook. I offer the water bottle to Noah, who sips absentmindedly,
his attention fixed on his newspaper hat. Then I look up as Lorcan taps me on the shoulder. He hands me his notepad, on which are lines of writing.

“I believe I have a good memory for words,” he says politely. “But please correct me if any of it is wrong.”

As I read the lines, my jaw drops in dismay.

Small. Seriously, tiny. The whole night was such an ordeal. I had to pretend I was having a good time, and all along … No. Terrible. And afterward wasn’t much better. I feel ill at the very thought. In fact, I might throw up. And then Lorcan will
never
love me, and we’ll
never
get married in a double wedding on matching ponies
.

“Look,” I manage at last, my face puce. “I didn’t mean … that.”

“Which bit?” He raises his eyebrows.

Bastard. Does he think this is funny?

“You know as well as I do,” I begin icily, “that those words were taken out of context. They didn’t refer to …” I trail off as a growing hubbub attracts my attention. It’s coming from the desk. Two air hostesses are remonstrating with a man in a linen shirt and chinos, who’s trying to squash a suitcase into the hand-baggage measuring stand. As he raises his voice angrily to answer, I realize it’s familiar.

He turns, and I quell a gasp of shock. I thought so: it’s Richard!

“Sir, I’m afraid the case is clearly too big for the cabin.” A woman from the airline is addressing him. “And it’s too late to check it in now. Might I suggest that you wait and catch a later flight?”

“A later flight?” Richard’s voice erupts from him like the sound of a tormented animal. “There aren’t any other flights to this godforsaken place! One a day! What kind of service is that?”

“Sir—”

“I need to get on this flight.”

“But, sir—”

To my astonishment, Richard vaults up so that he’s resting on the high desk, his eyes level with the airline woman’s.

“The girl I love has tethered herself to another man,” he says intensely. “I was too slow off the mark, and I’ll never forgive myself for that. But if I can do nothing else, I can tell her how I really feel. Because I never showed her. Not properly. I’m not even sure I knew myself.”

I gape at him, absolutely astonished. Is this Richard? Making declarations of love in public? If only Lottie could see this! She’d be bowled over! The airline woman, on the other hand, looks supremely unmoved. She has black dyed hair pulled into a harsh bun and a doughy face with mean little eyes.

“Be that as it may, sir,” she says, “your case is too big for the cabin. Could you step aside from the desk?”

What a bitch. I’ve seen plenty of people take luggage that size onto planes. I know I should step forward and tell Richard I’m here, but something inside me needs to see what will happen next.

“Fine. I won’t bring the bag.” Glowering at her, Richard jumps back down to the floor and snaps open the clasps of his case. He grabs a couple of T-shirts, a wash bag, a pair of socks, and some boxer shorts, then kicks the case aside.

“There. This is my hand luggage.” He brandishes it all at her. “Happy now?”

The airline woman regards him evenly. “You can’t leave that case there, sir.”

“Fine.” He snaps the case shut and dumps it on top of a litter bin. “There.”

“You can’t leave it there either, sir. It’s a security issue. We don’t know what’s in it.”

“You do.”

“No, we don’t.”

“You just saw me unpack it.”

“Be that as it may, sir.”

The entire place has turned to watch this exchange. Richard is breathing hard. His broad shoulders are raised. Again I’m reminded of a bull about to charge.

“Uncle Richard!” Noah has suddenly noticed him. “Are you coming on holiday with us?”

Richard’s whole body jolts in astonishment as he registers first Noah, then me.

“Fliss?”
He drops a pair of boxer shorts on the floor and stoops to pick them up, looking a little less bull-like. “What are you doing here?”

“Hi, Richard.” I try to sound nonchalant. “We’re joining Lottie. What— er—” I spread my hands questioningly. “I mean, what exactly—”

Clearly I know the gist of what he’s up to, as does everyone here, but I’m interested in the details. Does he have a plan?

“I couldn’t just sit back,” he says gruffly. “I couldn’t just lose her and walk away and never even tell her what I—” He breaks off, his face working with emotion. “I should have proposed when I had the chance,” he adds suddenly. “I should have cherished what I had! I should have proposed!”

His roar of grief rises through the silent air. The whole
place is agog, and, quite frankly, I’m flabbergasted. I’ve never seen Richard moved to such passion. Has Lottie?

I
wish
I’d recorded his whole speech on my BlackBerry.

“Sir, please remove your case from that bin.” The airline woman is addressing Richard. “As I say, it’s causing a security alert.”

“It’s not mine anymore,” he counters, brandishing his boxer shorts at her. “This is my hand luggage.”

The woman’s chin tightens. “Do you want me to call security and have your case destroyed, thus delaying the flight by six hours?”

I’m not the only person who gasps in horror. Around us, polite murmurs of protest start swelling into hostile, pointed comments. I’m sensing Richard is not the most popular passenger in the place. In fact, I’m sensing that the boos and slow hand-claps may begin any moment.

“Uncle Richard, are you coming on holiday with us?” Noah is consumed with joy. “Can we do wrestling? Can I sit next to you on the plane?” He throws himself at Richard’s legs.

“Doesn’t look like it, kiddo.” Richard gives him a wry smile. “Unless you can persuade this lady.”

“This is your
uncle
?” Noah’s friend Cheryl springs into life at the other desk, where she’s been watching proceedings with a vacant stare. “The uncle you were telling me about?”

“This is Uncle Richard,” confirms Noah happily.

I should never have let him get into the habit of calling Richard “Uncle,”
I think to myself. It started one Christmas and we thought it was cute. We didn’t predict a breakup. We thought Richard had become part of the family. We never thought—

Suddenly I’m aware that Cheryl is almost hyperventilating.

“Margot!” At last she manages to speak through her gasps. “You’ve got to let this man on the plane! He saved his nephew’s life! He’s a brilliant man!”

“What?” Margot scowls.

“Huh?” Richard gapes at Cheryl.

“Don’t be modest! Your nephew told me the whole story!” Cheryl says tremulously. “Margot, you have no idea. This whole family. They’ve been through such a lot.” She steps out from behind her desk. “Sir, let me take your boarding pass.”

I can see Richard’s mind whirring in disbelief. He glances suspiciously at Noah, then at me. I pull an agonized face, trying to convey the message,
Just go with it
.

“And you too.” Cheryl turns gushingly to me. “You must have been deeply affected by your little boy’s ordeal.”

“We take each day as it comes,” I murmur vaguely.

This seems to satisfy her, and she moves away. Richard is still clutching his underpants, looking gobsmacked. I’m not even going to
try
to explain.

“So, um, you want to sit down?” I say. “I could get us a coffee or something?”

“Why are you joining Lottie?” he demands without moving. “Is there a problem?”

I’m not sure how to answer. On the one hand, I don’t want to give him false hope. On the other, could I perhaps hint that all is not perfect in paradise?

“They’re renewing their vows, aren’t they?” says Lorcan over his newspaper.

“Who’s this?” Richard reacts with instant suspicion. “Who are you?”

“Right,” I say awkwardly. “Um, Richard, this is Lorcan. Ben’s best man. Best friend. Whatever. He’s flying out there too.”

Immediately, Richard stiffens into his bull-like posture again.

“I see,” he says, nodding. “I see.”

I don’t think he does see, but he’s so tense I don’t dare interrupt. He’s instinctively squared up to Lorcan, his fists clenched.

“And you are?” says Lorcan politely.

“I’m the idiot who let her go!” says Richard with sudden passion. “I couldn’t see the vision she wanted for us. I thought she was, I don’t know, starry-eyed. But now I can see the stars too. I can see the vision. And I want it too.”

All the women nearby are listening to him, rapt. Where did he learn to speak like that? Lottie would
love
that stuff about stars. I’ve been fumbling at my BlackBerry, trying to surreptitiously record him, but I’m too slow.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing!” I quickly lower my phone.

“Oh God. Maybe this is a bad idea.” Richard suddenly seems to come to and see himself standing in the middle of a departure lounge with underwear in his hands and an audience of passengers. “Maybe I should just bow out.”

“No!” I say quickly. “Don’t bow out!”

If only Lottie could see Richard right now. If only she could know his true feelings. She’d see sense, I know she would.

“Who am I kidding?” He sags in desolation. “It’s too late. They’re
married
.”

“They’re not!” I retort before I can stop myself.

“What?”
Richard and Lorcan both stare at me. I can see lots of other interested faces leaning in to listen too.

“I mean they haven’t, you know, consummated it yet,” I explain as quietly as I can. “So technically that means they
could still get a legal annulment. The marriage would never have existed.”

“Really?” I can see a glimmer of hope rising on Richard’s face.

“Why haven’t they consummated it?” says Lorcan incredulously. “And how do you know?”

“She’s my sister. We tell each other everything. And as for why …” I clear my throat evasively. “It’s simply bad luck. The hotel messed up with the beds. Ben got drunk. That kind of thing.”

“Too much information,” says Lorcan, and starts putting his papers away in his briefcase.

Richard says nothing. His brow is furrowed and he appears to be taking this all in. At last he sinks down on the seat next to me and savagely screws his boxer shorts into a ball. I watch him, still feeling disbelief that he’s here at all.

“Richard,” I say at last. “You know the phrase ‘Too little, too late’? Well, you’re more like ‘Too much, too late.’ Flying halfway across the world. Rushing to the airport. Making romantic speeches all over the place. Why didn’t you do any of this
before
?”

Richard doesn’t answer the question but stares at me glumly. “You think I’m too late?”

That’s a question
I
don’t want to answer.

“It’s just an expression,” I say after a pause. “Come on.” I pat him reassuringly on the shoulder. “We’re boarding.”

About half an hour into the flight, Richard comes up to the front, where Noah and I are sitting in a row of three in club class. I haul Noah onto my lap and Richard slides in next to me.

“How tall would you say this Ben is?” he says with no preamble.

“Don’t know. I’ve never met him.”

“But you’ve seen pictures. Would you say … five eight? Five nine?”

“I don’t
know
.”

“I’d say five nine. Definitely shorter than me,” Richard adds, with a grim satisfaction.

“Well, that’s not hard,” I point out. Richard is at least six foot two.

“Never thought Lottie would go for a short-arse.”

I have no reply to make to this, so I roll my eyes and carry on reading the airline magazine.

“I looked him up.” Richard mashes an airsick bag between his fingers. “He’s a multimillionaire. Owns a paper company.”

“Mmm. I know.”

“I tried to find out if he’s got a private jet. It didn’t say. Expect he has.”

“Richard, stop torturing yourself.” I finally turn to him. “It’s not about private jets. Or height. There’s no point comparing yourself to him.”

Richard looks at me for a few silent seconds. Then, as though I hadn’t even spoken, he says, “Have you seen his house? They used it for
Highton Hall
. He’s a multimillionaire
and
he’s got a stately home.” He scowls. “Bastard.”

“Richard—”

“But he’s pretty puny, don’t you think?” He’s tearing the airsick bag into strips. “Never thought Lottie would go for someone so puny.”