‘Tomorrow, then?’
This is not the answer I want. Ever since the accident, I seem wto have lost most of my patience.When I want to do something, I want to do it right now. And I want to talk about planning our weddingright now. But I’m also aware this is something I need to work on. ‘Okay,’ I say sullenly.
Simon pulls my phone from his pocket and hands it back to me. ‘No calling what’s-his-face while I’m out.’
I nod. And this time I’m telling the truth. I have no intention of calling Rob back. I’ll just send him the text I promised, then switch my phone off.
When Simon leaves and I’m on my own again, it takes all of ten minutes of scrolling through all my available streaming services for something to watch before I give up and head to the bookshelf. I pull out a storage box out and push the lid off. There, in all its tabbed and multicoloured glory, is my wedding binder. Just a little flick through won’t hurt.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Five years ago
She’s sitting in the jacuzzi onIsland Queen’s sun deck with a glass of wine beside her. They have a day between charters and the crew have some time to relax.
How was the holiday?
They hadn’t been able to speak on the phone over Christmas. In fact, the Wi-Fi had been so dire in Lapland, they’d hardly been able to message at all. However, he had managed to on Christmas Day, saying he wished she was with him.
Christmas was fineis his reply.
Thinking of her fantasy of kissing him under a dancing curtain of green at midnight, she asks:
Did you see the Northern Lights?
It was the best time of year to catch them.
So, you did?
Yes.
Is it just her, or is he being oddly short and to the point? A tiny quiver starts up in her belly. Is it happening again? Is he losing interest?
How about you? How was your Christmas?
She sighs. Pretty much the same as it always was on board. The crew did some things to cheer themselves up, even though they were working, and the guests were lovely, but it’s hard being away from the people you love.
The usual. Glad it’s all over now.
They fall into easy conversation, the same way they did before the holidays, and after they finally say goodbye, she stares up at the cloudless blue sky, imagining herself in Lapland with him, his arm around her as they gaze up at the aurora borealis while snow falls softly around them.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Present Day
A large artist’s pad with circles drawn on it sits on the coffee table in front of me, peppered with narrow sticky notes. I’ve been staring at it for at least ten minutes, my brain feeling like porridge. I thought planning a smaller wedding reception would be easier, but it turns out it is just as much work. More so, maybe.
We’ve decided to wait for a cancellation at the Royal Marina Hotel, but using their smaller function room that holds only forty people instead of a hundred and twenty. Although we haven’t got the date set yet, we’ve decided we need to work out who’s going to get an invitation, so we can get in early and manage expectations. And part of deciding who to invite is working out who won’t cause drama.
The seating plan for our first wedding was bad enough, but with fewer seats, it’s a lot harder to keep the warring factions of Simon’s sprawling family apart from each other. Every time I move someone away from someone they’re not talking to, they just end up on a table with someone who’s not talking to them. It’s an endless merry-go-round of petty family squabbles, half of which I don’t even know the details of.I just know not to sit so-and-so with what’s-her-face, that sort of thing.
I peel one sticky note off the chart and hold it between my thumb and forefinger. If I could just do away with this one name, it would make everything so much simpler.
We have a large open-plan living space and dining area, with a kitchen next door. I call out to Simon who is making cheese on toast for our lunch. ‘Does your cousin Vera really have to come? She seems to have fallen out with just about everyone!’
Simon appears at the doorway. ‘I believe my mother’s words were, and I’m quoting her exactly, “If you don’t invite Vera, we’ll inevitably end up with Mears family World War Three”.’
I stick the note with “Vera (S cousin)” written on it back down on an empty part of the page. ‘Right.’
