At Gretna Green.
Fern couldn’t believe what she was seeing. They had got engaged barely two days before and now this. She read the caption.
A small, romantic ceremony, just the two of us.
There were gold bands on their fingers, a kiss under the wooden arch. The photos were all soft lighting and whimsical filters. Surely this had to be some sort of joke, but not according to thousands of comments underneath the post.
Fern stared. This was her best friend… or had been. She couldn’t stop her eyes blurring with tears. She hadn’t expected the deceit of it all. Hearing the door open she looked up to see Clemmie walking through it, waving a bunch of flowers. ‘I thought these would cheer you up…’
She took one look at Fern and stopped in her tracks. ‘Fern? Oh, being burgled is such a horrible thing to happen.’
Fern placed her phone on the desk, and covered her face with both hands. A sob escaped before she could stop it.
‘What can I do?’ Clemmie asked kindly.
‘It’s not even about the burglary,’ Fern said, looking up. ‘It’s Ella. My so-called best friend has been sleeping with my ex, and I don’t mean just recently. I mean more than likelywhilewe were still together. I’d bet anything on it.’ She took a shaky breath. ‘Barely a week ago he was trying to get me back into bed and now… now they’re married.Married.She didn’t even tell me.’
‘That doesn’t sound like a friend. I’m so sorry this is happening to you.’
‘No doubt it will be plastered all over the newspapers tomorrow. I feel so humiliated.’
‘Why would it be plastered over the newspapers?’
‘My ex is Jax Devlin.’
Clemmie’s mouth dropped open in shock and Fern would have laughed if she wasn’t so busy crying. ‘I wasn’t expecting that.’
‘They got married at Gretna Green. White dress. Daisies in her hair.’
‘That’s not good.’
‘I don’t care about Jax, but I always thought Ella was my person. We were meant to be each other’s family and now I feel like I don’t even know her at all. I feel such a fool.’
‘You are not a fool.’
‘In the past, we’d even had chats about our wedding days. How we’d be there for each other. I feel blindsided. How long has this even been going on? I’d expect it from him but not her.’
‘It must hurt. I don’t think anything I could say now would make it any better. When are you going back to London?’
‘I’d taken some leave, but I’m expected back in the office on Monday, and to complicate things further I’ve just been offered a short-term promotion. Editor is a job I’ve always wanted… but Ella would be in the team I manage. I’m not sure how I feel about seeing her again. I don’t want to face her or hear what she has to say.’
‘It doesn’t sound ideal. Do you have to go back? What about this place?’
‘I’ve got to admit, I’m enjoying being here. All this– though not the burglary, obviously– it’s been great, and spending time with Daniel and getting to know him is just…’ She smiled.
‘He’s a very good catch,’ Clemmie acknowledged.
‘I know, he makes me smile every day and that was something Jax never did. All he ever did was make me anxious and confused. Whenever he was gigging all I could think about was how many groupies would end up in his bed, but I never imagined it would be my best friend.’
‘I would say you’ve had a lucky escape, probably from both of them.’
‘I’m beginning to think you may be right.’ She sighed. ‘I’ve worked so hard for that job, but if I don’t take it…’
‘You won’t lose anything, you’ll just build a better future. Look what you have here. Does it have to stay an antique shop? It’s a fabulous location, and you could start your own magazine, become your own boss. You have choices, and one huge win for choosing Puffin Island is that you don’t have London prices. You could get a fresh start with a great community, a slower pace of life, and friends that aren’t going to sleep with your boyfriend.’
Fern smiled. ‘That’s good to hear.’
‘It will all work its way out.’
