Chapter 3
‘Blimey!’ muttered Milly as she ambled into the carpark at the back of the Dolphin and Anchor.
It was jam-packed – both with wedding guests and cars. She definitely recognised a few of them. Clearly, the plea in the Crumbleton Times hadn’t done much to get people to shift their vehicles out of the way for the big day. Every single space was full – including the shady one in the corner beneath the conker tree, where a bored-looking horse was dozing at the front of a very fancy carriage.
Milly let out a sigh of relief that she didn’t have to navigate this lot with her flower van. It took all of two seconds for the relief to morph into guilt - skiving off to ogle Murray meant the unenviable task had fallen to Jo instead.
Milly had already spotted her trainee parked up on the cobbles out the front of the hotel – hazards flashing as she hauled the delivery in through the front doors. It was the opposite of what Milly had asked her to do – but given the circumstances, there was no way she was about to complain!
‘Hello you!’
Milly whirled around, only to find Caroline Cook grinning at her.
‘I didn’t know you were coming!’ said Milly with a broad smile.
‘Like I’d miss the chance for a scoop,’ said Caroline, leaning in to give her a hug.
‘A scoop at a wedding?’ said Milly, frowning at her friend in amusement. She might be the editor for the Crumbleton Times and Echo, but surely even Caroline would struggle to find a juicy story amongst the corsets and corsages!
‘You never know,’ said Caroline, wiggling her eyebrows. ‘Anyway – who am I to say no to free fizz and cake under the guise of work?’
‘Jo said almost exactly the same thing earlier,’ said Milly.
‘Is that trouble-maker here too?’ said Caroline, glancing around.
‘Only to deliver the flowers so that I wouldn’t have to,’ said Milly.
‘You trusted her with that?’ said Caroline in surprise.
‘Yep,’ Milly nodded. ‘Especially as it means I get to rock up without getting covered in stinky flower water first.’
Caroline narrowed her eyes at Milly. ‘You look very nice,’ she said slowly. It sounded more like an accusation than a compliment – her words laced with suspicion.
Milly bit her lip. There was no way she was going to tell Caroline the real reason she was here… but her friend knew her far too well.
‘What exactly are you doing here?’ she continued.
Milly snorted – her over-the-top amusement designed to throw Caroline off the scent. ‘Erm… celebrating a joyous union between…’ she trailed off. Damnit – she’d forgotten the bride’s name again, and this time there was no convenient order pad nearby.
‘Between?’ said Caroline, amusement sparkling in her eyes.
‘Two people?’ said Milly.
‘Who’re called…?’
‘Mr and almost Missus… Davies?’ she guessed.
‘Try again!’ hooted Caroline. ‘It’s Williams.’
‘So close,’ huffed Milly. ‘Anyway, I did the flowers and the bride asked me. I couldn’t exactly turn her down, could I?!’
‘Why not?’ said Caroline in surprise. ‘That’s what you usually do.’
‘Yeah – but this time the wedding is literally just down the hill from the shop,’ said Milly.
This time, she’d had a crush on the best man forever… not that she was going to tell Caroline that.
‘I didn’t want to be rude!’ she added.
‘But-’
‘Sorry - hold that thought!’ said Milly as she felt her mobile phone vibrate in her pocket with an incoming message. She quickly fished it out and glanced at the screen. Having let Jo loose on the deliveries, she didn’t want to risk missing an SOS call.
Sure enough, the message was from Jo – but there wasn’t any kind of emergency afoot that might save her from Caroline’s interrogation.
‘Everything okay?’ said her friend.
‘Yeah,’ said Milly, raising an eyebrow in surprise. ‘It’s just Jo letting me know she’s finished delivering the flowers.’
‘Blimey – cutting it a bit fine, aren’t you?’ said Caroline. ‘I mean – the bride’s probably dressed and ready to go by this point!’
‘I did the flowers for the room yesterday,’ said Milly with a shrug. ‘It’s just the bouquet and the bits and bobs for the men and the flower girls. It was the best way to make sure they were fresh and didn’t get damaged before the ceremony.’
‘Fairy snuff,’ said Caroline.
‘Listen to this, though,’ said Milly, still staring at the text.
“Flowers delivered. All fine though had to use the front door.Heads up - best man is a total douche. Felt like flobbing in his hip flask”
Caroline snorted. ‘Now that’s the kind of customer service everyone deserves.’
‘Yeah – but what about the bit about him being a douche…’ muttered Milly.
‘What about it?’ said Caroline with a shrug. ‘Being a best man doesn’t automatically make him a good guy, you know. There isn’t an entrance exam. Wait… do you know the best man?’
Milly paused for a beat. Did she?!
‘No,’ she said. ‘No, I don’t.’
After all, it wasn’t really a lie. She’d met him once, and then glimpsed him in the distance a handful of times since. So… she might have pounced on him – in this very carpark in fact – but she’d barely spoken two words to him! That didn’t count as knowing him, did it?
A strange feeling of hollow disappointment seemed to be swirling in her stomach. She’d been so sure that Murray was one of the good guys - that he was a fairytale waiting to happen if only she could summon the courage to do something about it. But…
‘Why do you look like someone’s just pooped on your pansies?’ said Caroline curiously.
Milly shrugged, quickly casting around for an excuse for her sudden change in mood. ‘Just trying to decide how I’m going to discipline Jo for this,’ she said, waving her mobile – the text still visible on the screen.
‘Are you kidding me?’ said Caroline in surprise. ‘If she’s managed to deal with an obnoxious bloke on a wedding-fuelled power trip without any kind of retaliation, the girl deserves praise for her restraint. Not sure I’d manage to do the same!’
‘Thank heavens you don’t work in customer service,’ said Milly, glancing at the text again.
‘I’ll second that,’ said Caroline with a nod. ‘Look – they’re calling everyone inside.’
Sure enough, the silvery tinkling of a handbell being tortured by a toddler in a suit echoed across the carpark.
‘Time to get this show on the road!’ said Caroline, offering Milly her arm. ‘May I escort you?’
Milly hesitated for a brief second and then grabbed Caroline’s elbow with a sense of resignation. It was just as well her friend was there - without Caroline towing her in the direction of the impending nuptials, Milly would have chosen that exact moment to skip out on the whole thing.
The ceremony was mercifully short – and Milly was chuffed to note that the flowers looked perfect. Everything had gone smoothly - with the I Dos happening in all the right places, accompanied by a few elegant tears (from the mother of the bride) and a giggle or two (courtesy of the hilarious celebrant who’d definitely missed her calling as a stand-up comedian.)
The only thing Milly found disappointing about the whole affair was the fact that Murray had kept his back to the guests for most of the ceremony. It was a very nice back though.
‘Well… that’s that then!’ said Caroline as they stood watching the newlyweds disappear from the room.
‘What’s next?’ said Milly, looking slightly distracted as she craned her neck, trying to catch sight of Murray through the forest of feathered fascinators that had reared up around her.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ came the celebrant’s voice. ‘Mr and Mrs Williams would like to ask you all to join them back outside for the tossing of the bouquet!’
‘That answers that, then,’ said Caroline, grabbing Milly’s hand and towing her towards the doors. ‘Come on – let’s get out there for the scrum!’
Milly shrugged and followed her friend… not that she had any intention of trying to catch the flying flowers. After all, she knew how much they weighed.
‘Why on earth is she so keen to get rid of her bouquet, do you think?’ puffed Milly, doing her best to keep up. ‘Surely that usually happens after food, and toasts… and bad dancing?!’
‘You tell me,’ said Caroline. ‘You made the thing. Did you spray it with stink-powder or something?’
‘No! As if I’d-’
‘Chillax, Mills,’ chuckled Caroline. ‘I was joking! I think they just wanted an excuse to get everyone outside so that they can get the room ready for the reception and get the disco set up in the corner.’
‘Oh!’ said Milly. ‘Is she really going to throw the flowers in the carpark? What about the gardens... surely that would be a better photo op?’
‘According to Kendra, the grass is too soggy after all the rain,’ said Caroline as they emerged back into the sun-drenched carpark. ‘They didn’t want to spend the rest of the day rescuing all the stiletto-wearers from ankle-deep mud.’
‘Well, that’s fair enough,’ laughed Milly. ‘Not much space out here for it though, is there?’ she added, squeezing down the side of a battered old Volvo. It was going to be tough to find a spot in the crowd where she wouldn’t be in danger of getting elbowed in the ribs.
On the other side of the carpark, near the snoozing horse, a gaggle of eager-looking women were already gathering, jockeying for elbow room as they prepared to fight for the bridal bouquet.
‘Get over there Mills!’ said Caroline, giving her a gentle shove.
‘No chance,’ spluttered Milly, doing her best to stand her ground in the thickening crowd. ‘What about you?’
‘No way!’ said Caroline. ‘Perks of being a reporter – I observe.’
Milly giggled as Caroline pulled herself up to her full height and did her best to look haughty and aloof. ‘Hope they get on with it, though – I could do with a glass of fizz,’ she added, completely ruining the effect. ‘Weddings make me thirsty.’
‘Mmm,’ Milly mumbled her vague agreement as she glanced around, trying to spot Murray in the throng. He had to be out there somewhere, didn’t he? She couldn’t see him – but then, she couldn’t really see much in this chaos.
There wasn’t room to swing a cat in the packed carpark. People kept stepping on Milly’s toes, and the photographer was busy making things worse by squeezing her way through the crowd – elbows first – clearly intent on reaching the action before she missed the photo opportunity completely.
‘Here we go!’ said Caroline, nudging Milly and pointing at the bride as she appeared bearing the bouquet. With some difficulty, she raised the flowers over her head and turned her back on the group of jostling women.
As the flowers sailed up into the sky, everything started to move in slow motion – or at least, that was what it felt like to Milly. It wasn’t a bad throw at all, considering the weight of the blooms and the fact that the bride’s movements were hampered by her bejewelled corset. Her eyes followed the bouquet as it flew in a high arc above the forest of waiting arms.
Then – out of nowhere – someone made a brave leap for the bouquet. The jump was worthy of the Olympics – but the woman’s fingers only just managed to clip the stems, sending the flowers spinning wildly in a different direction.
The horse tossed its head nervously.
There was a collective gasp.
A dull thud.
And then - complete silence.
It took a few beats before time sped back up again – but when it did, all hell broke loose.
‘Is there a doctor here? Do we have a doctor in the crowd?’ shrieked a woman’s voice. She sounded more than a little bit hysterical.
‘What just happened?’ gasped Milly, craning her neck as she tried to work it out. ‘Did the horse get loose? Is someone hurt?!’
‘Two secs,’ said Caroline, scurrying forward, ‘I’ll find out.’
Milly stared around, looking for Murray again – but before she had any luck, Caroline was back at her side.
‘Nothing to do with the horse,’ she said, wide-eyed and looking like she was torn between absolute horror and the desire to giggle. ‘Your flowers just clonked someone right on the head!’
‘Uh oh!’ said Milly with a guilty wince. ‘Are they okay?’
‘The flowers look fine,’ said Caroline.
‘Not the flowers, idiot,’ hissed Milly, ‘the person they hit!’
‘I shouldn’t think so,’ Caroline said, shaking her head.
‘What do you mean?!’ said Milly with a sinking sensation.
‘The poor bloke’s out cold!’