Better Off Wed, page 24
‘Don’t be,’ I insist. ‘Honestly, it was all for the best, and I know I’ll marry someone I truly love one day. This little wobble is just because I’m not going to get to do it here, in Granddad’s barn, that’s all. I’m fine.’
‘I’m sorry about that too,’ she says. ‘But thank you for being here for me. I don’t want to upset you, and I know we said we weren’t having bridesmaids, but I would love it if you would walk down the aisle before me, and stand with me at the altar, as my sister. But only if you don’t think that would be too painful or weird.’
‘I would love to,’ I tell her honestly.
Yes, okay, it’s pretty weird to still be walking down the aisle, and still standing at the altar, but Eden calling me her sister and wanting me by her side is something I never thought would happen. So I’m going to forget about my problems, about my wedding being cancelled, about the wedding barn being destroyed for good. I’m just going to focus on being there for my new sister. Because that’s what families do.
33
For the first three or four steps down the aisle, I wondered what people might think of me. I’m sure everyone was feeling sorry for me, how could you not? But I worried about whether or not they pitied me. If they looked at me, treading the path I was supposed to walk under much different circumstances, and thought to themselves: oh, how tragic is this? Her, still walking down the aisle, with no one waiting for her at the other end.
But I hadn’t even made it halfway before I let go of notions like that. Because even if people did think it was tragic (which I doubt they do), I can think of something so much worse: marrying a man you don’t really love, only to live unhappily until your inevitable divorce.
I can honestly say that I was so proud, and so happy, to stand up there with Dougie and Eden as they made things official. Even though it might not have happened for me today, the two of them are absolute goals. They look so gorgeous, and most importantly so happy, that you can’t even feel envious, just inspired to find someone who loves you so much that they want to spend the rest of their life with you.
The ceremony is over, the confetti has been thrown, and now it’s time for the photos.
Everyone is being ushered around, baking under the midday sun, as the photography team sets up.
I can’t resist running a hand up and down the wall of the wedding barn, stroking the wood, making a memory of how it feels, how it smells – things that won’t show up in the photos.
‘Give me your phone,’ Eden demands, snapping me from my thoughts.
I should probably ask why, but I don’t. I take my phone from my clutch, unlock it and hand it over.
‘Right, there you go,’ she says, handing it back to me. ‘The town hall is a seven-minute walk from here. Go to the meeting, see if there’s something you can do.’
‘Don’t be daft,’ I insist. ‘It’s photo time – I’m not skipping your photos.’
‘We’ll do the couple photos first,’ she replies. ‘Everyone else can go inside and have a drink. It’s too hot out here anyway. We’ll do the family and group photos when you get back.’
‘Eden, are you sure?’ I reply.
‘If there is even a chance that you can get married here too then you have to take it,’ she insists. ‘So, go, give it your all, and get back here so we can celebrate.’
I lean forward and kiss her on the cheek.
‘I never realised how much I needed a sister until today,’ I tell her. ‘Thank you.’
I glance at the map on my phone. If you go up past the hotel, up the drive and out onto the road, then you don’t have to follow it for long before you’re in the main part of the town, where the town hall is. But, looking at what is around it on the map, I notice Shell’s Café right across the road. I’ll get there potentially even faster if I go via the beach.
I kick off my heels, grab them in my hand and make my way down to the beach. Once my feet hit that sand, that’s it, I’m off. At first, I start with a fast walk but, before I know what I’m doing, the hot sun of the day be damned, I am running as fast as my feet (and the sand) will allow. I’m not just running to make the meeting, I’m running to save the barn. Maybe Eden is right, maybe I can still get married there one day. I feel like my fate is in my own hands and I like it. Right now, I feel like I can do anything.
I’m a little sweaty, and a lot warm, as I huff and puff my way through the town hall doors.
‘I’m here for the meeting,’ I practically pant at the woman behind the desk. ‘About… about the hotel.’
She pulls a face at me as she looks me up and down. Ultimately, she deems me harmless.
‘The public viewing gallery is up the stairs, second door on the left,’ she replies. ‘The meeting is already in session, but you can watch from up there.’
‘Thanks,’ I reply.
I don’t quite have it in me to Rocky my way up the stairs but I’m proud of my fast walk, given the circumstances.
I follow the lady on reception’s instructions until I find myself on a balcony that looks down over the meeting below.
‘…and obviously in circumstances like these, the council believes that demolishing the building is the only option,’ says a man who seems to be chairing the panel.
‘And you know you have the whole community’s support,’ a woman sitting next to him adds. ‘Not one resident has turned up to object.’
I feel stupid. Of course you have to live here to make an objection. Even if I did say something, look how pally they are, they’re not going to listen to me. They have all clearly made up their minds.
I think about what to do for a moment. Okay, I’ve definitely seen enough movies to know how this goes, sometimes all it takes is an emotional speech from someone who opposes what is about to happen, who can charm their way into the hearts and minds of everyone involved. If I can just find the right words.
‘Well, if that’s everything covered, we’ll let you go, we know you’re a busy man,’ the chair says.
I just need to say something, anything, and hopefully the rest will follow. If I don’t, the hotel owner is going to leave and I won’t get a chance to say anything.
Speak now, or forever hold your peace.
‘Thanks very much,’ the owner replies. He stands up, walks over to the table and shakes hands with each of them. ‘I’ve got a wedding to get to.’
He turns around and my worst suspicions are confirmed. It’s him. It’s Hugo.
I step out of the way quicky, pressing my back against the wall so that he can’t see me. Incredible that I’m the one who feels embarrassed, I’m the one hiding from him. I can’t believe he made himself out to be just some bar manager who happened to live in the little cottage next to the hotel. He owns the hotel. He’s the one stopping the weddings and he’s the one tearing down my granddad’s barn.
I pick up my shoes from the floor and leave the room, hovering at the top of the stairs for a moment until I see Hugo leave first. Once I’m confident he’s out of the way, I head down the stairs.
I can’t believe it, I honestly can’t. Hugo seems so normal, so down to earth. He can’t be another well-off, selfish, out-of-touch idiot, and yet here we are, he doesn’t only own the hotel but he’s the one demolishing the wedding barn my granddad built and, with it, my chance to get married there.
And if all of that isn’t bad enough, I can’t even melt down over it. I can’t throw myself to the sand and cry and punch the ground because, of fucking course, I have a wedding to go to – a wedding that Hugo will also be attending.
My chances of my dream wedding may be over, but Dougie and Eden can still have theirs. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to let Lord Hugo ruin it.
34
Remember that thing I said about how grown, considerate adults don’t make scenes and ruin people’s parties? My god, that’s going to be hard today.
Still, whatever I’m going through, however I’m feeling, dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony, and it’s my job to keep a lid on things.
So, as much as I want to shout at Hugo, to call him out, to embarrass him in front of everyone, to stick him on his broken-down boat – that he owns – and push him out to sea, I can’t do any of that. The temptation is there, though, and I am only human after all, so since I arrived, I have taken the necessary steps to keep Hugo well out of my way.
The first thing I did, when I arrived back here, was sneak inside and change the seating plan. Luckily, the board is magnetic, so it’s easy to edit. Eden sat me with Hugo – because of course she did, why wouldn’t she? How was she to know that in a matter of minutes I was going to go from loving him to hating him? Well, you know what I mean, I don’t love him love him. I’ve gone from liking him to hating him. That’s better. So I crept up to the seating chart and started making slight adjustments. At first, I moved things so that Hugo and I would be at opposite sides of the same table – a subtle way to ensure that I didn’t have to sit next to him. Then I realised that would mean I was looking at him, though, and I didn’t want that. He would be smiling across the table and I would be scowling back at him. No, no, that’s not how you avoid a scene.
In the end, I decided that I would move Heidi from the singles table, to sit next to me, and I would banish Hugo to the singles table where he deserves to be, but someone almost caught me in the act so I had to hurry and, in doing so, I later found out I’d made a slight error, sitting Hugo and Heidi together, and sitting myself at the singles table.
I’ve got to say, as much as I wasn’t sure about the idea of wedding colours and so on, Eden has done a fantastic job. The colours do look amazing, so soft and summery, and most people have happily obliged with the dress code – myself included – which may be super extra, but I can appreciate the effect. I’ll bet the photos are going to look amazing.
The wedding barn is decorated so beautifully. I love all the twinkling lights that hang from the rafters, the giant illuminated letters – an E and a D – in honour of the happy couple. From the table settings to the flowers to genuinely just about everything, this wedding is a dream and I would have loved it to have been mine… but not with the wrong person. Never with the wrong person.
‘You’re on the singles table, that can’t be right?’ Mum said to me when we arrived and looked at the seating chart – which is a work of art in its own right. ‘Let me double-check with Eden what’s going on.’
‘No, no, honestly, don’t bother her with it,’ I insisted. ‘I would actually quite like to sit at the singles table.’
Mum pulled a face at me, as though she was unsure what my game was. I think everyone with eyes has realised that there is something between me and Hugo, and everyone is so happy for us. But my mum knows that I am a grown woman, so she let it be.
So, yes, here I am, at the singles table, sandwiched between one of Eden’s influencer friends and a man called Andy who I already know because he and Dougie were best friends all the way through school.
I haven’t really spoken to Andy since I was a teenager. He seems nice enough. He’s a PE teacher now but I’m not holding it against him.
Hugo has tried to approach me a few times, and it’s been quite easy to dodge him, given that we’ve just had a sit-down meal, but now the food is finished and I’m starting to wonder how I’m going to keep him away from me.
I know the plan for the day – it was once my wedding too, after all – so I know that the first dance is coming up, and then the band are going to play for a while. When everyone is allowed to move freely, there’s going to be no stopping him coming up to me and talking to me.
I fast worked out that this is only the singles table in a very literal sense. It isn’t for people who aren’t in relationships, it’s simply for people who came without a guest. Andy isn’t single, he has a wife and three kids. Most of the other people at the table are single, though, and many of them have been flirting up a storm. Andy and I have sort of stuck together. It’s been nice talking to him, though, seeing pictures of his kids and his dog and the rear extension on his house, and I genuinely mean it. Just a nice, normal person showing me their nice, normal life.
It turns out – for the best, funnily enough – that Eden was slightly embarrassed about the two of us having a joint wedding, so she neglected to mention it on her wedding invitations. I suppose it could have been quite awkward if it had gone ahead, or if she had mentioned it, but the fact that she didn’t means I don’t have any explaining to do to anyone. Andy doesn’t know a thing other than what I’ve told him. He didn’t roll his eyes at my job, he’s been laughing at my jokes – my self-confidence is at an all-time high.
‘To be honest, I don’t think Eden wanted kids at the wedding,’ Andy tells me.
Ah, that sounds like Eden. I doubt kids are on-brand.
‘But it was fine because, now that we’ve got three, anywhere we don’t have to cart them along, it’s much easier. Plus, it’s nice to get a break from them, every now and then,’ he explains. ‘I love them all, so much, but sometimes it’s just nice to enjoy some adult company.’
‘Hello,’ Hugo says, squatting down next to us.
Shit, I take my eye off the ball for a second. He does genuinely make me jump but me accidentally pouring my drink all over his trousers is no accident.
‘Oh, my goodness, I am so sorry,’ I insist.
‘No worries,’ he says with a laugh, although I think he can tell something is up. ‘I’ll just go… see what I can do about this.’
So much for Andy enjoying some adult company. Thankfully, he laughs.
‘Wow, what did he do to piss you off?’ he asks me.
‘Nothing,’ I insist with a smile.
‘Oh, yeah, then why are the two of you acting like an old married couple?’ he asks. ‘Oldest trick in the book, that. You would be amazed how many cups of tea or plates of baby food my wife “mishandles” to avoid me.’
He thinks for a moment.
‘I don’t mean that as bad as it sounds,’ he quickly adds.
‘Can you do me a favour?’ I ask him. ‘How would you feel about slipping off that wedding ring and hiding it in your pocket?’
Andy’s face drops.
‘Look, Liv, I’m flattered…’
‘Oh, no, god, no,’ I babble. ‘Nothing like that. It’s just that guy, he won’t take the hint. Maybe if he sees us talking, and he doesn’t realise you’re married, he’ll back off a bit.’
‘Well, I’m sure if it’s in the interest of chivalry, my Donna won’t mind,’ he says, taking his ring off, popping it into his inside jacket pocket.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, the bride and groom will be taking to the floor for their first dance,’ a voice says through the speakers.
Dougie and Eden make their way to the floor before the song they chose – Elton John’s ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ – starts playing.
Ahh, they look so happy.
Teddy and I never got around to choosing a song for our first dance. I wonder what we would’ve chosen. I mean, he probably wouldn’t have cared what it was, or been all that bothered to choose one to begin with but, if we both had to write a song down, you can guarantee our choices would be polar opposites. He would probably choose something slow but ultimately sad – like a Lewis Capaldi break-up ballad, without ever realising that was what it was. I would probably make a case for something fast and kind of silly. Something tongue in cheek like Silk Sonic’s ‘Leave the Door Open’ or something fun like ‘You’re My Best Friend’ by Queen. I’ve never really been one for slow dancing.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, the bride and groom would like to request that you all join them on the dance floor.’
‘Will you dance with me, please?’ I ask. ‘Just so that guy doesn’t ask me.’
‘Go on then, why not, but I’ll warn you I have two left feet.’
‘I have two right feet,’ I reply. ‘We’ll be perfect together.’
‘You never know with men, do you?’ Andy says as we dance. ‘That guy seems like a nice bloke. It must be a nightmare, being a single woman.’
‘Thanks for reminding me,’ I say with a smile. ‘He’s not like a major creep or anything. But he’s not as great as he seems.’
‘Is there history there?’ he asks curiously.
‘Only about a fortnight’s worth,’ I admit with a laugh.
‘Hey, mate, do you mind if I cut in?’ Hugo asks.
How has he crept up on us again? Once again, I jump out of my skin. As I pull away from Andy a little, his wedding ring falls to the floor – it must not have been all the way into his pocket. He bends down and quickly picks it up.
‘Sorry,’ he mouths to me as he backs away.
I bat my hand, to show him that it’s not a big deal.
‘So, can we dance?’ Hugo asks.
‘Sure,’ I reply, still eager to do what I can to avoid making a scene.
Hugo places his hands on my waist. I hook my arms around his neck, although I try not to get too close.
He looks good, really handsome with his hair neatly styled, in his cool navy suit. He’s really made an effort – although it’s the same suit he had on earlier, for his big meeting, so it’s impossible to know whether he wore his wedding suit to the meeting, or if he’s wearing his meeting suit to the wedding. Either way, it reminds me of who he is and what he’s doing and it gets my back up.
‘Is everything okay?’ he asks me.
‘Yes, of course,’ I reply. ‘Why?’
Why did I ask why?
‘You’ve hardly said a word to me all day,’ he replies. ‘In fact, what you just said to me a second ago might be the most words you’ve said to me all day. And I’d kind of hoped we would be sitting together…’
‘Yeah, I wanted to be at the singles table,’ I reply. ‘Now I’m back on the market, you know, no time like the present to get back on the horse.’
‘Well, I’m pretty sure that guy is married,’ Hugo points out, smiling, but clearly concerned something is up – the man really can read me like a book. ‘And I don’t want to sound like a teenage girl, but I kind of thought, after last night…’
