Chapter 49
49
The anger in his voice was enough to bring Holly to tears. She opened her mouth to speak, to explain herself, but even drawing breath was enough to make the tears flow faster.
Hastily, she wiped her face. Giles let out a loud groan.
‘Let’s just get through today, okay?’ he said. ‘Let’s go to this damn exhibition so that I can find my fiancée the florist of her wedding dreams.’
His fiancée. It wasn’t the first time on this journey that he’d said that. Actually, it felt like he said it more than Sienna’s name. Was it to reinforce a point? They would be getting married, and anything Holly said about the woman would be seen as a personal slight on Giles? Or was it something else? He’d already said he’d seen her email, so was he responding without replying? Yes, now she thought about it, that felt like exactly what was happening.
Holly’s tears were replaced with a numbness.
‘Okay.’ She nodded as her voice choked out the words. ‘You’re right. Let’s just get through this.’
For the last remaining hour of the car journey, Holly didn’t even attempt to speak. There was nothing she could say. At least, no questions she could ask that she would like to hear the answers to. And yet, as they drove upwards along a steep and winding track and reached a set of large, cast-iron gates, she couldn’t help the words from slipping out of her mouth.
‘Wow,’ she said. ‘It’s a freaking castle.’
‘It would appear so.’
‘Imagine getting married here. Hope would absolutely love it.’ Holly hadn’t meant to mention weddings. It had just been an absent-minded comment. And yet Giles sniffed.
‘Sienna wants a child-free venue,’ he said.
Holly’s eyes widened. ‘Child-free?’
That wasn’t something she’d expected. Obviously, Giles didn’t have children of his own, but even if you didn’t consider Hope or Jamie’s kids, there were still his nephew and nieces, Faye’s children. It seemed bizarre that he wouldn’t want them there.
‘What about what you want?’
‘That’s not really the focus of a wedding. It’s the bride’s day.’
‘No, it’s a day where you celebrate your love. It’s a union. It’s not a day where only one person gets what they want.’
‘Well, making her happy is what I want, so I guess that’s fine, isn’t it?’
There was nothing Holly could say to that. Giles’s eyes remained locked on the driveway ahead, as if he couldn’t bear to look at her. Trying to ignore the weight building in her stomach, Holly did the only thing she could and stared out at the view, just like he was doing.
The building was the antithesis of the spa that Sienna had taken them to. This place was steeped in history, and for once, Holly found herself wishing she knew more about things like that, about architecture, or what kind of person would’ve loved this place. Hopefully, they had a bit of information inside she could read.
They were almost out of the car when a large man ran out from behind them.
‘Parking is over towards the left!’ a voice called out, although Holly was more intrigued by his vehicle than what he was saying.
‘Is that a golf buggy?’ Holly said. ‘Is there a golf course here? I’ve not been in a golf buggy before. That shouldn’t really be a surprise, should it, given that I don’t play golf, but I just feel like I should’ve been in one somewhere.’
Giles shrugged. ‘Probably. Are you going to ask questions constantly? I don’t think I can cope with your babbling today.’
The comment hit her hard, stinging sharply before transforming into something different. Into anger. Holly had assumed Giles didn’t know what the real Sienna was like. But what if he knew exactly what she was like, and that was what he wanted?
Following the man’s instructions, they continued to drive around to the left of the castle, where they parked up. Holly didn’t bother saying anything as she climbed out of the car, just like she didn’t bother checking behind her to see if Giles was there as she followed the signs into the building. She needed to take photographs. Not speak to him. And like he said, the sooner they got this done, the sooner they could leave.