11. Leo
Chapter 11
Leo
It’s nice having Kai’s company on the drive to Durham. We sing, chat, and lapse into comfortable silence while he watches the world go by and I focus on the road ahead. He gets me, which is unsurprising as he’s been by my side for seventeen years. He’s the best friend I didn’t know I had.
Assuming he’s real.
The wedding will prove that one way or another.
Is that why my stomach is fluttering?
We arrive at the wedding venue only a few minutes before the ceremony starts. Luckily, I had the forethought to wear my suit during the drive. Thanks to Janice’s skill with a tape measure, it fits. It looks half decent on too.
“Wow. Your cousin is getting married in a castle?” Kai asks.
“Yup. Didn’t I tell you that?”
He scowls. “No. Am I underdressed? ”
He’s wearing the forest-green suit he settled on the other day. Is he wearing it? I haven’t figured out how his clothing works yet.
“You look great.”
He grins. “Really?”
Heat rises to my cheeks. “Yes.” I tug at my collar. “We should get going, or we’ll be later than the bride.”
“Why would your cousin be late to her own wedding?”
“It’s—Never mind.” I open the door and glance into the passenger footwell. Kai’s feet are bare. “Shoes.”
“Oh, right.” And now they’re not.
I grab the card from the glove compartment and get out. I leave my overnight bag in the car. We don’t have time to check in now.
Lumley Castle is beautiful. Despite being over six hundred years old, it hasn’t been allowed to fall into ruin. I’m awestruck by the squat, square towers and the raised entranceway with symmetrical staircases.
We hurry inside to the reception area. It’s like stepping back in time with old, worn woodwork and aged furniture. A sign on an A-frame tells us we need to go to The Barons Hall for Saffron’s wedding.
We’re the last to arrive, so we sit at the back. The chairs are covered in white and have wide, shimmering gold ribbons tied around them. The grand room has an exquisite polished flagstone floor. We’re seated beside a gargantuan stone fireplace, almost an eyesore in the otherwise red and gold room. Logs sit in a metal trough, even though there’s no need for a fire at this time of year. An arch decorated in white roses surrounds a table at the far end of the hall, where Jensen waits for Saffron.
The string quartet begins to play. Everyone stands and turns to the back. Saffron walks in, her arm looped through her father’s. She’s smiling broadly. Her eyes are bright. She looks so happy. She makes eye contact with me and gives me a little wave. Am I being singled out because I agreed to come at such short notice? She glances to my left, at Kai, and then back to me, arching an eyebrow and giving me a ‘We’ll talk later’ look.
I guess that’s the proof I needed. Kai is real. My cat is an angel.
The wedding is beautiful and just the right length that no one starts to fidget. The slowest moment is the signing of the register, but the string quartet does a good job of entertaining us all with sweeping music from Saffron and Jensen’s favourite films. I play Guess the Film in my head. I’m pretty sure I get most of them right.
I look at Kai occasionally, even though my focus should be on the happy couple. He seems entranced. Has he ever been to a wedding? This is the first wedding I’ve been to. Okay, that isn’t true. I was a page boy when I was six, but I barely remember it. Besides, it was before Kai was in my life. The lighting in the room picks out all the colour variation in his yellow-green eyes. They’re mesmerising. He catches me staring. My cheeks heat up, and I look away.
When the ceremony ends, we’re ushered into the garden while the staff prepare the room for the wedding breakfast. Waiters serve sparkling wine and canapés on silver platters. The photographer takes photos of the bride and groom and calls out names to create group photos. Initially, they’re with close family, but I suspect they’ll want at least one photo with everyone in it.
I loop my arm through Kai’s and lead him to a tall hedge, away from the earshot of everyone else.
“Do you appear in photographs?” I ask.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know because you’re?—”
Kai arches a brow. “I’m—?” He takes my hand and presses it against his chest. “Real. I exist.”
“But—”
“Take out your phone.”
I do as asked.
“Scroll through your photos. How many do you have of me?”
I have hundreds of Cayenne that I’ve taken over the years. Each one captures a happy memory, some as simple as dust motes collecting in the light around him as he sleeps.
I put my phone away. “Point taken. Sorry.”
“No worries. Stop stressing and enjoy the day.” He squeezes my shoulder and gives me a smile that’s so disarmingly sincere my knees quake. “Incoming.”
My aunt claps her hands against my cheeks and squeezes them. “Leo, I’m so glad you could make it. And who’s this lovely young man? I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”
“I’m not. Kai is just a friend.”
“Oh, well, it’s lovely to meet you, Kai.” She shakes his hand.
“And you—” He glances at me.
“Kai, this is my aunt. Saffron’s mum.”
“Call me Hanna. It’s less of a mouthful than ‘Saffron’s mum’.”
Kai grins.
“What did you think of the wedding? Beautiful, wasn’t it? Saffron looks stunning, and they both look so happy together,” Hanna says.
“It was lovely,” I say.
The photographer shouts for everyone over for a group photo.
“Duty calls again.” Hanna grabs my hand and Kai’s and drags us towards the photographer.
Everyone gathers into a clump, only for the photographer to rearrange us so everyone is visible. She takes several photos before getting us to move to another equally beautiful spot in the garden for yet more photos. It’s exhausting. I can’t imagine how tired Saffron and Jensen are getting. They’ve been in almost every photo.
The photographer signals that she’s finished. Everyone disperses, spreading into small groups and pairs to mingle and chat.
“How are you holding up?” I ask Kai.
“I’m good. I’m having fun. Are you? ”
Someone taps on my shoulder. I turn, and Saffron drags me into a hug.
She releases me and jabs her finger against my chest. “I have a bone to pick with you, Leo.”
“Me?”
“I knew you were bringing a plus-one, but you didn’t tell me how gorgeous he is or how cute a couple the two of you make.”
I gesture to Kai. “We’re not a couple. We’re friends.”
She puts her hands on her hips. “Just good friends? You know you don’t have to take that line with anyone here, right? I am so happy for you.”
“No, seriously, we’re not together.”
“Uh-huh.” She winks at Kai. “Can you believe this guy? What’s your name? Seeing as my cousin is too rude to introduce us? I’m Saffron, but you probably already knew that.”
“I’m Kai.”
“Oh, that’s adorable.” She frowns. “Wait, isn’t your cat called something like that?”
“Cayenne. The cat is called Cayenne.”
“Huh. So similar sounding. What an odd coincidence. Even more proof you two are meant to be together.”
“Saffy—”
She presses her finger against my lips. “You don’t need to deny it.”
“He’s telling the truth. We’re not boyfriends,” Kai says .
She glances between us, her expression falling. “Are you sure?”
Kai nods.
“Oh. I was sure you were a couple. You look so good together.” She holds her thumb and forefinger close together. “Not even a tiny bit of something?”
“No,” I say firmly.
Kai replies with a soft, lopsided smile. What does that mean?
Saffron keeps looking at him, then me, and back again as though we’re playing a tennis match in her head. After a while, she hums thoughtfully. “I guess I was wrong. Anyway, I wanted to thank you for being able to come on such short notice. Both of you.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it,” I say.
“I wanted to invite you all along. I had my heart set on getting married here, but it’s crazy expensive. We were originally meant to have the wedding in the Scarborough room. Beautiful, but we could only have fifty guests, including us! You have no idea how easy it is to reach fifty guests.”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“No, but I want to. They had a last-minute cancellation and offered us the larger space. All we had to pay was food for any extra guests we wanted to invite. Like you.” She hugs me.
I smile and return her embrace. It’s nice to know I wasn’t an afterthought. “It’s an amazing venue, and it’s been a beautiful wedding.”
“So far. There’s lots more to come. ”
Hopefully, it’s not too much for Kai. How tired will he be by the end of the day?
On the stairs into the castle, a server taps a fork against a crystal wine flute.
“It’s time for the wedding breakfast. I’d better go find my husband.” Saffron sighs dramatically. “I’m never going to get tired of saying that. My husband.” She spins with a rustle of skirts and strides away.
“Huh,” Kai says.
“What?”
“Your cousin is—” He puffs his cheeks out. “Something.”
“She’s a bit of a whirlwind.” Not unlike a certain angel cat standing next to me. “Are you okay?”
He laughs. “You need to stop asking me that. Anyway, you’re the one who looks shell-shocked.”
I scowl. “I do not.”
“Do too.”
I shake my head and gesture towards the castle. “We’d better go inside.”
The Barons Hall has been transformed for the wedding breakfast. Instead of rows, the chairs are placed in sixes around large circular tables adorned with fake white blossom trees. The top table has been placed in front of the fireplace, which provides a natural focal point for the room.
We’re sitting with my other maternal aunt—Hanna’s sister—Sophia, her husband, and her two adult children, who I barely know. Our champagne glasses are filled with more bubbly wine .
While everyone chats, Kai is staring at his place-setting, his brow furrowed.
“What’s wrong?” I whisper.
He gives me a helpless look. “Why do we have three glasses and three sets of cutlery?”
“One glass for bubbly wine, one for still wine, and one for water. You use the cutlery from the outside in, one set for each course.”
He blinks slowly.
“And this is a butter knife.” I tap the blunt knife on his side plate. “When food comes, follow my lead.”
His nervous smile warms my heart. “Okay. Thank you.”
“Leo, are you still working at that dog shelter?” Sophia’s husband, Vernon, asks.
“Yes.”
“Could you tell Steven that a dog isn’t a suitable pet when you live in a tenth-floor apartment?”
I give Kai an apologetic smile, then give Vernon and Stephen my full attention. While discussing the suitability of Stephen’s new apartment for a dog, my aunt engages Kai in conversation. I only catch snippets. Sophia does most of the talking, often answering her questions without giving Kai a chance to speak—she’s like Hanna in that respect. When he does get to reply, Kai is fluently enigmatic. His voice is as calming as a cat’s purr.
When the starter is served, Kai waits until I’ve picked up the outside knife and fork and then does the same. He’s seemed so sure of himself since he revealed himself. It’s sweet to see a more uncertain side to him.
The meal lasts for well over an hour. It takes time to serve all the guests and clear the plates between each course. A quick count-up of tables helps me calculate around one hundred guests, including the wedding party. I didn’t think I’d want to eat so many courses, but the gaps between them are so long that I’m starting to get peckish again.
Kai follows my lead at the start of every course. I can’t stop watching him eat. His eyes light up beautifully as he tastes something he enjoys.
Once the coffee course has ended, servers refill our champagne glasses, and the speeches and toasts begin. Clive is long-winded. Hanna delivers a speech, declaring she doesn’t care that only men are traditionally meant to talk. Saffron is her daughter too. Jensen’s speech is shorter and more reserved. His best man’s is funny, if a little odd at times. Saffron thanks pretty much every person in the room with a heartwarming, tearful, and long speech.
“And of course I have to thank my cousin, Leo, who showed me that no matter how tough things get, there’s always a reason to get up and seize the day. Thank you, cuz, I love you.” She blows me a kiss.
My throat tightens. I blink fiercely.
Kai puts his hand on mine beneath the table and gently squeezes it. I smile to prove I’m okay. I am. Saffron’s words remind me how much I owe Cayenne for giving me a reason to get up in the early days after I lost my parents. How much I owe Kai .
It’s gone five by the time the speeches are over, signalling the end of the wedding breakfast. Guests leave, no doubt to freshen up before the evening do starts at seven.
I turn to Kai. His eyelids are drooping. “You’re tired.”
He replies with a bright smile. “I’m all right.”
“Come on, we’ve got over an hour before the next part of the wedding.”
“The next part? Oh, right, the evening do.”
“Let’s get checked in, and you can nap while I shower and get changed.” I’ve brought something less formal and more comfortable for the evening.
“Okay. Your family are all so nice.”
“Even though Sophia talked your ear off?”
Kai touches his ear, frowning.
“It was a joke. Come on.”
We make our way to the car park so I can pick up my overnight bag and then go to the reception.
“How can I help?” a middle-aged man in a smart red waistcoat asks.
“We’d like to check in, please. I booked a twin room under Leo Parry.”
The man consults the computer. “Ah, yes. It says your room has been upgraded.”
I stare at him. “Upgraded?”
“Yes, from a courtyard twin room to a castle stateroom. ”
“There must be some mistake.”
“No mistake.”
I wave my hands. “No, really. I can’t afford the price difference.” I’d paid for our room in full when I booked.
“There’s nothing extra to pay.”
I frown. “There—isn’t?”
“No. It’s already been taken care of.”
“By who?”
“I don’t know, sir.” He turns to a series of boxes on the wall and plucks a key with a tag from one of them. He hands me the key. “Here’s the key to your room. Do you have any other luggage you’d like to have taken there?”
“No. This is everything.” Dumbfounded, I stare at the number.
He points to the wide, winding staircase. “Go up to the third floor, along the corridor, and your room is the last on the right. Do let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you during your stay.”
I snap my mouth shut. “Uh, yes, thank you.” I glance at Kai and go up the stairs.
“A room upgrade sounds fancy.” Kai falls into pace alongside me.
“I don’t get it.”
“Eh, don’t question it. It’ll be fun to stay in the castle itself. Do you think it’s haunted?”
“I hope not.”
“Don’t worry. If it is, I’ll protect you.”
I chuckle. “Thanks, Kai. ”
“I’m not sure what I did, but you’re welcome.”
We find our room and let ourselves in. It’s huge, with a deep red carpet, green patterned wallpaper, and old wooden furniture.
“This is nice,” Kai says.
“It’s awful.”
“Huh? Why?”
I gesture to the amazing four-poster bed that dominates the room. “There’s only one bed.”