“Maybe you should grab a sandwich or something. Hang on.” She delved into her bag, which was almost as big as a small suitcase and pulled out a pack of sandwiches. “Emergency food, especially for weddings. There’s always that bloody long period between the actual wedding and the meal. I know there’ll be canapes or posh food like that but it’s never enough to stop you feeling tipsy. Eat those.”
She thrust the packet at Killian who looked at it, assessed and opened it. “Thank you,” he said. “Bacon, lettuce and tomato. My favourite.”
She made a curious humming noise which suggested she knew all along that those were his favourites and I wondered whether all little old ladies from Severton came with magical powers and no filters.
Nick and the Callaghan brothers ushered Killian out of the doors of Claridge’s where several tourists were lingering and taking photos. It could’ve been a celebrity wedding given the amount of attention they got and I wondered whether this would be Ava’s thing or whether she’d prefer a beach on a tropical island.
“Thinking’s good, boy. Overthinking usually means you’re not talking enough,” Vanessa’s gran patted my shoulder hard enough for me to really sympathise with her late husband. “You ever do anyone any damage with those guns?”
I laughed and then stopped suddenly, thinking of the only time in recent memory when I had hurt someone. Jon McKend-Berry.
“Take your head out of wherever it’s gone and move on,” Gran said. “Vanessa told me what happened with her sister-in-law and how things have been, but she also said that you were getting close again. Looks like you’re about to come through the tunnel and find a pretty meadow on the other side. Don’t spend precious time looking back into that darkness, boy.” She patted my arm again. “Now, I’ll have a whisky. One of those expensive ones.”
I glanced at Owen. “Watch her while I go to the bar. Make sure she doesn’t try to manhandle any of the guests.”
“Oh, you needn’t worry about the guests. Especially that damn fine sergeant of Killian’s. He’s already promised me the first dance off his card.” She gave me and then Harry Williams a dirty wink and sat down primly on a chair.
Owen shrugged. “Make mine a double.”
I hadn’t seen Ava’s bridesmaid dress. All I’d been told was that it was blue and she had to wear really high heels. Ava spent most of her days in houses that were being renovated, climbing up furniture to measure the width of windows, or plastering, sanding, wallpapering – the list was endless. All of this meant she didn’t really wear heels, other than when she was going out. Now she had a day in them, and an evening.
I sat on the bride’s side of the room with Owen next to me. Killian was standing at the front with Nick and looking slightly better than he had before. Nick was talking constantly and I’d overheard some of it, general bullshit around Claire changing her mind, that after their honeymoon she’d realise he wasn’t man enough and did he need a supplier of little blue pills. Killian said nothing, just patting his brother on the back instead.
The music started, something gentle and soothing and recognisable. It was played by a string quartet that were placed at the side of the room near the windows that looked out onto the gardens.
Killian stood steadfast facing the front, Nick next to him, both wearing morning suits rather than their military gear. I turned my head to the entrance to see Payton and Ava walking in, both holding white flowers. Ava’s blonde hair was down and curly, tamed rather than wild, but it hung to her waist, partly covering bare skin as the bridesmaid’s dress was apparently backless.
Her eyes fixed on me and she smiled broadly before muting it to shy. I knew I should be casting the bride a glance but instead I was taken with Ava and I realised I was grinning like an idiot.
Then I switched to watching Killian. He’d given in and turned round to see his bride as she became closer, holding their little girl into her instead of flowers. His face broke out into a smile and he held out his arms to take Eliza, kissing her softly on the top of her head. Her arms were held out towards him and she automatically grabbed his beard. A peal of laughter filled the room and the officiant joined in. Eliza was passed to Marie and everyone sat down, the atmosphere in the room now relaxed rather than tense.
Ava and Payton had sat with us at the end of the row, the seats in front occupied with their brothers, parents and Eliza, who was looking at us over Marie’s shoulder. I watched Ava as she stared at her eldest sister as she said her vows, omitting any mention of obey and then as both of them said their own vows, that they had written themselves.
No one, it seemed, was aware of this, and I became aware of hankies being passed around, a sharp dig in my back from Gran as she passed forward a pack of tissues to hand to Vanessa and Victoria. I hated to ask what else she had in her bag.
Ava’s eyes were teared up and Payton was doing an impression of a waterfall as Claire talked about how she felt about Killian, their time apart and Eliza. Neither her nor Killian were overly chatty about how they felt about each other, preferring to still irritate and poke at one another so hearing what they did feel was raw and tender.
“I promise I’ll never tell you that you have too many shoes,” he said to her. “And I promise I won’t send our daughter to a boarding school in the middle of Bodmin Moor until she’s thirty. I promise I’ll love you and when you try to irritate me I’ll remember what it was like to live without you and that’ll give me patience to help you deal with whatever crisis you’ve created. I love your strength, your intelligence, your heart and your passion. I don’t need another person to make me complete, but I do need you to make me the man I am.”
Owen half stood up and started to shift across Payton so Ava could move and sit next to me. Her head went onto my shoulder and I pulled her into me while Killian’s words continued, some funny, some serious. I barely heard them, concentrating instead on the blonde hellion in my arms.
And then the ceremony was over and Claire and Killian were finally married. He carried Eliza back down the aisle in one arm so Claire could take a huge bouquet of some type of flowers. She was smiling more than I’d ever seen her, held into Killian’s side and they were bombarded with people taking photographs. Ava stood in front of me, her back against my chest, waiting for Owen and Payton to follow behind before we could leave to go into the reception where champagne and canapes were waiting. I wasn’t sure how well received the canapes would be by Gran.
“You okay?” I said to Ava as we walked down the aisle. She was gripping onto me tighter than normal.
She nodded. “I didn’t know about their own vows. I didn’t know they had it in them.”
I chuckled. “Argumentative waters run deep.”
And then a relative came over to talk to her which meant any chance of a conversation between the two of us would be some time away. Instead I got to watch her shine.
Like Jackson and Vanessa’s wedding, the alcohol flowed rapidly and freely. Another fifty or so guests turned up for the evening reception and Dartmouth House became full of lawyers, military men and friends of Claire and Killian. I saw Amelie getting up close and personal with the same guy she’d hollered at on Killian’s stag night.
I was at the bar with Maxwell and Seph while most of the girls were dancing to some house tune. It should probably have been a quieter affair, given the stateliness of the venue, but alcohol, fifteen rugby players and Callaghans had turned it in to something that resembled a student night after a sports afternoon.
“Where’s Jackson?” I said, not able to see him in the corner where someone had instigated a drinking game.
“Back at the hotel with Vanessa. She wanted to have a lie down,” Max said. “Victoria’s going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow if she carries on.”
