The Guest List (31 page)

‘There is no paperwork because there is no wedding. It’s all our fault, Lauren. What’s more, she walked out on him and Shane wants nothing to do with us. He’s not stupid you know. Neither is Cara. And apparently she isn’t quite so money-hungry either. But she won’t let Shane’s future be affected because of her.’ He put a hand to his head, as if the realisation was dawning on him. ‘We lost, Lauren. You lost. Our selfish gamble has cost our son his happiness, and it has also cost us our son. I hope you are happy,’ he spat.

Lauren felt as if she had just been slapped. The full weight of her actions began to pile up on top of her. She had never meant for this to happen. She’d merely thought that it would get Cara to come round to her way of thinking. As far as she was concerned there had been two options. She didn’t think that Cara would eventually decide on a completely different one, namely calling off not just the wedding but also her relationship with Shane.

She felt her heart rate quicken as she thought of the repercussions of her actions. And now Shane had written them off too. He didn’t want anything to do with his own parents! What had she done? In the effort to get her own way, she had essentially cut off her nose to spite her face.

‘But—’ Lauren started lamely. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out an angle, a trump card.

‘No buts, Lauren. This is our fault. We should have just set aside our own stupid notions and let them be,’ said Gene angrily. ‘And do you know something? I don’t blame Shane; I would cut us off too if I had just lost the woman I loved. We cost him his happiness, and hers. You realise that don’t you?’

Lauren swallowed hard. Yes, she knew that. She knew that this was all her fault. She hated to think about her son upset and unhappy. What mother could stomach the thought of her child suffering? And to know that she had caused it was even worse. Truthfully, she hated to think about Cara upset, too. She had never had a problem with Cara, and it was only recently that she had been vexed by the girl and her intentions. She cringed inwardly as she considered her actions that afternoon, about the way she had spoken to Cara. About the pain and suffering that she had caused.

Simply because she wanted to be the one who called the shots for the wedding. Because she and Gene had wanted to use it for their own ends.

She lowered her eyes and bit her lip, the guilt flooding her like a plague. And talk about diving straight into the role of the dreaded mother-in-law . . . Monster-in-law would be a more fitting title.

But maybe she could fix it
, she thought, her mind going into problem-solving mode.

‘What can we do, Gene? There has to be something we can do.’

‘Any idea where we might be able to find a time machine?’ he said sarcastically.

She bit a freshly manicured fingernail.

Gene looked at his wife. For all her ruthlessness and determination to get her own way, there was no denying that that she was now genuinely troubled by the developments. He wished they had considered this happening when first looking for a way to get what they wanted. If he’d thought that there was a chance of everything backfiring like this, he knew he would have never gone along with the idea. He might be very well focused on what the outside world thought of them and their standing in business circles, but at the same time, it wasn’t worth sacrificing a relationship with Shane, or a future daughter-in-law.

‘Well, I know the concept is foreign to you, and probably to me as well, but we could probably start with an apology,’ he said gruffly. ‘A real one, from the heart, to both of them. Although by now, we’ll be lucky if either one of them could ever consider forgiving us.’

‘So it seems the wedding is off . . .’ mumbled Danielle as she read the latest email from Cara. She felt an automatic wave of relief rush over her but then immediately felt guilty. Imagine what Cara must be going through at that moment? After all of her planning and excitement over her big day, she was probably now dealing with overwhelming heartbreak.

Danielle’s heart went out to her, and despite herself, she felt like picking up the phone to find out more and see if there was anything she could do to help ease Cara’s distress. Cancelling a wedding was not an easy task. Never mind undoing all the arrangements already made, it must be so difficult to contend with emotionally too.

Scanning the email for more information as to the reasons for the cancellation, she saw that it was brief and to the point – in itself testament, she guessed, to Cara’s upset. Apparently Cara and Shane had run into some kind of roadblock, there had been too many problems and complications, and Cara had decided that it was best if they just called off the entire affair. In closing, she apologised for putting Danielle out and hoped that she would end up seeing her soon.

See her soon?
Danielle thought, wincing at the slight formality. In truth, and despite her anxieties, she’d been rather enjoying being up to date with the goings-on back home, albeit from a distance.

But while her heart ached for Cara’s misfortune, she couldn’t deny that the wedding cancellation eased the burden that lying to Zack had created.

Lying about a client who didn’t exist in order to keep him in the dark about her travels had become a real challenge, especially since he loved talking business, even when it wasn’t his own.

Now she would no longer have to lie and make up stories, and she felt as if she had a new lease of life of sorts. She no longer had a client who wanted to buy a house on St Lucia.

She thought about it and decided on the best way to present this new information to her boyfriend. At least the last lie that she would have to tell was more of a slight half-truth. Her client had cancelled, she would say, and backed out of the deal, so she no longer would have to travel to St Lucia.

Really it was barely a lie. All that she had to do was replace ‘client’ with ‘sister’ and it would have been the truth.

Danielle took a deep breath. Was it wrong that as well as feeling sorry for Cara she also felt relieved for herself?

She wondered what the ‘complications’ Cara had mentioned in her email were. Then she grimaced. She would be willing to bet that it had something to do with Betty.

Most of the problems began there after all. She just hoped that, if her mother was responsible for the wedding being called off, she felt appropriately horrible about it. Clearly Betty still hadn’t learned to keep her nose out of other people’s business or stop trying to control their lives.

Danielle bit her lip, again wondering if she should pick up the phone and talk to Cara, try and comfort her maybe. Not that she was much good at that kind of thing, but perhaps she should at least try . . .

At that moment, Zack entered the room, putting an end to Danielle’s musings. He took note of her glum face as she stared at the screen of her laptop.

‘What’s wrong babe? You look like someone just cancelled Christmas.’

Caught by surprise, Danielle closed Cara’s email and fought the urge to slam her laptop closed.

She thought quickly. ‘Oh it’s just . . . my client . . . the St Lucia one. Seems he no longer wishes to pursue his search for a beach home there,’ she said, feeling her face flush.

God, she was a terrible liar.

Zack looked up, interested. ‘Oh? And what reason did he give?’

‘Well, it turns out he couldn’t.’ She tried to think quickly. ‘He couldn’t get financing. Major pushback from the bank apparently,’ she said, spilling the words out.

‘Pushback, eh?’ Zack raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, you know what that means; either bad credit or no money. I’m guessing probably both. People like that, in debt up to their eyeballs because they don’t have any idea how to manage their finances. Really, these young guys, when they strike it rich, I am not sure why their handlers aren’t instructing them to get with a financial planner ASAP. Otherwise they just blow all of their money on ridiculousness; booze, parties, expensive cars—’

‘You are right, of course,’ commented Danielle, barely listening to Zack’s musing on the how-to’s of financial planning and where people went wrong. ‘How much do you stand to lose?’ he asked.

She kept thinking to herself about her sister.
Poor Cara
, she thought. Guilt surged through her veins and she fought it back. She really didn’t deserve this.

‘Danielle?’

She snapped to attention. ‘Sorry, what?’

‘Where were you just now? Lost in another world?’

‘Oh sorry, just thinking about stuff.’

‘How much did you have wrapped up in this client? Surely it couldn’t be that much forgone, other than time of course.’

‘Oh, no, not much,’ she said, thinking of the dress that would now, sadly, never be worn. She would really have to make sure that when it arrived in the mail she snagged it before Zack saw it. Especially as it screamed bridesmaid.

‘Well, at least now I don’t have to go to St Lucia,’ she pointed out, some relief in her voice.

Zack picked up on it and smiled. ‘Really, there’s worse places you might have to go.’

‘Yes, but you know I don’t like travelling without you anyway,’ she cooed, getting up from the desk and walking to Zack. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned in for a kiss.

He laughed. ‘What has gotten into you? You travel by yourself all the time.’

She grimaced. Indeed, she did. She wasn’t some type of co-dependent hanger-on but she was just so relieved that she could put all this family-related stuff behind her now. Most of the time, she felt as if she had her life under control, but when it came to her mother there was really no predicting the chaos could that could happen. At least now the Clancys would stay firmly planted in Ireland. Where they belonged. The way things should be.

‘True, I guess I’m just feeling a little bit down about the whole thing. I thought I had everything under control, and I was all ready to travel, and now nothing.’ She smiled up at him. ‘Maybe we should plan a weekend away sometime soon?’

He kissed the top of her head. ‘We could drive over to Key Largo soon – it’s always fun down there.’

‘Sounds great.’ That was fine with her. Zack could have suggested they drive to the moon and Danielle would have gone along with it.

After all, the world was her oyster again and she could go anywhere she wanted, without having to worry about the sky falling in.

‘What the hell is going on?’ exclaimed Kim in lieu of a greeting as she rushed in the door at her in-laws’ house, being greeted by the sight of a surprisingly composed Cara on the couch, surrounded by Heidi and Betty.

‘Well, hello to you too Kim,’ said Heidi pointedly.

Kim ignored her. ‘What’s this that I hear about the wedding being called off?’

Cara looked at her sister-in-law. Kim’s pregnancy was starting to show and she had to admit, it was really complementing her appearance.

Heidi would probably begin to start showing herself soon, and Cara reflected on the fact that it seemed that life was blooming all around her now, and exciting things were happening. But not to her. She, on the other hand, was starting over. She couldn’t picture what her life would be without Shane; she had been having a hard time coming to the realisation that this wasn’t a dress rehearsal of a break-up. This was the real thing.

She was also feeling extremely tired of repeating what had happened. She’d confessed the whole sorry scenario to Betty and Mick, who’d insisted she move back in, and then retold the whole thing to Heidi when her sister had called over earlier and been surprised to see her there.

She looked imploringly at her mother and Betty duly chimed in, recounting the story behind the break-up to Kim in all its horrible detail. Kim, however, seemed determined to find a resolution.

‘Cara, maybe he just made a mistake,’ she suggested. ‘Maybe he just spoke out of turn, put his foot in his mouth, that kind of thing.’

‘Yes, I thought of that too,’ said Cara sadly. ‘But how am I ever supposed to get round this with his family? Say we did still get married, how am I ever supposed to forgive their interference?’

Kim smiled at her sister-in-law and took her hand. ‘Honestly, you just learn how to let it roll off your back. You just forgive and move on – that’s all you can do. You realise that some people are stuck in their ways and nothing you say or do is ever going to change them,’ she said, with an almost imperceptible sideways glance at Betty. ‘Remember, Shane is not the bad guy here. Sure he messed up, I understand that, but the ones who really need to realise that they need to take a step back and let their son live his life are his parents.’

Cara considered Kim’s words. Evidently, she was speaking from experience and Cara wondered if the message Kim was trying to relay had been lost on her mother. Sure, there had been enough issues over the years where Betty had interfered in Ben and Kim’s life, and it was true that Kim had done her best not to let it affect her.

Is that what I should do with Shane’s parents?
she thought to herself now.

‘Have you spoken to Shane since you left?’ Kim asked.

‘No, she hasn’t,’ said Heidi, interrupting. ‘And I don’t think she should. What type of guy doesn’t run after the woman he loves? Honestly, if I threatened to leave Paul, I would fully expect him to chase me down the street.’

Kim rolled her eyes. ‘Cara, you know Shane is a good guy. You know he is. He just messed up a little.’

‘That’s what I said,’ Betty offered. ‘However, I would really love to give his mother a piece of my mind. The cheek of it . . . I have a good mind to pick up the phone to the stuck-up wagon and tell her exactly what I think of her.’

Cara put her hand up. ‘That is exactly what you are
not
going to do, Mum. She already believes that we are crass and common. You are not going to say a word. You don’t know Lauren and frankly, any argument between the two of you is just going to make it worse. Please let sleeping dogs lie.’

‘But she offended you!’ said Betty, bordering on hysterics. ‘No one offends a daughter of mine.’

‘Let it go Mum, please,’ Cara insisted, exhausted.