Chapter Two
Where had Matt come from? Why was he here at her wedding? Had Trev invited him or known that he would be with the singers?
Surely not, based on the confusion in Trev’s eyes as the group began a song that Zennor knew so well she could have sung every word. As a performer herself, she’d heard it many times: a Cornish folk ballad about the love between a young couple, ‘My Sweet Nightingale’.
It was meant to be a sweet song, about love and passion and seduction, yet every word felt hollow as they sang. All she could hear was Matt’s voice.
‘My sweetheart, come along,
Don’t you hear the fond song,
The sweet notes of the nightingale flow?
Don’t you hear the fond tale
Of the sweet nightingale
As she sings in the valley below …’
Zennor risked a glance at Trev and saw he was tight-lipped and rigid at her side at the sight of her ex, Matt.
He couldn’t have known that Matt was part of the group.
Matt, who hadn’t even been invited to the wedding, whom Zennor hadn’t known was within fifty miles of the St Piran’s Spa or St Ives.
Matt, her first love, her teenage crush, and the man whom she’d once fantasised standing next to as she made her marriage vows.
She’d been young then; barely out of school.
A world away … She’d been on her way to uni and Matt had been – well, who knew what his plans had been when they were that young.
He’d filled his time with helping at the Surf Club, doing odd jobs on building sites, and grabbing singing jobs where he could.
She was eighteen and he barely nineteen.
She’d thought they loved each other. They’d kept in touch while she was at uni and he stayed in St Ives but one day he’d messaged her to say he was in Sydney.
With no warning, he’d simply taken off. She’d had no choice but to finish her degree, get on with her life, and try to forget about him.
The song went on but Zennor no longer heard the words.
Although she’d known he’d returned to another part of Cornwall, she’d had no contact with him until a few months before the wedding when she and Trev had bumped into him at the Surf Club.
He’d barely exchanged a word with her and acted as if he didn’t care that she was now engaged to Trev – as if they’d never been close.
So why was he looking at her now with such longing in his eyes, such troubled longing? It was as if he still cared about her – still loved her.
‘My sweetheart, come along,
Don’t you hear the fond song,
The sweet notes of the nightingale flow?’
The song went on, lilting and soulful. Did she alone know the true meaning of the words, that ‘listening to the song of the nightingale’ was a euphemism for a seduction? The man was trying to persuade the maiden to sleep with him.
Her jaw ached with keeping her smile in place.
Trev’s hand covered hers, although she didn’t dare risk a glance at him. Her stomach turned over: this had to be a horrible coincidence. Her only hope was that it would end soon and he would leave.
‘The couple agreed to be married with speed
And soon to the church they did go.’
The silk dress clung to her back. Her bodice was too tight and it felt as if its cage were tightening even further, squeezing the air from her lungs.
The other singers reached the climax of the song, but Matt had ceased to sing.
‘No. I can’t …’ He held up his hands. ‘Stop. I can’t do this any longer.’
The voices petered out and a murmur of disquiet rippled through the room, although all Zennor could focus on was Matt. He approached the top table, his voice a plea. ‘Zennor. I can’t sing this crap. Not until you know.’
The grey-haired lead singer came up behind him. ‘Matt. What are you doing?’
‘I have to say this. I have to tell you what he’s really like.’ He jabbed a finger in Trev’s direction. ‘What he’s done. That this is all a terrible mistake.’
Trev stared at Matt. ‘Jesus. Are you drunk?’
Zennor’s heart seemed to stop. No. No. She wanted to say the words but they stuck in her throat.
‘It’s OK. He’s not himself.’ The grey-haired singer grabbed Matt’s arm. ‘Come on. Let’s get out of here.’
Matt threw off the lead singer’s arm. ‘No, Kane. I’m not drunk. Not very, anyway.’
‘That’s enough!’ Trev’s chair thudded on to the velvet carpet as he jumped to his feet.
‘Calm down, Trev.’ Zennor’s father tugged at his son-in-law’s jacket.
Ignoring him, Trev marched around to face Matt. ‘You’re leaving, pal. Now.’
‘I will leave but not until you tell me what you were doing with that waitress. I saw you both outside an hour ago. She had her legs wrapped around you. What was that? Rehearsing for your first dance?’ Matt snorted.
Zennor felt light-headed. ‘The waitress?’ she heard herself saying. ‘What waitress?’
‘How dare you, you snivelling little shite!’ Trev shouted in Matt’s face.
She felt Roo’s arm around her back. ‘Ignore him, hun. Matt’s drunk.’
‘Who is that awful young man?’ Trev’s mum, Sandra, demanded.
Zennor’s own mum, Helen, was at her side. ‘Don’t take any notice, love! Oh God. Your dad’s involved now. This won’t do his angina any good!’ Through the protective cordon of her mother and Roo, Zennor could see her father joining Trev in berating Matt.
Meanwhile the murmurs of disquiet in the room had risen to the buzz of a million angry bees about to swarm. Someone shouted, ‘Shame!’
Zennor tried to get out of her seat but her mother gently placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘No, love, let the others sort this out.’
‘What does he mean?’ she asked. ‘Why is he even here? I didn’t ask him …’
Brushing off her mother’s arm, she made her way to the front of the table where Matt was squaring up to Trev, her father and Ari.
‘I – It’s not only the waitress,’ Matt insisted through the barrier of angry men. ‘That’s nothing – it’s …’
Kane tried to pull him back. ‘For God’s sake, leave it, Matt!’
Zennor stared at Matt, gripping the table for support. ‘Why? Why are you doing this? Why now?’
‘I – I—’ he began, as if he’d suddenly become aware of the hundred pairs of eyes on him, the murmurs of contempt, the expressions of disgust – and of barely suppressed glee. She felt sick. Some of the guests were loving the drama!
‘I’m – I’m sorry. I just had to tell you, make you see …’ His voice faltered. ‘But it’s too late. I’m too late …’
He stepped away from the table and clapped his hands to his eyes. ‘Shit. What have I done? I’ve fucked up but you need to know the kind of man you’ve married!’
Trev advanced on Matt, fists balled. ‘That’s it! You’ll regret this, pal!’
Roo encircled Zennor in her arms. ‘Oh, Zen, Zen, come away …’
Kane and the other singers had Matt by the shoulders. ‘Matt. Get the hell out of here now! I’m sorry, guys. He’s been drinking. We didn’t realise or we’d never have let him join us …’
‘Yeah, you’d damn well better leave now!’ Trev snarled.
‘Stop it! All of you!’ Zennor shouted, tears running down her face. ‘Matt, please. I don’t know why you’re doing this but it’s not for me. Please, just get out of here!’
Matt opened his mouth to speak but suddenly broke free of his friends and staggered backwards. ‘I’m sorry. I’ve let you down. I’ve let everyone down. It’s too late anyway …’
He ran out of the room.
The silence in those next few seconds seemed to weigh her down. ‘I have to tell you what he’s really like. What he’s done.’ Matt’s words rang in her ears.
Then the room erupted with gasps and cries of horrified delight.
‘How awful.’
‘Disgusting.’
‘Who is he?’
‘Matt. Matt Veryan. From the Surf Club.’
‘He’s pissed.’
‘Off his face more like.’
‘Poor Zennor.’
‘Oh my God, I filmed it!’
‘Are you OK?’ Trev asked Zennor. ‘I can’t believe Veryan did that. I knew he was a tosser, but to fling wild accusations about! He must be off his face. Well, the bloody hotel can give us the money back for a start.’
Her mother-in-law piled on. ‘Who was that dreadful character? He looked like a hippie!’
‘Some drunken young idiot from the Surf Club,’ Zennor’s mum said sharply.
‘Well, I’m not having it!’ With his mother in tow, Trev marched off to berate the wedding planner, leaving Zennor with her mother and Roo.
‘Oh, Zennor. Are you OK? My poor girl.’ Her mum fanned her with a menu card.
‘I’m OK,’ she said because the fussing was only making things worse.
‘Oh dear, your father’s joining in now,’ her mum said, seeing the posse around the hotel wedding planner and manager. ‘I must go try and calm things down.’
‘Oh my love,’ Roo said, pouring Zennor a glass of iced water that Zennor could only stare at in shock.
‘Trev n-never mentioned he’d arranged for s-singers,’ Zennor stammered.
‘It was meant to be a surprise. His mother told me but he’d no idea Matt was going to join in. None of us did. Kane must have asked him at the last minute for some reason. Does Trev know you and Matt were a thing back in the day?’
‘I – He knows we dated before I went to uni and he’s met him once at the Surf Club – not that Trev thought much of him.
’ ‘Dated’ was such a pale word for the youthful fling that Zennor and Matt had enjoyed.
It had all started to go wrong after she’d left for uni, and she’d thought Matt had moved on without a second thought.
God knew, even with so many new faces and experiences, it had taken Zennor many months to accept that her future wouldn’t have him in it.
‘Did you know Matt still felt this way about you?’ Roo asked while Zennor sipped her iced water.
‘No. I mean, I knew he was back from travelling and I’d seen him from a distance at the Surf Club, but I’ve been so busy with the wedding we didn’t have any real contact.
There’s been no reason to,’ she said. She’d thought about Matt, though, even while she’d been engaged to Trev.
Who wouldn’t look back a little, for a moment, when they were embarking on a huge life journey with their partner?
She loved Trev. They were in love and he was her husband.
‘Well, he’s obviously still carrying a torch for you, poor guy. He’s really lost the plot tonight though. It was disgusting but he was always a bit of a maverick, wasn’t he?’
A maverick? A free spirit; a joker. Yet she and Matt had once been inseparable on those long summer days and nights.
Somehow, she’d always envisaged him being in her life, although she now realised that had been a pipe dream.
She’d thrown herself into her new student life, graduated, then started teaching and eventually met Trev.
He was older, confident, and made her feel as if she were the only woman in the world and he’d do anything for her. She saw him remonstrating with the hotel manager and shuddered.
‘You don’t think …’ she murmured, feeling sick even as she said it, ‘… that there really was a waitress and Matt was …’
‘No!’ Roo shook her head. ‘Don’t you take any notice. Matt’s had too much to drink and probably already regrets what he’s said. I’m sure Trev would never do anything like that, especially today. Ignore him! Look, here’s Trev now.’
Breathing a little heavily, Trev sank to the floor at her feet and took her hands in his.
‘Zennor, Jesus. Are you OK? I’m so sorry, what a bunch of arseholes that group are.
They were recommended by the hotel but that loser was never supposed to be part of the bloody line-up.
I’ve no idea how he got in, the useless waster.
He was probably on something as well as drunk. ’
‘It’s not your fault …’ Zennor murmured, wanting to rip off her dress and dive into the familiar chill of the sea.
Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead.
‘I’ve read the riot act to the hotel manager and they’re giving us a discount, but that doesn’t matter.
I am devastated you had to witness that debacle.
But we’re not going to let it spoil our day.
I bloody refuse to! Let’s forget it happened and get on with the party. OK?’
Zennor nodded. What else could she do?
Trev rose up and banged on the table to address the room, his voice still shaky with shock and anger.
‘I am so sorry you had to see that performance, friends. One of our singing waiters has clearly helped himself to too much of the free Bolly. That’s what you get when you hire a bunch of amateurs.
’ His joke was met with laughter as faint and fake as his own.
‘Let’s get on with the celebrations.’ He glared at the MC.
‘Please can someone start the bloody disco now?’
A few moments later, Pharrell’s ‘Happy’ blared out of the speakers so loudly that Zennor could hardly hear what Roo and her mum were saying to her. The disco lights pulsated and her head thumped.
‘Zennor, lovely. Are you OK?’ Roo asked, fanning her.
‘Yes but – it’s so hot in here. The laces on my dress—’
‘I knew it was too bloody tight …’ her dad declared.
‘That’s not helpful, Hayden,’ her mum said. ‘Come on, let’s get you somewhere quiet and cool down. Why don’t we go out to the terrace for some air?’
Zennor found herself being helped out of the room by a protective cordon of Roo and her mum. Even though she felt light-headed, she was fully aware of the eyes burning into her and the shakes of the head and the pity – and suspicion.
She knew that forever after, her wedding day would only be remembered for Matt Veryan telling her she’d made the biggest mistake of her life.