Chapter Thirty-Three
Enya smiled at the excited high-pitched chatter she could hear loud and clear floating under the door of the bathroom as she cleaned her teeth.
Slowly, she applied her lipstick, taking care to blend it with the lip brush as she listened to Iris’s bridesmaids, who sounded positively giddy.
It only helped build the lovely atmosphere.
She had to confess it felt a little odd, being in this pleasant yet strange environment, interacting with people she barely knew, alone in this minute, on her son’s wedding day.
This was his home, yet she didn’t know where to find a mug for coffee, or where his bedroom was, or even if there was a number for a landline.
There was a lack of familiarity quite alien when it came to her child, who for most of his life had been within reach.
This was a new era and one in which she was certain he would thrive!
As would she.
She thought of Jonathan’s mother who had, throughout their married life, been a little cool, a little off, wondering now if Granny Brown had felt the same level of redundancy that had dogged her in recent months.
The confusing tumble of emotions where delight at what lay ahead for her boy was edged with the fear of being forgotten, even if only a little bit.
Not that she would ever have been remote and judgemental like her own mother-in-law, never that.
In fact, she looked forward to growing closer to Iris.
This in turn made her think of Holly, who had predicted this very thing.
Of one thing she was sure: it was time. Time to build her own life, looking forward instead of back. Enya blotted her mouth on a tissue and stared at the face in the mirror.
‘Enya Brown...’ She reached out and ran her finger over the face looking back at her. ‘That’s who I am. I’m Enya Brown. And I have a whole lot of life ahead of me!’
Enya smiled. Saying it out loud anchored her, reminded her of who she was, what she was worth and what she still had to look forward to.
‘Mum!’ She started as Aiden called, interrupting her thoughts, knocking forcefully on the door. ‘Auntie Angela, Uncle Frank and Nan and Grandad are here. I’ve just found them a seat and got them a drink. I told them you’d be with them in a minute!’
‘Righto, thanks, love!’
It was the encouragement she needed to get a wiggle on, worrying not only what her sister might be saying but equally who she might be saying it to.
She left the bathroom in her finery, her favourite shoes on her feet, shoes that she had worn countless times when she was on Jonathan’s arm. It helped make him present.
‘Enya, you look gorgeous!’ Iris called from one of the bar stools, where someone seemed to be rubbing a product into the ends of her hair.
‘Thank you! I can’t wait to see your dress.’
‘Not long now! I’ve just sent Aiden and Jim back up to the main house so we can get ready in peace. Also, the plan is that you, Mum, Dad and I will meet at the entrance to the tunnel to go through the walk-in plan and the details.’
‘Walk-in plan?’ Her heart rattled, not only at the thought of being centre stage, but also that she might mess it up, get something wrong and spoil Iris’s vision for her special day.
‘Yes, don’t worry, nothing too complicated.’
Phew!
‘It’s just a nice way to connect our families and add a modern twist.’
‘Great! I’ll see you there then, lovey.’
Enya made her way back along the secret path and turned right into the marquee.
A few of the tables were occupied by young people, sipping drinks as they took in the view.
It could have been any swanky venue on the Riviera, as sunlight warmed the space.
It did something to her, seeing her parents, her sister and Frank sitting there all dressed up, waiting for her, waiting for Aiden.
It gave her an emotional jolt in the way that something or someone familiar in an alien landscape often does.
She hadn’t banked on this high level of sentiment hovering so close to the surface.
‘Nu-urse!’ Angela called loudly, making Enya wish she’d never agreed to the dress that made her look like a matron. ‘I’ve finished!’
A man on an adjacent table laughed loudly. Enya tutted; the last thing she wanted was for Angela to find an audience, understanding that there’d be no quieting her if that were the case.
‘You can cut that out. If it wasn’t for you and your intervention, I’d be wearing cerise or tangerine right now,’ she whispered when close enough.
‘You look lovely, darling. Give your mother a kiss.’
Enya did just that, holding her mum close, inhaling the familiar scent of her, and noting that her sister had been right, their mum did look old.
‘Hey, Dad.’ Her lovely dad stood and with misty eyes looked her up and down as he always did after any time apart, as if he couldn’t quite believe she was there, he missed her that much.
‘Ignore your sister, you look lovely.’ He hugged her tightly.
‘I always ignore her.’ She took a seat at the table.
‘This is some place,’ Angela widened her eyes and sipped what looked like a cocktail of some sort, ‘how much do you think it’s worth?’
‘I really don’t know, Angela, perhaps you should ask Trish.’ She pulled a face at her sister and hoped her sarcasm might shut her up.
‘I just had a quick look on Zoopla,’ Frank spoke with his eyes on his phone, ‘closest I can find in the postcode went for two point four million last year, but it didn’t have as much land and the house didn’t look as fancy.’
Angela made a whistling noise.
Enya felt her face flush red and was about to make her thoughts known when Trish appeared. She looked lovely in a teal coat dress with a delicate feathered fascinator to match.
‘There you are, Enya!’
Enya gave Angela a withering look, silently encouraging her to keep schtum, as whatever she might want to say about her online house snooping was not anything Enya wanted to hear. Today or any day, come to think of it.
Angela seemed to understand and closed her mouth.
‘Trish, this is my family, Aiden’s auntie and uncle, and his nan and grandad.’
‘How lovely to meet you all! A proud day for us all!’ She smiled at each of them in turn and it made Enya feel even more uncomfortable at how they had been discussing the value of her house.
‘We can have a proper chat later, but right now I think we’re required by the bride, and in a short while everyone will be asked to go to the side garden and grab a seat, as that’s where they are having the actual ceremony. ’
‘And it’s all legal, is it?’ Frank spoke directly. ‘I didn’t know you could just get hitched anywhere, in my day if it wasn’t done in front of a vicar or at the local registry office then it just wasn’t legit.’
‘Oh, I can assure you it is all very legit.’ Trish nodded, her mouth smiling, her eyes not so much. ‘They are doing the legal bit on Monday at the registry office, no one is going, just them and two friends as witnesses, so don’t worry, we’ve thought of everything.’
‘Did you know about this?’ Angela looked at Enya, who prayed she wasn’t going to make a scene.
‘I did.’
‘So, what are you saying, no aunties at the actual wedding?’
Enya swallowed her desire to scream, remembering quite clearly a conversation when Angela had declared her horror at the prospect of a registry office wedding, ‘one of those awful dos where they nip up the registry office and we all shove fifty quid behind the bar of a grotty pub with a sticky carpet...’ She let her eyes sweep the magnificent setting, where a small army of staff in the standard uniform criss-crossed the vast space.
They carried trays of fluted glasses, ice buckets full of champagne, some held trays of dainty canapés, while others gave directions, directing newly arrived guests to the side garden and the marquee where they were invited to grab a drink and take a seat. Not a sticky carpet in sight.
‘This is the actual wedding, Angela. And you’re here, as am I. On Monday it will just be Iris and Aiden and their two friends, a quick ceremony, in and out, and then I think they’re planning a pub lunch.’
‘Well, I’ve heard it all now!’ Angela pulled a face and Enya did her best to ignore her.
‘Shall we go, Trish?’ Enya walked briskly, wanting to put as much distance between her and her sister as possible.
‘Yes, see you all in a bit!’ Trish waved. Enya locked eyes with her dad, who gave her a small smile of understanding. She was glad he was there.
‘My sister.’ Enya shook her head. ‘I knew she’d worry if she thought there might be a secret ceremony she’s missing out on!’
‘I get it.’ Trish stopped on the path. ‘I totally get it. I’m saying I’m fine with it, because I don’t want Iris to worry or give it a second thought, but truth is, I’m absolutely gutted not to have been asked to the registry office. I cry every time I think about it.’
‘Oh, Trish!’ She placed her hand on the woman’s arm.
‘It’s ridiculous, isn’t it – as Iris says, a quick in and out and nothing to it, so why has it upset me so much?’
Enya took her time forming a response, warmed by the woman’s honesty, her vulnerability.
‘I understand completely, and I guess it’s because that’s the actual moment they’ll be officially married, and we won’t be there.
And probably because our babies are getting married at all, our little ones, all grown up and gone! ’
‘I guess so, and also it’s the final thing, isn’t it. Once they’re married, my husband will ship out. The beginning of the end.’
Enya nodded. She hadn’t considered this glaring fact and she felt for the woman, knowing what it was like to wake up in a big bed all alone and not to hear the sound of her husband pottering.