And off Lily’s mind went again, conjuring up images of Matt in the shower.
And it was Tess’s wedding day, and they had a lot to do.
‘I’m going to go and see what’s happening with Carole and the wedding plans,’ Lily said. ‘I’ll see you in the kitchen.’
Lily found Johanna and Aaliyah in there. Norm had picked them up while she was showering.
Aaliyah, sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, snorted with laughter when Lily walked into the room, and whipped her phone up and started snapping. ‘Love your outfit. And your slightly mud-coloured cheeks. Carole’s already shown us the photos of you and Matt in full muddy glory. We’ll have a whole Lily’s Day Out collection of photos for you to curate soon.’
Lily glared at her. ‘You’re supposed to be a very closefriend,’ she said. ‘Oh my word. Yourankle.’ It was wrapped in a bandage that was nearly as OTT as Tom’s finger one. ‘Can’t anyone do a normal-sized bandage round here? Tess is going tofreak. And, also, are you okay?’
‘Penelope’s husband Howard’s a retired GP and he very kindly took a look at it. He thinks it’s a sprain and that I need to have it bandaged up. And it does really hurt without it and Howard doesn’t want me to do permanent damage to myself and I’m keen not to either. I’m thinking Tess might be okay about it because our dresses are long and I can stand behind people and not get the foot in the photos.’
‘What shoe are you going to wear though?’
They had pale-blue suede kitten-heeled shoes that matched their bridesmaid dresses. Aaliyah’s bandaged foot had to be about five sizes bigger than normal.
‘Penelope’s lent me some size nine Crocs that belong to her swimming pool cleaner.’
‘What colour?’
‘Neon orange.’
‘No way. This is beyond ridiculous,’ Lily said. ‘Everything that can go wrong is going wrong. I feel like having a tantrum myself and I’m not even the bride.’
‘Stop panicking. Everything’s going to befine,’ Carole said. ‘Johanna has all the food in her restaurant kitchen and she doesn’t think we can feasibly transport it up here, so I’ve called a builder friend and we’re going to put some boards down to cover all the mud, and we’re going to put Penelope’s gazebos up and decorate them, and as I said it’ll befine. So, really, there was no need for you and Matt to go for your cross-country hike. You could just have stayed in the hotel until it stopped raining and called me when I woke up and we’d be in the same position as now except Aaliyah wouldn’t have a sprained ankle and you two wouldn’t have got so muddy. Just saying.’
‘But we didn’tknowit was going to stop raining or that you’d wake up soon or that the car would break down,’ Lily said. ‘And at least Tess was happy that we were doing something.’
‘Not so happy now,’ Aaliyah said, holding her phone up. ‘Just took a very stressed call.Grey’s Anatomyisn’t doing it for her any more. She needs wedding prep action. Howard’s offered us a lift and Carole can come with Matt when he’s ready. We need to get back down to the hotel and start our hair and make-up.’
‘And maybe scrub a bit more, Lily,’ Carole said. ‘You’re still quite muddy.’
‘I’vehadmy shower,’ Lily said, ‘and the mud will not come off.’
‘You look lovely,’ Aaliyah said, ‘and no one will notice a tiny residue of mud.’
‘Oh, God, I lookreallymuddy, don’t I? Tess is going tokillus,’ Lily said.
‘I’ll stand on one leg and you can wear a lot of foundation. It’ll be fine.’ Aaliyah stood up on her good foot and began to hop across the kitchen. ‘And also nothing compared to the whole rain thing.’
‘It’s going to be a disaster.’ Tess was sitting in front of the mirror in her room with most of her hair in rollers while the hairdresser did clever things with tongs and the wispy bits at the front. ‘We haven’t planned for an interior wedding. We don’t have the right décor.’
‘It’s going to be amazing.’ Meg was sitting cross-legged on Tess’s bed, looking far too happy. ‘When you’re marrying the person you love, your surroundings don’t matter at all; it’s just about declaring that love in front of the people who matter to you the most.’
‘Okay, so that’s true in a fairy-tale romance,’ Tess said, her voice beginning to crescendo, ‘but in real life I’ve spent three and a half years and way more money than we could really afford planning this bloody wedding and I’ve postponed it seven times because of Covid and I want it to be perfect. And I had not factored in having to decorate a gazebo and now we’re going to have to do that at very short notice and we don’t have time because we have to getready.’
‘Decorating a gazebo isn’t that different from decorating the courtyard,’ Aaliyah said.
‘Yes, it is. The gazebo will obscure the beautiful plants growing round the edge of the courtyard.’
‘I think we need to look on the bright side—’ Aaliyah didn’t sound as thoughshewas looking on the bright side; she sounded as though she was about to flip ‘—everything’s going to befinebecause a lot of very kind people are helping, and you’re getting married to the man you love in a gorgeous location in front of a lot of family and friends.’
‘And also,’ Lily said, fast, because Tess’s eyes were now looking suspiciously damp and they didnotneed a bride with a tear-blotched face to deal with, ‘gazebos are open down the sides, aren’t they, it isn’t a tent, so we’ll still be able to see the sides of the courtyard,andCarole and Penelope have volunteered to decorate the ceiling.’
‘Are youjoking?’ Tess screeched. ‘Have you seen Penelope’s house? And garden? And the way she dresses? Nowayis she decoratingmy wedding reception venue. It’s going to have to be you three. No. I need some help here. Meg, you stay, you’re the best with make-up. Aaliyah and Lily, you go. For one hour max because then you need to get ready.’
‘Oh-kay.’ Aaliyah turned round and opened the door.
