“It’s not funny.”
“It’s a little bit funny.” Then he sobers. “Okay. I see that you’re really into this woman. For reasons you don’t seem able to explain, which is neither here nor there. But, Angus, please could you keep it in your pants for the rest of this weekend? We are so close. Everything needs to go perfectly and then we’re set: rave reviews; referrals from the guests; a whole new lease of life for the farm. What we don’t need is the bride telling her friends that you ruined her wedding getting balls deep in her sister. Stand down, at least for a couple of days. Get through this weekend, and then you pick things back up, hey?”
I pull on my shirt. “Alright, dad.”
Stuart raises an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t go there if I were you. Only Jonathan gets to call me daddy.”
“That’s not what I—” I grab a cushion from the chair and hurl it at him. “I do not want to know that much about your sex life, Stuart.”
“Why? Ross told me all about yours.”
“And I wish the fucker hadn’t.”
Stuart leans back on the bed. “I’m still shocked. Angus. A bastion of restraint. A fortress of solitude. Wedded to the land. Taken in by some city girl. Again.”
“You’re a city boy.”
“Damn straight I am. And so is Jonathan. It works for us. Real talk, can you seriously tell me Rowan would be happy here? Because we both know you aren’t cut out for London.”
Shirt buttoned, I hang the bow tie around my neck and begin forming it into a knot. “It doesn’t matter anyway. She and her ex. They’re getting back together right now. I’m sure of it.”
“Him?” Stuart swigs his beer. “I don’t see it.”
“Regardless. You’re getting ahead of yourself. You don’t know Rowan. I barely know her. There’s nothing between us.”
Even as I say the words, I know I’m lying.
“I know, I know. I’m being over-protective. But watching Violet rip out your heart and stomp all over it in her shiny Malono Blahnik’s was excruciating. I don’t want to see you hurt again.”
My hands still. “Rowan isn’t Violet.”
“English? High maintenance? Prone to drama?” Stuart ticks them off one by one. “Let’s see. So far, she’s pissed off her sister by failing to show up for any of her maid of honour duties, slept with the owner of the venue, and had her ex turn up to – what? – win her back the day before the wedding. Seems dramatic to me.”
He gets off the bed and hands me my jacket as I finish buttoning my waistcoat.
“Look, Angus. You’re a grown man. I’m not going to tell you what to do.” He catches my eyes in the mirror, and I can see the sincerity radiating there. “All I’m saying is, be careful, okay?”
I nod. “Okay.”
Stuart claps me on the shoulder. “Good talk. Now, I need about half an hour to make myself fabulous. Think you can hold the fort in my stead?”
“I reckon I can manage.”
“Try not to ruin all my good work.”
* * *
I feared I’d return to a state of panic: tasks half done, décor half up, something or someone on fire and needing my attention. Instead, when I descend, showered, shaved and dressed in my kilt, the farm is calm. Eerily so. I can hear murmuring in the kitchen, so I poke my head in to find Jonathan, Stuart’s husband, piping lilac buttercream on to the third layer of the wedding cake, the other two laid out on the counter next to him, gleaming with fresh frosting.
He’s wearing a canvas apron over his denim overalls, his square glasses pushed back up on his forehead as he bends over in concentration. He’s shorter than Stuart, and a decade older, half his hair already gone silver and fine laughter lines threading the creases around his eyes and lips.
On the other side of the kitchen, the caterers are setting up, pulling sauces and half-prepared food out of huge tubs, mixing bowls and oven trays piled beside them. I leave them be. My interference will cause more chaos than it will solve.
“The conquering hero returns.” Jonathan’s green eyes spark with merriment. His voice rings with an American twang. “And with quite the story to tell, I hear.”
“Your husband has already given me my marching orders.”
“I had no doubts.” He turns the cake, producing a flat knife to smooth the buttercream. “He worries about you.”
