Eleven
Bel woke the morning of the wedding wondering what had roused her.It couldn’t be. Her eyes shot open.Oh no… The rain was more torrential than ever.
She considered pulling the covers back over her head, but there was really no point. Sooner or later, she was going to have to deal with Larkin, who was not going to handle this meteorological road bump at all well. Deciding she wasnotgoing to deal with this uncaffeinated, Bel gave a fatalistic sigh, pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt then headed downstairs in search of a coffee.
It was still early and there were no signs of anyone else being up, which was a small relief. She didn’t feel up to morning small talk. Not that that was going to be on anyone’s agenda today. Already she could picture the entire householdwalking on eggshells around Larkin and Lois. Gisele would be earning her exorbitant salary today.
A movement outside the large kitchen window caught Bel’s eye and she spotted a figure across the yard, walking over from the shearers’ quarters the men had been staying in. Tate. Her stomach did a curious little flutter as she thought back to the previous night and an almost shy smile crossed her face. She still found it hard to believe this man was somehow attracted to her … her! She felt a flutter of panic as he jogged across the yard to the back door, her anxiety laced with a dash of terror at being found out. She wasn’t part of this life, no matter how Larkin dressed her up, and, sooner or later, Tate would work that out. A small wave of sadness washed over her as reality hit: time was running out. Tomorrow, everyone would start leaving and Cinderella would have to return to Dwyers’ and life would go back to the way it had been B.T.—Before Tate.
‘Good morning,’ Bel said, forcing away the sadness that threatened to overshadow her mood.
‘It is now,’ he said. He took off his coat, shook it out then slipped his arms around her waist. They shared a long, unhurried kiss. How was she supposed to give this up?
The sound of another heavy downpour interrupted the moment.
‘Oh no,’ she whispered as her gaze turned to the windows. A white curtain of rain blocked the view of the cottage outside. There was no deluding themselves that this wasgoing to miraculously clear up in time for the wedding. Even if it did, the manicured lawn was already under ankle-deep water.
‘Oh crap,’ Tate said softly.
‘Larkin is going to—’ Bel started before she was interrupted by a loud scream from inside the house, ‘—freak out.’ ‘Oh, well,’ Tate mused. ‘Lucky they finished the Orangery with a day to spare. Without that, it’d be a disaster.’
‘This is afuckingdisaster!’ Larkin screamed a mere hour later when Stan came in to announce that the roof of the new Orangery had begun leaking and part of it had collapsed, throwing the back-up plans into chaos.
‘What are we going to do?’ Lois gasped, turning to the wedding planner with a distraught look.
For the first time since Bel had met her, Gisele looked oddly panicked, not the kind of thing you would hope to see in your wedding planner during a crisis. ‘I just need a moment,’ she said, touching her fingertips to her temple.
‘We don’t have a moment!’ Larkin shrieked as she threw her hands in the air. ‘We’re expecting two hundred and fifty guests to start arriving within a few hours! You said the rain would stop!’ she cried, turning on her father.
‘We may have to consider postpon—’ Stan started before being drowned out by both his wife and his daughter with their emphatic ‘No!’
‘We have to be practical about this,’ he said, trying for a gentler tone. ‘Where are we going to fit that many people at such short notice?’
‘Uh, sorry to interrupt,’ Henry said from the lounge, looking up from his phone, ‘but about that. They’ve just announced road closures.’ He winced. ‘The road to here is one of them.’
‘What? No! No, no, no,’ Gisele uttered as she snatched the phone from Henry’s hand and stared at the screen. ‘Maya!’
‘I’m here,’ the assistant announced from two steps behind her boss. It was barely seven o’clock and the woman was already dressed in a pencil skirt and button-up blouse, tablet in hand and ready for action.
‘Get me the bus company. There has to be another way.’
Bel chewed on the inside of her lip as she sat quietly on the other side of the room, next to Tate.
‘Is there?’ he asked.
‘Not that a bus would be able to use. And even then, if the main roads are closed, any dirt track would most likely be under as well, or too boggy to use.’
‘So we won’t have any guests?’ Larkin asked, frantically searching the faces around her. She burst into noisy tears.
There was a knock on the door and Tristan’s muffled voice sounded on the other side. ‘Can I come in?’
‘No!’ Gisele and Lois both yelled back, eyeing the door in alarm.
‘It’s bad luck!’ Lois added.
‘Oh, seriously, Mother!’ Larkin said, wiping her eyes as she marched to the door. ‘How much more bad luck can we have? I want to see my fiancé.’
‘Oh, God,’ Aunt Lois said in a tone that suggested her daughter had just opened the gates to hell.
