‘Will do.’ Monty resisted the urge to salute, and he shut the door.
Elliot rolled his eyes, grinning wickedly at his friend. ‘Poor Minty. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s cut out for all this.’
‘What? Organising?’
‘Dealing with people.’
‘Ah, I think you’ve a point there,’ Monty admitted. He moved back towards the window where the van had indeed left two long green gouges across the lawn in its race to get away. Minty was going to be furious.
Monty put his best man’s book in his back pocket, reminded of his duties. ‘Elliot?’ he ventured gently. ‘I’m… I’m sorry they didn’t come, your parents. It really is their loss.’
Elliot blew out a breath. ‘They were invited. They ignored it. What else could we do?’
‘I could have called them? You know, explained things, on your behalf.’
‘There’s nothing to explain.’ Elliot switched to the chamois now and rubbed vigorously, bringing up a glossy sheen. ‘I was up in court for disturbing an illegal fox hunt, a guy fell from his horse, nothing to do with me. I told Mum and Dad that all along, but they were too worried about theirstandingamongst their pals and so… they picked a side. I have to accept that.’ Elliot laced his gleaming shoes onto his feet and stood to admire them.
‘You sure I can’t do anything to help smooth things?’ tried Monty.
‘Mate, I know you want to help, but you need to understand, they cut me off. Every time somebody says I could have done something more to get them back on side, it hurts me, you know?’
Monty wasn’t sure he understood.
Elliot tried a different tack. ‘It’s like sayingIshould be the one to bend, to make amends, when they’ve made it clear I’m not their priority. They chose to save face with Dad’s hunting friends and their cronies who sit with Mum on the council. They were ashamed of me.’ Elliot said this last bit slow and emphatic. ‘Suggesting that I need to reach out and talk them round makes me feel likeI’mto blame for their decision not to stick by me when the case fell through and I was cleared. Hell, they should’ve believed me anyway. How could they think I’d harm another person like that?’
Monty thought hard. ‘OK,’ he said finally. ‘I get it. Sorry. I won’t say it again. The whole thing must be horrible for you.’
‘Ah, well. I can’t be the only one it’s happened to. There’ll be millions of guys out there whose family members are too proud, or too narcissistic, to say sorry and make amends. What can you do?’ Elliot, in front of the mirror again, brushed invisible lint from his jacket. ‘Not everyone gets to have a big reunion or to play happy families. And not everyone wants to. Anyways,’ he shrugged, ‘I have family here. Jude is my family, and Jowan, and you, and… hell, even mad old Minty.’ Elliot seemed to gulp down a lump in his throat but he was smiling thinly.
‘And all the people at your vet practice?’ Monty added. ‘And every barking, wagging, scratching, meowing thing within a hundred-mile radius.’
‘Exactly.’
Monty turned to the long windows once more, but he wasn’t seeing the sky greying over Clove Lore –nota good omen on a wedding day. Nor was he seeing his reflection in the draughty old panes where his crisp white shirt was untucked from the darkest blue wool trousers and his tie hung loose from his open collar.
Instead he was seeing himself chattering into the bookshop phone, carelessly giving away Joy’s location, not thinking, confident he was doing nothing wrong. Then his brain replayed the way Joy’s whole body had tensed up and her expression changed from the dopey, relaxed ‘morning after’ look to dawning horror and betrayal as she filled him in on what he’d just done. He could see her now, crying big tears she was trying to hide from him. Tears he’d made fall.
He played it all through in his mind. How she’d thrown him out, quite rightly, and then how, days later, she’d come to him on the beach, looking utterly distraught. He’d said sorry, of course, and he’d meant it, but had he fully understood what he’d done until now? He’d jeopardised everything for her, compromising her child’s safety, wrecking the privacy that was so important to Joy, no matter how improbable he’d felt it was that she was being hunted down by that ex of hers, or how unlikely it was that the chatty, nervous mother he’d spoken with on the phone really was all that wicked. It was Joy’s perception of things that mattered. She was the one who’d been through hell and felt utterly let down. He’d let her down too – and after she’d taken down her walls to let him in.
‘Elliot?’ said Monty, as his mind ran on, unpacking it all. ‘I’ve done something awful.’
He tried to explain to the groom how he’d assumed everyone was as kind and as straightforward as the Bickleighs. He’d heard that nice woman on the phone saying she was Joy’s mum and just assumed they must get on the way he used to get on with his own beloved mum. ‘Shit!’ said Monty, dragging a hand down his face. ‘I didn’t get it!’
Elliot told him it was OK, because he got it now, and poured two cups of black coffee, ready for the long wait until Jude’s arrival.
‘Mate, I have to step out,’ Monty replied. ‘Just for a minute. We’ve got a minute, right? Before it all starts?’
‘We’ve got ages. Jude’s not arriving for a while yet.’
‘I’ll be back soon, I promise.’
‘What does it say in your book about the groom giving the best man a pep talk, huh?’
Monty tried to laugh but he was already calculating how long it would take to ring her to apologise properly. How long it would take to blurt it all out, to say,I encouraged you to trust me, I made you feel safe, then I put you in danger, or at least, I could have done.I didn’t put myself in your shoes. I intruded, thought I knew best. Thought I knew what family looked like for everyone. And I muscled in where you’d been protecting yourself and Radia for years.
He’d find a quiet spot, in the gardens maybe, and make the call. But as he laced his shoes and threw on his jacket, a great clatter rose up from the ballroom below.
Glass smashing? Metal collapsing? And an anguished cry of, ‘No, no, NO!’
