Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
Freya
T he wedding ceremony had a two o’clock slot but she could have persuaded Luke to the vicar at eight when they woke up. The absence of the registrar on Copper Island was unfortunate. They were to arrive on the first ferry. Freya questioned the last minute arrival but Erica had assured her she had a helicopter on standby on the mainland should the ferries, all of them, refuse to sail.
After breakfast everyone decided they were going to spend the day down by the river, playing cards on the giant table and introducing the babies to the water. Isobel loved the water and looked super cute in her baby swimming costume.
They didn’t make any bets at cards, and they didn’t talk about Cynthia. In fact they didn’t talk about anything but happy memories, on and off the island.
Luke silently escorted them back to their home, opened the back door, and secured it behind them. A happy, content silence that hugged Freya like a warm blanket. Freya wore her shorts PJ set to bed and Luke wore his PJ bottoms. He told her he could wait for their wedding night to have sex again. He just wanted to hold her.
All night, she spooned him tight. When they woke, Luke gave her a forehead kiss and told her he’d see her at the church. Then he got out of bed, grabbed a soft holdall that looked like it was full of clothing and left the bedroom. When she heard the back door close, Freya worried they wouldn’t make it to the altar and Cynthia would break them up.
“Okay, I have a surprise for you,” Erica announced coming into the large bedroom that was acting as a dressing room.
He voice jolted Freya out of her gloom she would get married. She was staring unseeing out of the windows to the lawns. Freya looked over her shoulder to see a cream dress carrier cover casually flung over Erica’s shoulder. A hanger hook looped around Erica’s finger.
Freya returned Erica’s grin with one of her own.
“Another one? You’ve already given me shoes to die for, underwear that’s so delicate I’m scared to wear it but Luke is going to go crazy over it. Then there was the champagne breakfast.”
“I know, but Yanny did the breakfast organising, can’t take credit for that. And technically Jason made it,” Erica said.
She came right to Freya who was at the wide tall sash window at the rear of Edward Hall overlooking the terrace and lawns that would be the site for the wedding reception.
Freya watched as the caterers diligently strolled along the tables placing cutlery at each setting. She had asked for a buffet style wedding breakfast where people could help themselves and graze to their heart’s content without having to wait around for their next course. Freya didn’t know what was on the menu, she hadn’t planned that part. Luke had told her Jason was taking care of the menu and she wasn’t to interfere.
So she didn’t, knowing her soon to be sisters-in-law would take care of her special day.
“It’s something for your gown,” Erica said.
“But this is already gorgeous,” Freya said looking down at her sleek silk bodice with a plunging neckline to the waist. Lace covered the entire bodice from the shoulders. Only if someone was inches from her and looked down, could they see the valley between her breasts. Freya had a fabulous view. The secret underwear in the gown meant she didn’t need to wear a bra. As the bodice reached her waist, it cinched in and then she had layers of material in a lighter fabric she didn’t know the name of but draped down to the floor in several layers.
It did not have a back. From her waist to her shoulders, it was bare.
“We’re going to make it church worthy and then when we get back up here, it can come off and you can be the sexy bride,” Erica said, bringing the garment bag to her front.
Freya casually wondered when she put the dress on half an hour before if her mother and grandmother would approve of the daring wedding gown in their church. She would bravely face the repercussions, as it was haute couture and she longed to wear it.
What Freya hadn’t put in the folder, as she’d thought about it after she’d handed it over was her bridesmaids dresses. In the folder she had said they could choose their dresses to wear. But she’d had a brainwave and wanted to spoil everyone on her wedding day. So she persuaded Daisy, Erica and Heidi to wear their wedding dresses as no one got to see them except a select few. No one had seen Daisy’s dress as she married in secret.
Erica had organised the best man, Archer, and the adult ushers, Jason and Nate. Kenny Bramlett and the five kids who helped Erica give birth to their first child, Isobel, were the younger ushers for the day.
Archer, Jason and Nate didn’t know the plan for their wives to be in their dresses. The men were getting ready at Archer’s place.
“Oh let me see,” Heidi said, coming in on bare feet with her silver strappy sandals over her fingers.
Her wedding dress cascaded down her body like a silk waterfall, flaring at her feet. The panel at the front went all the way up to her throat with a horizontal strap of silk around her throat. The front mirrored the back leaving her arms bare.
Yanny, Erica’s assistant in all things movie had demanded to help with the wedding and no one was about to argue. He took the dress bag from Erica and hung it up on the dress rail before pulling the centre zip down.
“I’ll go and get the steamer,” he said and bustled away, high fiving Heidi as he passed her. Daisy shot into the room in her dress and we all sighed at the beauty of it.
“Is this it?” she shrieked.
I couldn’t concentrate on anyone’s dresses as I looked at what Yanny had unzipped. It looked like a cloak with long thin strapping. The long train spread out behind it like a pool of water.
“Let’s get it on you before Yanny steams it for the tenth time. Make sure it fits okay,” Erica said like she’d made it herself.
Heidi helped her bring it over and Freya turned her back to them. When she slipped her arms into the sleeves, they came up to just below her elbows.
Three pearl style buttons lined up at the collar and then a sash tie at the waist that fitted her perfectly, sitting over the waistband on her dress. Each end had a hidden velcro fastening at the side just where her arms rested. The best part of it all is was the pattern over silk and those tiny little patterns were lavender bushels. The dress transformed from risque to demure, perfectly suited for a church.
Freya looked over her shoulder to see what Heidi, Erica and Daisy were doing and they stood there, hands over mouths staring at the fabric. Then Yanny came swirling into the room with the portable steamer.
“Bloody hell that’s perfect. Just perfect,” he decreed as he hurried forward.
Freya witnessed her best friends nodding in agreement.
“It really is,” Erica said. “Do you want to see?”
Her eyes reached Freya’s, sparkling with happiness.
“Yeah,” Freya said, grinning.
“Okay, do a long walk around the room and then circle back in front of the mirror, we’ll arrange the train and then pull the other mirrors behind you so you can see,” Yanny told her.
Freya did her walk and Yanny, Heidi and Erica arranged the mirrors while Daisy had her phone out taking pictures. Next came her veil and tiara. Freya didn’t want anything obscuring her view as she walked down the aisle but the girls insisted she should. Yanny showed that she’d be able to see very well through the material. Freya relented. Yanny and Erica knew what they were doing. The front of the veil came to her waist, and the back matched the length of her dress and train, to the millimetre.
“Honestly Erica. How much did this cost?” Freya said as she looked at her reflection.
She felt like a million bucks standing in her wedding dress.
“You look fantastic and I don’t care how much it cost. It’s worth every penny seeing your smiling face.
Daisy ran across the room, stood in the in sight of the doorway, took a deep breath in before she exhaled a command.
“Everyone come and see the bride, she’s ready,” she hollered, with her head back and arms in the air.
Freya heard excited voices, all female and then heavy footsteps across the thick carpet until she saw her mum in the doorway.
Who immediately burst into tears.
This was followed by Luke’s mum, Imelda, and then the two grandmothers in attendance. Imelda’s mother and Freya’s grandmother. They were all dressed in their finery, looking like summer flowers.
Since Daisy was the youngest female in the family, there were no cute flower girls listed in her folder.
Freya was okay with that.
“Will I do?” Freya asked.
“He’s going to fall over when he sees you,” her mum said.
Freya grinned as she giggled. She hoped Luke would. It’s precisely what Freya wanted to do. Bowl him over and get him so proud she was walking towards him on their way to forever together. Because Freya knew that’s how she felt. She couldn’t wait to always have his back when his aunt appeared. Would always curl into him when he was near. But Cynthia hadn’t shown her face yet. What was her game?
“How do I get to the church in this?” Freya asked.
She couldn’t imagine getting to the church wearing her cloak without getting it creased. Or her veil getting caught in the wheels of the buggy.
“I’m going to carry everything and then we’ll dress you into it when we get to the church doors. We’ll straighten your tiara too. We’ll get you out of the cloak, and veil now so I can give it one last steam and then we’ll get going. All the men have left,” Yanny said.
“Right, that’s our cue to get moving,” Imelda said in the corridor. “Come on ladies, our buggies await.”
“If the men are at the church, who are driving the buggies?” Freya asked.
“The ushers,” Heidi said.
“The kids who work at the warehouse, the ones you teach and spent a ridiculous time in detention with them. They are your young ushers. They’re taking care of transport for those who need it,” Erica said.
Heid was laughing behind Erica, hopping from one foot to the other to get her shoes on.
“Your face is a picture,” Heidi said.
“What?” Freya repeated.
Freya’s mouth dropped open further, not understanding if this was a joke.. The younger ushers were about fourteen and still at school. The buggies didn’t need licences, but they were going to be driving her mother and her grandmother. Still, she would trust them, but they were fourteen and had been roped into being a part of her wedding.
“That’s epic. How did you convince them?” Freya asked.
“They volunteered. I think it has more to do with they’re allowed to drive the buggies at last but they’ve turned into great young lads after their run in with Luke. Watching Erica give birth in a storm to beat all storms aged them too,” Heidi said laughing. “Oh how I wish I was there to see their faces.”
“I wish I could remember, so busy not trying to kill something with all the pain of giving birth with no pain killers,” Erica grumbled.
“I bet they look great all dressed up,” Freya mused.
“They do. Now let’s get you out of the cloak and to the church on the back of a buggy,” Erica said.
“Where’s Stan?” Freya asked.
“Um,” Erica replied dipping her chin into her neck and then looked at Daisy.
“Something about something or other. I’m sure it’s fine,” Daisy said, waving her hand in the air like it was an everyday occurrence.
Stan’s behaviour was commonplace, but Freya found herself facing Erica, the one responsible for handling all obstacles. Archer, Jason and Nate were supposed to be at the church with Luke.
“Then why is Jason marching across the lawn in his tux and a chef’s hat?” Freya asked quietly as she tracked his movements. His long strides ate up the distance. Jason approached the buffet table. Looked left and right down the long table and then lifted the white cloth in front of him. He swiped off his hat and tossed it under the table, then dropped the cloth and draped it back into place.
Freya looked at Daisy and then Erica who showed exaggerated calm expressions.
“Practical joke?” Daisy offered, sounding anything but confident.
Freya looked back out the into the garden to catch Jason do an over arm throw like he was in a javelin competition and tossed something shiny so far and so high it landed in the trees that separated Edward Hall boundary and Turner Hall boundary. Her first thought was that she hoped Cynthia wasn’t walking the grounds.
“I think he just threw a spanner into the trees,” Freya absentmindedly said as she kept her eyes fixed on his back.
“No, no, all spanners come my way,” Erica assured her, trying to bustle her away from the window. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Freya knew the spanners went to whoever was in charge of that area at Edward Hall. If Jason was wearing his chef’s hat, it had to be related to food.
“Come on, honey. Everything is as it should be, let’s go,” Erica said.
Freya tore herself away from the window, thinking she had put too much pressure on everyone to make her wish list come true. She chewed on her lip, gnawing away at her flawlessly applied lip gloss, slowing her pace, letting go of Erica’s hand.
“Am I a Bridezilla?” Freya asked.
Heidi, Erica and Daisy stopped and turned her way. They all smiled softly and tilted their heads in unison, but it was Yanny who spoke.
“Fuck no. Boy could I tell you diva stories of demands and hissy fits. I have dozens,” he said waving his hand as he came forward. He hooked his arm through hers and urged her forward. “Then when I’m done with Erica’s theatrics we can move on to other Hollywood starlets.
Freya burst out laughing, Erica rolled her eyes, Heidi barked out a laugh and Daisy gasped.
“Were you a diva?” Daisy asked.
“Completely high maintenance. I was awful. I don’t know why Yanny put up with me. You should have seen my meltdown when my husband’s bit on the side appeared in the bathrooms showing me her very pregnant belly ten minutes before I collected my Academy Award. It included a private jet and ripping a million dollar dress. Honestly, I’m ashamed to say it out loud.”
“You wore a dress worth a million dollars?” Freya hissed.
“Yeah, she was gorgeous,” Yanny said, keeping Freya walking and talking. “It was irreparable when I got to it. Shame, would be worth more as an Oscar winning dress. Never mind. That’s all in the past and Erica isn’t high maintenance at all these days. Must be Copper Island air soothing her soul.”
“This place is like another world,” Daisy said. “I’ve travelled the world and there is something about this island, the waters surrounding it and the fresh air that does something for the soul.”
“Hear hear,” Heidi said.
They had reached the buggy. Yanny slipped behind the steering wheel only to be shoved aside by Heidi who announced she was driving. Yanny didn’t put up a fight and rounded the vehicle and sat at the back with Freya. Daisy sat next to Heidi and Erica took the middle seat with Freya’s bouquet and clutch handbag.
“Yanny, have I put people to too much trouble?” Freya asked.
“No, darling. You have no idea how much fun we’ve had pulling this together for you. We love you and Luke and you are a fantastic couple who I know will have a long future ahead of you. Luke is crazy in love with you. Just seeing him look at you and you look at him like there is no one else in the room. It’s beautiful and we all get to be a part of it, openly and with no restrictions. The other girls didn’t have that so today is about them too. Enjoy it, have the time of your life because you’ll look back on today for the rest of your married life. And do it smiling.”
“You’re a fabulous human being,” Freya said and sniffed.
“I know, darling, I know,” he said patting the back of her hand on the arm that was looped through the crook of his elbow.
Freya laughed as she rumbled along the dry path to the church. She waved at people as she passed and most of them waved back. All of them were in their Sunday best and one look at her, they realised they needed to increase their walking speed if they wanted to be in the church before her.