Heaven Sent, page 28
Then, without allowing herself even a last lingering glance at the sheds and the lab, she hurried back to the office.
All the way to Fritton Magna, YaYa was in her mournful country mood, and blasted out Bobbie Gentry’s “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” repeatedly on the 4 × 4’s CD player.
Clemmie miserably agreed with every single one of Bobbie’s plaintive words.
By design this time, they’d colour-co-ordinated their outfits, and YaYa’s short, tight crimson suit and thigh-high scarlet boots perfectly complemented Clemmie’s long ruby wool dress, and cherry boots and jacket. They were also both wearing the same fabulous red and black Butler and Wilson crystal chandelier earrings. And YaYa had added a tousled dark red curly wig to ape Clemmie’s hairstyle.
‘We look like the entertainment, love,’ YaYa sighed as they hit the Steeple Fritton, Lower Fritton and Fritton Magna road. ‘For the last time … Oooh, sorry. Shouldn’t say that, should I?’
‘No, you shouldn’t. Right – now we’d better go straight to Fritton Magna and spend the next hour keeping out of the way so that Lola doesn’t get wind of what we’re doing.’
‘Whatever, love,’ YaYa sighed. ‘But if I cry during this particular wedding it won’t be for the usual reasons.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
‘But I don’t even know these people …’ Lola Wentworth frowned in her bedroom above the Crooked Sixpence. ‘Never heard of them. And Valentine’s Day’s one of the busiest in the pub. Why on earth do we have to go to their wedding?’
‘Because,’ Ellis said, hopping round the bed in his boxer shorts and with one leg in his dark grey trousers, ‘for the thousandth time, I was friends with them at school and they’d booked this very quiet wedding miles away from anyone who knew them – they’re both divorced and didn’t want any fuss. Then they found out I lived here and thought it’d be a good idea to meet up again. And it’s really romantic, getting married on Valentine’s Day, isn’t it?’
‘I suppose so …’ Lola sighed, ‘but do we have to dress up like this?’
‘Yes. And you look stunning in silver and navy – remember?’
She punched him playfully. ‘I’m not turning up at the registry office just in my knickers.’
‘Oh, go on …’
She punched him again, then resignedly pulled the dark blue and silver silk wrap-dress from her wardrobe.
Smoothing the dress down over her slim hips and sliding her feet into her navy blue high-heeled sandals, she said, ‘I still think this is way over the top for the wedding of someone I’ve never met. And who’s running the pub while we’re away? When I asked Flynn he said he couldn’t.’
‘We’ll only be an hour or so. Ritchie and Sonia have said they’ll be pleased to do it. I – um – arranged it with them this morning. And Dilys and Norrie will be in to lay on a small buffet for David and Jane. It’s all under control. Look, Lola: I know you’re congenitally conjoined to this damn pub, but it will still be here when we get back. Trust me.’
‘I do. Implicitly. Always have. And what’s Flynn doing, then? I know Posy will be tied up with Orla. My god-daughter has to take priority – but surely, Flynn could—?’
‘We’ve been through all this a million times.’ Ellis fastened his dark-blue tie over his pale-grey shirt with shaking fingers, hoping Lola wouldn’t notice, praying that he could remember the script. ‘Flynn’s busy bringing Queen Mab and the fairground organ up here for a bit of a knees-up in the car park later. My friends hadn’t booked any sort of reception at all, so I said it would be our wedding present to them.’
‘I know – and I know you’ve told me all this before. But it still sounds a bit odd to me. Still, it’s sweet of you.’ Lola crossed the bedroom and kissed him. ‘As usual. And this …’ she fingered the silver and diamond necklace round her slender throat, ‘was even sweeter. And far too expensive for a Valentine’s Day present. I do love you.’
‘I love you, too.’ Ellis returned the kiss. ‘Whoa! Back off, Ms Wentworth! We’ve got a wedding to get to.’
Grinning, Lola returned to the dressing table, and surveyed her immaculate short, layered multi-tonal blonde hair and her perfect make-up.
‘So?’ Ellis stood behind her. ‘Twenty more grey hairs and thirty-two more wrinkles since this morning?’
‘Forget I said I loved you,’ Lola retorted to his reflection. ‘You’re a thoroughly unpleasant man.’
Ellis looked at his watch and took a deep breath. ‘We’d better get a move on. The wedding’s at five and we don’t want to be shuffling in when it’s already started, do we?’
‘No, absolutely not, but it’s a funny time for a wedding.’ Lola frowned. ‘Why so late?’
‘I’ve got no idea. I didn’t ask. Now – here’s your corsage.’ He handed her the tiny blue and silver spray of flowers which exactly matched his own buttonhole. ‘And don’t spend any more time titivating in front of that mirror because you look absolutely perfect. Gorgeous. Good enough to eat. As always. Anyway – no one’s going to be looking at you, are they? All eyes will be on the bride.’
Finally, Lola shrugged, smiled and walked out of the bedroom.
Ellis, his mouth dry as he followed her downstairs to the Crooked Sixpence’s bar, had never felt so nervous in his entire life. From the moment they first met he’d wanted to marry her but he knew that, even now, it could all still go disastrously wrong.
The rings! Where were the rings? Oh, yes, Flynn had them. If this worked, he vowed, he’d never do anything bad in his life again.
‘Jesus!’ Lola had paused in the doorway. ‘What’s this?’
Ellis peered over her shoulder at the limousine parked outside the pub. ‘Another little Valentine’s Day surprise. I thought we should travel in style.’
‘Oh, I love it!’ Lola beamed. ‘Thank you! I’ll feel like royalty.’ She smiled gratefully at the uniformed chauffeur as he held the door open for her. ‘But at this rate I’m going to out-swish the bride.’
Ellis slid into the plush leather seat beside her and held her hand. He felt sick, excited, nervous, and absolutely elated all at the same time.
He nodded to the driver. ‘Let’s go.’
Out of sight, parked in the darkness beside Guy’s BMW and The Gunpowder Plot’s vans, and behind Fritton Magna’s quaint little registry office, Clemmie and YaYa, sitting in the 4 × 4, were on the last lap of a countdown.
‘… four – three – two –one … It’s now four fifty exactly! Go!’
Together, they slid from the car and crept quietly through the shrubbery, hidden in the early evening shadows. Everything had been timed to the nth degree. They’d arrived just as Guy and Syd had finished unpacking Kelly’s van and discreetly placing the fireworks where Lola wouldn’t see them when she arrived. Deciding that staying out of Guy’s way would be more useful than offering to help and being snapped at, they’d stayed in the 4 × 4 until ten to five.
Syd was busy connecting up all the wiring for the remote control firing, perfecting the timings, and running through the computerised musical playlist.
‘Everything going to plan?’ YaYa asked Guy.
He nodded.
Clemmie, standing behind YaYa, just stared at him. If she stared hard enough and for long enough, she thought, it would be like ingesting the fireworks earlier; some part of him would be hers for always.
As always, dressed in layers of skinny black, his hair falling into his eyes, he looked more beautiful than ever. Clemmie closed her eyes, imprinting the image eternally in her memory.
‘You’ve added a Seventh Heaven,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t on the list.’
Clemmie opened her eyes. ‘No, but you did say it might be a good idea to put one in, didn’t you?’
He shrugged. ‘Maybe. I don’t think we’ll use it, though. In fact I don’t think we’ll ever need it again. I’ve told Syd not to even think of wiring it up. It’s not included in the display.’
‘Whatever.’ Clemmie swallowed any further words. Nothing she said would make any difference now. ‘Look, Guy—’
‘What?’ He frowned at her in the darkness. ‘Leave it, Clemmie. This is neither the time nor the place.’
‘Jesus!’YaYa hissed at him. ‘You can be a cruel bastard, can’t you? Come on, Clem – leave the nasty boy alone.’
They huddled back behind the registry office.
‘Don’t say a thing,’ Clemmie muttered. ‘Just let’s leave it all as unsaid and read. Shall we people-watch?’
YaYa nodded unhappily and without conviction. ‘S’pose so – there are several guests coming up the path.’ She suddenly regained some enthusiasm. ‘Oooh, look: there’s that stunning American boy, Flynn, and that must be his Posy – and she’s got a really tiny baby! Ah, sweet! Don’t they look the business? And those two look like proper hippies. And all those kids! Seven? Eight? No, nine! Nine kids! I wonder who they are.’
‘Tatty Spry and Baz and their assorted brood,’ Clemmie said. ‘Tatty does everyone’s tattoos for miles around. She’s well-known and quite a character.’
Tatty was followed by a gaggle of elderly ladies wearing elaborate hats and thick coats, then a further stream of villagers and friends, all arriving at much the same time, giggling enthusiastically at their shared secret as they disappeared into the registry office.
‘Oh – that’s sweet,’YaYa whispered, as dozens of tiny blue and silver fairy lights suddenly illuminated in the branches of the surrounding trees. ‘Doesn’t it look pretty? Oh, blimey – is this them?’
‘I think it is,’ Clemmie whispered, watching the long silver limousine purr to a halt, and Ellis help Lola step out. ‘Well, Ellis has got her this far … Oh, wow! She’s stunning! No way is she fifty-five! No wonder he’s so besotted!’
‘She should be doing adverts for the over-fifties,’ YaYa agreed. ‘She looks young enough to be my daughter – the cow … Oh, hell! What’s happening now?’
Lola and Ellis had come to an abrupt halt on the snaking path and she was shaking her head. YaYa and Clemmie looked at each other in alarm. Surely it wasn’t all about to go wrong now?
Lola stopped walking.
‘Come on,’ Ellis urged her, smiling ‘It’s cold out here and we don’t want to be late.’
‘No.’
‘What?’
‘I’m not going in there.’ Lola looked at him. ‘I know what you’re doing. And I’m not joining in.’
Ellis looked at her in panic. ‘Lola – what are you talking about?’
‘There’s no David and Jane, Ellis, and there never has been, has there? I can’t believe I was stupid enough to fall for it in the first place – it was all too far-fetched for words.’
‘Sorry, you’ve lost me.’
‘No I haven’t. This isn’t David and Jane’s wedding, is it? It’s ours.’
‘No! Why? How …?’
‘Look …’ Lola indicated the registry office. ‘The place is bursting at the seams. The doors are wedged open. I can see Tatty and Baz and the kids. And Glad, your grandmother, and Rose Lusty and Vi Bickeridge and all the Pinks and half the damn village. They wouldn’t be at your friends’ David and Jane’s secret wedding, would they? But they’d be at ours.’
‘Oh, bugger it …’ Ellis exhaled. ‘OK Lola, you’ve guessed it. But I so want to marry you. I so want you to be my wife. And we’re always going to be together – and I knew you’d say no if I asked you to do this today in the conventional way. You’ve always said no.’
‘And I’m saying no now, too. Sorry, Ellis, nice try, lovely idea and very clever of you to keep it secret, given the power of the jungle drums in Steeple Fritton. And I do love you, more than life, but I can’t marry you. You know that.’
‘Why? Because of your outdated ideas about the age difference? Because—’
‘Because, if I’m lucky, I might live for another twenty, maybe twenty-five years. You’ll still be in your forties. You’ll be a widower – a childless widower – in your forties. Think it about it, Ellis. I can’t do that to you. Not only that; because you should meet and marry someone who can give you children.’
‘I’ll probably die long before you,’ Ellis said sharply. ‘Given the excesses of my misspent youth. And I wouldn’t want to live without you anyway, and I don’t want children. Not now. Not ever. I just want you.’
‘And you’ve got me. And always will have. We’re happy as we are. Sorry to upset all your cleverly, carefully thought-out plans, but I’m not going through with this.’
Clemmie, listening to the entire exchange, her mouth open with horror, belted out from behind the registry office, pushed through the shrubbery and yanked open the door of The Gunpowder Plot’s van.
With her hands shaking, she ripped open the security pocket, and pulled out the solo Magik Green.
‘Clemmie!’ Guy stormed round the side of the van and glared at her. ‘What the hell are you doing?’
‘No time – listen …’ She gave him a brief précis of the overheard conversation. ‘And she’s already heading back to the limo. Come on!’
‘I’m not sure we should—’
‘Should what?’ She looked over her shoulder. ‘Dabble? Interfere? Too late! He loves her, she loves him. They should be married – and they bloody well will be! Grab a portfire and hurry!’
Still glaring, still muttering, Guy, however, lit the end of the portfire. It smouldered like a little airborne glow-worm.
Just as Lola was stalking back towards the limo, and Ellis, looking totally devastated and shattered, started to follow her, Clemmie, followed by Guy, pushed past him.
‘Sorry – I’ll explain later.’
‘She won’t go through with it. She doesn’t want to.’
‘She does. Trust me. She knows it’s right for her. She’s just scared it’s wrong for you, and we all know it’s the rightest thing in the world. Now please, just stay there.’ Clemmie puffed to a halt. ‘Lola – Lola – please, wait a minute.’
Lola stopped and turned. Her beautiful face was desperately sad, not angry. ‘Sorry? I don’t think I know you, do I?’
‘No. I’m Clemmie, and you’ll find out why I’m here later, hopefully.’
‘Don’t waste your time,’ Lola said faintly. ‘If you’re part of Ellis’s lovely scheme, it’s all very sweet. But it’s not—’
Hurling the Magik Green on the path between Lola and the limo, Clemmie murmured urgently over her shoulder.
‘Guy, light it – now! Please!’
Shaking his head, his eyes steely in the faint glow of the fairy lights, he stroked the lighted portfire against the touchpaper.
Again, with a hiss and a fizzle, the deep ocean green burst into verdant, glowing life.
‘I wish,’ Clemmie muttered, clutching Lola’s slender arm and holding it fast, ‘that Lola would realise that she loves Ellis and always will and that the natural culmination of this love will be to marry him. I wish that she’d forget her doubts, and realise her fears are unfounded, and enter into this marriage – today – now – with all the enthusiasm and love which she knows, deep down, she really, really wants to.’
Christ, Clemmie winced. Terrible syntax – and again, probably far too many wishes – but hopefully the magic would sort it out.
‘What on earth are you doing?’ Lola shook her head and tried to free her arm. ‘Let me go – oh!’
Allbard’s Magik Green softly exploded in all its glory, sending a shower of glittering emerald sparks drifting and dancing across the registry office path.
As the burning green fireflies tumbled around them, Clemmie swallowed.
‘Verdigris and verture pure
Sparks with nature’s verdanture
Makes wishes forever endure.’
She let go of Lola’s arm and stepped back. And waited.
‘That was really pretty.’ Lola smiled at her. ‘Thank you. Now, where was I? Oh, yes!’ She turned and hurried back up the path to
Ellis and threw her arms around his neck. ‘Ellis Blissit! You are a star! Every time I think you can never surprise me again you come up with something new! A secret wedding! You are amazing – and I love you so much.’
Ellis held her tightly. ‘You mean … you want to marry me?’
‘Of course I do.’ Lola kissed him and pulled him towards the registry office. ‘I always have. I’ve been such a fool. You know, I’ve wanted to be Lola Blissit ever since we decided it sounded like a stripper – remember? The first night we spent together … oh, I can’t wait! Come on, let’s not keep our guests waiting.’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
‘OK,’ Syd hissed half an hour later, ‘They’re coming out. Three-two-one – and off we go!’
As Ellis and Lola appeared in the registry office doorway, with their beaming guests jostling and peering over their shoulders, Guy pressed the first remote firing button.
On the nod, Syd, started his computerised music score.
Exactly on cue, to the bubblegum blare of Ellis’s chosen “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy”, the towering blue and silver fountain archway of fire sparkled into life, creating a twinkling pergola the entire length of the path.
Everyone gasped.
As the first tune ended and the second, “Goody, Goody Gumdrops”, started, the twin multishots on either side of the door, shooting their blue and silver hearts high into the night sky, played waterfalls of stars onto Ellis and Lola, smiling blissfully at one another, as they walked slowly hand in hand down the path beneath the falling fountain.
‘Oh!’ Lola looked delightedly up at Ellis as finally the colour-co-ordinated lancework heart illuminated to the foot-tapping music of “Chewy Chewy”. ‘Oh, this is all too wonderful for words … Thank you. Oh, Ellis – I love you so much.’
Grinning, he swept her up into his arms. ‘I love you, too, Mrs Blissit.’ Then he kissed her.
