The Harder They Fall (33 page)

“Tell you what, girls,” Adele suggested, “we’ll put up a united front. I’m sure Ellie will understand.” She smiled hopefully.

The queue moved on slowly, and they passed the time chatting about how the evening was progressing, what they thought the wedding would be like, and the travel arrangements for the trip to Wales, the latter being a bit of a sore point with Karen, so she gladly took the first free cubicle. She had booked her holiday long before Eleanor came up with the group honeymoon idea, and Krissi really didn’t want to go, but her assistant manager thought she was just trying to make her feel better about the fact that they couldn’t both be away from the restaurant at the same time. Insensitive as ever, Adele chattered on enthusiastically all the while they were in the toilets and continued to do so on their way back, until they were interrupted once more by the band. If anything, their second set was even louder, and Adele quickly re-inserted the ear plugs, the drummer waving a stick at her in acknowledgement. She smiled and waved back.

“Oh aye. Looks like you’ve pulled there, mate,” the singer grinned at the drummer. Adele giggled and joined her female friends on the dance floor, doing her best to blend in, even though she could do little more than nod whenever anyone spoke to her.

“Are you listening?” Shaunna shouted. Adele removed an ear plug. “I said, look who’s back.” She nodded towards the door, where Jess was standing, acting as if she’d been there the whole time. Eleanor had seen her too, and turned to face the other way. She had nothing to say, or at least, she had lots to say, but she was having too much fun and it would wait.

“Where’ve you been?” Josh asked Jess. She readied a lie, took one look at him and knew she’d been found out.

“With Rob. We went for a little ride on the bike.”

“Why?”

“He wanted to show me something. I’ve only been gone about an hour.”

“In the middle of Ellie’s hen night?”

“It couldn’t wait. Otherwise you know I wouldn’t have gone at all.”

“Well, it’s done now,” George said. “You’ll just have to tell her you’re sorry and hope that she forgives you.”

“Ha!” Josh said. He hadn’t meant to vocalise it and immediately covered his mouth with his hand.

“Thanks for the support, guys,” Jess snapped and stormed off to the other end of the bar to order a drink; that’s where she stayed for the rest of the evening.

The band were into a run of their own songs now, and they were really good, although the hen party posse had been dancing non-stop for most of the evening, so took the opportunity to go and buy drinks and rest their aching feet. Eleanor kept her eyes averted from Jess, who was busy with her phone, and instead watched Josh and George, still standing in the same place they’d been earlier and still deep in conversation. It was the first time she’d really paid them any attention all night.

“What’s with those two?” she asked Shaunna, who happened to be right next to her.

“What d’you mean?” Shaunna mumbled, doing a very unconvincing job of hiding her only vague knowledge of what had been going on over the past few days.

“They’re very close together. For them, I mean.”

“Err, yeah. I suppose they are.”

“Spill the beans, Hennessy!”

“It’s really not my place to…” Eleanor glared at her, but she didn’t crack.

“Fine. I’ll just have to go and ask them myself. Look after my drink for me.”

“Sure.” She watched Eleanor approach Josh and pull him by the arm. He had no choice but to allow himself to be led outside.

“What’s that about?” Adele asked, climbing onto a barstool alongside her friend.

“Oh God, don’t you start!” Shaunna groaned. “Ellie’s already given me the third degree.”

“Have they fallen out?”

“As if that’s gonna happen!”

“So?”

“Forget it, Adele.” Shaunna turned to face the bar, hoping it would ward off any further questions.

“Is it exciting?” Adele pushed. “It is, isn’t it? Ooh, tell me.”

“Nope. Not telling you.” Shaunna sucked hard on the straw in her glass, draining it in one go. The bar owner was immediately on the case.

“Girls, what can I get you?” he smiled.

“Bacardi and Coke, please,” Shaunna replied. “Adele?”

“Martini and lemonade, ice and lemon.”

The owner nodded and set about preparing their drinks.

“Please, Shaunna?” Adele tried again. “I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

“Yeah, whatever, Adele.”

“Three guesses?”

“No!” Shaunna glared at her, then switched her attention to watching the bar owner, who had been listening in, but pretending not to.

“Are you enjoying yourselves?” he asked.

“Yeah. It’s been great fun,” Shaunna said enthusiastically.

“Glad to hear it.” He looked her over while he waited for the glass to fill with Coke. “Nice pair.” He nodded at her wings and gave her a cheeky grin.

Shaunna raised an eyebrow. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Only the ones with wings. So, does heaven know they’re missing an angel?”

Shaunna fluttered her eyelashes and smiled. “You’re good.”

“So I’ve been told,” he smiled back. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

“No. We’ve not been here before.” Shaunna glanced around the venue, then settled her gaze back on the bar owner, taking in his navy blue designer suit and pink, open-necked shirt. She nodded approvingly. “Got a good feel to it.”

“Thank you.” He placed her drink in front of her. “By the way, I’m Andy.”

“Figures,” she said. Adele giggled. The bar owner looked puzzled.

“She’s got a thing for blokes called Andy,” Adele explained.

“Adele!” Shaunna pushed her and she nearly fell off the barstool.

“Oh, really?” Andy said. He casually leaned an elbow on the bar. “I bet none of them have been as suave as me.” He winked playfully at her.

“Nope, you’re definitely the suavest,” she laughed.

“Yeah?”

“Definitely. And debonair.”

“Debonair, you say?”

“Oh yes.”

Adele’s eyes flitted from one to the other of them. She coughed lightly into her hand.

“This is Adele,” Shaunna told him.

Adele passed over a ten pound note and gave him a quick smile. “And she’s Shaunna,” she said.

“Do you only come as a pair?” he asked.

“Why? Don’t you think you can handle us?” Shaunna challenged. Adele quickly gulped her drink, making sure she got an ice cube at the same time. It was all very well for Shaunna to flirt, but she was trying to be on her best behaviour.

“So, are you here for the night, girls?” Andy asked.

“I hope so,” Adele answered quickly. Shaunna gave her a look. “What?”

Shaunna stood on tiptoes and pouted. “Ooh, it’s too loud, Shaunna. D’you think we can go home yet?” she said, twizzling a lock of hair around her finger and trying to sound ditzy. Adele scowled at her.

“Can you do that again?” Andy asked, his face registering appreciation as she carelessly tossed her hair back over her shoulder. The bar was getting busy and he was already serving another customer.

“If you ask me nicely,” she smiled. “See you later.” She gave him a little wave and turned away. Adele slid down from her stool and followed her friend across the bar to the dance floor. It felt just like the old days.

Outside, Josh was leaning against the wall, watching the smokers, all congregated under a single parasol. It wasn’t even raining.

“Talk to me,” Eleanor commanded.

“About?”

“You know exactly what about. Come on. Out with it.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, working so hard not to smile that he looked as if he were sucking a hard-boiled sweet.

“You and George. I can tell there’s something I don’t know, and I’m the bride-to-be,” she said. “I have a right to know.”

“Oh do you now? Well, Mrs. Brown-to-be, I have a right not to tell you.”

“Joshua!”

“But I don’t necessarily have to exercise that right, I suppose. George and I have spent the day together, talking things through. I told him how I feel and he…”

“Hang on. Can you backtrack for me a bit? Didn’t he already know how you feel? The whole ‘it can never be’ thing? Me fielding phone calls and holding broken hearts together with my bare hands?” Josh burst into laughter. He couldn’t help himself. It was the ‘holding broken hearts’ that got him for some reason.

“I’m sorry, Ellie,” he stammered, finally, “but that’s hilarious. Yes, you are quite right. You have been an amazing friend to us both. And I love you, for everything you are, unconditionally. Promise you won’t get cross with me?”

“I can’t do that, unless you tell me what it is you think might make me cross, can I?”

“Good point.”

“You’re stalling.”

“I am.”

“So stop it.”

“OK.”

“Josh, come on. I’m missing my party here!”

“Well, if you put it like that.” He paused just once more. “I’ve told him I’m in love with him. I always have been.” There was a further pause, in which Eleanor nodded slowly and stared at the floor, as if she had been watching his words flutter to the ground and was waiting for them to settle.

“Can you just repeat that last bit again? Only I think the music’s done something to my ears.”

“I’m in love with George, Ellie.”

“Yep. That’s what I thought you said. I’m going in now, but don’t think you’ve heard the end of this.”

“Oh, I’m quite sure I haven’t,” Josh said, following her back inside. She stopped by George and spoke into his ear, then returned to the dance floor with the rest of the women, and Kris. Josh took up his previous position next to George and looked him over inquisitively.

“What did she say?”

“She said—actually I don’t know if I should tell you.”

“No secrets, remember?”

“I’m sure it was no lies.”

“Secrets lead to lies, and lies lead to more secrets and even more lies.”

“Ah, man! This is so unfair.” Josh stared him straight in the eyes until there was no way he could possibly keep it to himself. “All right,” he sighed in exasperation. “She said ‘I told you so’.”

Task number one on Mrs. Davenport’s Friday morning list: remind Eleanor and James about meeting with Father Maverick. His name was in actuality Terry Mallick, an ex Roman Catholic priest and authorised celebrant of marriage, which was about as far as Eleanor’s mother was prepared to go in respect of a compromise. With Kevin serving a prison sentence for murder, the Church would undoubtedly have annulled Eleanor’s previous marriage, but she didn’t want to go through the trauma of petitioning, and as such, Terry Mallick would be officiating. He was due to arrive at the Davenport family home at ten o’clock, by which time all family members would be otherwise engaged in their allocated duties for the morning, leaving the coast clear for Eleanor and James to meet with him and discuss the ceremony.

Being an
ex
Roman Catholic did not preclude him from taking a traditional stance on the wording of vows, and he was very pleased to find that this not-so-young couple were in agreement. The meeting was over within twenty minutes, much to Mrs. Davenport’s chagrin, as it didn’t fill the hour slot she had allocated in her schedule (as prescribed by “Look after boys for Eleanor and James”). Now she was standing in the kitchen, looking a little panic-stricken at the prospect of having nothing to do for the next half an hour.

“Mother! Will you please sit down and have a rest?” Eleanor ticked her off.

“I can’t, sweetie. You know what I’m like.”

“Yes, I do, so here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to sit on that chair,” she pointed to the seat closest to her mother, “and I’m going to put the kettle on. Then we’re going to have a nice half an hour or so of quality mother-daughter time. How about that?”

Her mother ummed and ahhed for a moment, trying to come up with a valid-sounding reason for why she couldn’t take up the offer.

“I shall take the boys home,” James decreed. “It will give you both a little peace and quiet.”

“There you go,” Eleanor said, filling the kettle. “No excuse.” She grinned at her mother.

“Oh, all right then,” she relented and flopped wearily onto the chair. It was the first time she’d sat down all week and a very welcome break. Once James had taken the boys out to the car, Eleanor made the tea and sat opposite her mother. The peace that descended on the house was wondrous and unusual, but for one small niggle. Both women moved to get up at the same time.

“Stay,” Eleanor commanded and ran upstairs to silence the dripping tap; she resumed her seat a few seconds later, suitably satisfied.

“I sometimes forget how like me you are,” her mother laughed. It was a remark that naturally led into a comparison of the traits they shared, then to her sisters. Charlotte and Eleanor looked alike, and had similar personalities in many respects, although it was always Charlotte who was loudest and most outgoing. Tilly was more like her father: anything for a peaceful life was their way; her pre-marital pregnancy had obviously caused ructions, but she did ‘the right thing’ in marrying Ashleigh’s father and they were still together, a happy family unit completed by young Benjamin, who was just turned seven, going on forty. They were currently at the chapel, as per their orders, with room for a quick lunch between checking the parking arrangements were still the same as when the booking was made, and meeting up with the rest of ‘Team Bride’, as Charlotte was calling them, for a final dress or shirt fitting. Ben and Luke were at the car hire company, delivering ribbons and ticking off the list of items their mother had typed out for them, which, embarrassingly, included having to check the petrol gauges themselves, rather than taking the company’s word for it that the cars were fully fuelled. Teddy had suggested they might want to take a tyre pressure gauge and a spare dipstick with them too, before he was chastised and sent out to ‘oversee’ the catering arrangements.

Fortunately the caterer was very understanding, given that he already had extensive firsthand experience of bossy Davenport women. Eleanor and James had handed over all aspects of the arrangements to Mrs. Davenport, with just one proviso: Wotto, now proud owner of The Pizza Place Chef of the Year award, was to be their caterer. He was overwhelmed by the request, and, if the truth be told, was stressing and fussing more than the entire Davenport clan put together. James used his authority to shut the local restaurant for two days so that Wotto could use ‘his’ kitchen, which didn’t impress the regional manager, but who was he to override the MD? Zak considered registering his gripe with head office, but then had second thoughts, seeing as he was also getting the day off for the wedding. So, poor Teddy arrived at the restaurant, thinking he would get away with a quick progress update, only to find himself elbow-deep in washing-up, whilst Wotto zipped around the kitchen with seventies disco booming from the speakers, tending to a multitude of pans, baking tins and mixers. The cake was safely stacked on the bar in the restaurant, along with anything else that wouldn’t spoil before tomorrow afternoon.