Tia turns to Dale. ‘You’re very welcome to join as a page?’
Dale shudders. ‘Definitely not… if that’s okay with you?’
Tia laughs and nods. ‘Now I’ve got my attendants sorted, let’s bring in some chairs, hang up some bunting and see how it looks.’
And just like that, Weddings at Windflowers is really happening.
I am so terrified my legs are shaking. But if I’m going to outperform Lando’s venue, this is just the start. I’m going to have to do this a lot more times than one.
I’ll take it in bite-sized pieces, starting with the match pots.
15
Windflowers, St Aidan, Cornwall
Happy home cards and open minds
Wednesday
The way we’re constantly looking at the weather forecast on our phones it feels like Tia and I have turned into our mums, but we’re only trying to make the most of good days for our outdoor content. The cloudy days have given me a chance to make a start on the beach hut, so once Tia has confirmed that my sample colours for the chairs are working, I buy the paint and head off with Angel and my paint brushes.
It’s obvious that it’s going to take several coats to make a decent job, but the dark cream paint is making an immediate contrast with the whiter hut walls, and I’m feeling happy about that. I’m three chairs in when Angel gets up from where he’s lying on the deck. He only does a single bark, so I carry on singing along to Captain Sensible’s ‘Happy Talk’. By the time I notice Angel bound forward, the approaching figure is already coming up the steps and when I see who it is my gasp is so big I almost swallow my tongue.
‘Lando! Interrupting mid-song! Again!’
Lando leans forward to rub Angel’s ears but stays on the top step. ‘I thought he might have made more noise.’
I did too, but I’m not going to let Lando know that. ‘The amount of ice cream he ate with you last week bumped you straight to “friend for life” status.’
Lando frowns. ‘I saw you pass my cottage earlier, I hope you don’t mind me coming?’
‘You moved in?’
He tilts his head. ‘Three rooms, already furnished; it wasn’t that major.’
‘In that case, welcome to St Aidan!’
The last time Lando and I were at the beach hut together was the night I got pregnant with Nemmie, but I can’t revisit that now. I force myself to focus.
Now Lando’s here, I need to say what I have to. If I don’t do it now, I may lose my nerve.
‘If you’d like a seat pull one from the pile.’ The words will be out in a moment. The fall out might take longer.
Lando leans his shoulder against the verandah post. ‘I’m okay here.’
‘At least come onto the deck.’
He does as I ask, then he leans back and spreads his hands along the verandah rail. ‘It’s been a long time, Maevey.’
We both know what he’s talking about. ‘Ten years. Give or take a month or two.’
It’s the perfect build-up. About that night… I run the words through my head for the last time, but Lando gets in first.
‘I won’t stay long but I wanted to clear the air…’
I have no idea which air he’s talking about, but he carries on anyway.
‘I respect that during this time you have built a life, and I’d hate my arrival to disrupt that.’ His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. ‘When I first heard you’d had a baby, I admit there was a heart-stopping moment.’ He stops and shakes his head. ‘Then I did the sums, and it took approximately five seconds to work out how badly I’d messed up the night of the party when we slept together… You must already have been pregnant then.’
