Chapter 18
The afternoon turned into evening, and before Eliza knew it, the sun had begun to set over the rolling green hills, and dinner was being served.
It was a sumptuous spread of local meats, grilled vegetables and hearty salads, all expertly prepared by Agatha and her team.
Eliza was blown away – her sister had really bloody nailed it.
As she stood at the side surveying the scene, Eliza let herself relax slightly for the very first time that day, realising she’d pulled off a really great wedding.
The long tables were full of people all eating, laughing, and celebrating together.
The speeches had been just long enough, with some laughter, tears and a lot of romantic sighs.
It wasn’t long before Luke himself stood up to toast the happy couple, and at that precise moment, it seemed like nothing could go wrong.
And the cake, Marjorie’s masterpiece of lemon and elderflower, stood proudly on display, awaiting its ceremonial cutting.
She loved the idea of Marjorie, at her age, launching her mega cake career – proving that once again there was simply no age limit on what you could achieve.
When the plates were cleared, the dance floor was revealed and clutching her glass of sparkling, Eliza swayed with the happy couple as they danced their way into a ‘Sunday Kind of Love’.
Then the beat started to pick up, the guests were twirling and grooving beneath the twinkling fairy lights and a canopy of stars.
The night’s final details swept Eliza into a flurry of activity – from checking on the cake table, to talking to the DJ about the timings, to making sure all the guests were happy and there was enough booze.
She flagged down the bartender with an urgent wave.
‘We need another case of lager behind the bar, as quickly as we can,’ she whispered, when she sensed someone hovering at her elbow.
She turned to find Bella, looking elegant and refined in a navy floor-length silk dress.
‘I have to admit,’ she said frostily, ‘you’ve done an exceptional job. I wasn’t sure you could pull it off, but Fenella looks happier than I’ve ever seen her.’ Looking like she’d just swallowed a toad, she smiled. ‘Well done, Eliza. Seems there might be more to you than meets the eye.’
Eliza hesitated, surprised by the unexpected compliment from Bella, even if it was done in a slightly passive-aggressive manner – of all the unexpected things that had happened tonight, she hadn’t seen that one coming.
‘Thank you. And as for your flower arrangements, well, they’re stunning – they really do pull the whole thing together.
I hope you’ll think about doing it full-time.
You have a real talent, and in this industry, there’s always space for good florists. ’
Bella nearly smiled. ‘It seems we make a good team after all.’
Before Eliza could respond, Bella’s expression shifted ever so slightly, her eyes focusing on something else. ‘I should warn you,’ she said, lowering her voice, as though they had been friends for years, ‘Phil’s been drinking all night, and he’s in one of his moods.’
Eliza glanced over her shoulder, to where Phil was leaning against the bar – staring straight at her, with an intensity that made her feel more than a little uncomfortable.
‘Why, what’s pissed him off? Or don’t I want to know?!’ asked Eliza, wondering why she should suddenly be in his line of fire.
‘He knows about Luke buying back the farm. Someone let it slip – just for the record, it wasn’t me.
He’s completely furious that his father sold it without consulting him, and now he’s convinced that Luke manipulated the whole situation.
Not to mention that Phil has a pretty fragile ego, so he’s feeling completely undermined.
Luke’s going to be the main honcho around here now, and that’s not something that’s going to work for Phil. ’
‘But wasn’t it all just business? That’s what Luke told me, anyway,’ said Eliza, wondering how she was going to get Phil away from the Stanleys for the rest of the night.
She really didn’t need an emotional outburst messing up the whole evening.
‘I’d think that if Luke paid market value, Phil really has nothing to be upset about.
Surely, he should be happy to be getting all that money, I mean, I would be,’ continued Eliza, thinking how useful a windfall would be to her right now.
‘Of course it was fair,’ sighed Bella, her voice tinged with weariness, ‘but Phil has never been able to accept that Luke might succeed where he couldn’t. There’s always been a rivalry there, even before – well, anyway, it doesn’t matter.’
‘No, go on, what were you going to say?’ asked Eliza, thinking, you are not going to leave me hanging like that.
Bella hesitated. ‘Look, there’s a complicated history.
It’s really ancient, as in absolutely nothing for you to worry about, but Phil has never really forgiven Luke for being the one I was with first.’ Bella looked over at her husband, a sort of wistful, tired look dancing in her eye, and Eliza had a horrible desire to reach out and hug her.
She then turned to Eliza saying, ‘Honestly, we’ve never stopped going through a rough patch since we got married.
He seems to struggle to keep his dick in his pants and that’s hardly the greatest platform for a successful marriage, is it? ’
‘Luke told me the two of you dated,’ Eliza mumbled.
‘It was years ago we were engaged, when we were young and carefree.’ Her eyes met Eliza’s meaningfully, and Eliza bristled.
‘Engaged? You and Luke were engaged?’
‘Luke didn’t tell you? I thought he would have by now, given how close you two are.
Anyway, don’t worry about it, Eliza. As I said, all ancient history now, everything happened before he even met you.
And I hear Luke’s extending the lease on your house; it’s pretty useful having your landlord as your lover.
’ And with that, she walked off, without even a backwards glance.
Eliza stood there frozen, her mind reeling. Luke and Bella had been planning to get married? Luke was the owner of Willow Tree Cottage? No wonder he knew to bend his head when he went up the stairs. All this time he had been her landlord, and he had never mentioned it to her?
After their declarations of telling each other everything, all that talk about trust, and now this?
‘You look like you could use this,’ came a voice at her elbow. It was Agatha, standing there with a glass of sparkling, grinning from ear to ear. She was obviously thrilled that her first catering event in years had gone well, and was ready to relax.
‘God, yes!’ muttered Eliza, swallowing down the bitterness of lies, injustice and a whole wave of tears she couldn’t let loose right now. She downed half her wine in one swig.
Agatha looked at her and raised an eyebrow. ‘Whoa there, party girl, who’s got you all wound up? Everything looks pretty perfect to me! I’ve never seen such an electric wedding, full of so much energy and love – you nailed it, baby sis. I am very proud of you.’
Eliza glanced around quickly to make sure no one else could hear her, and angrily hissed into her sister’s ear, ‘I have just found out that Luke and Bella were engaged, and he never fucking told me. And, not as important, but still evidence of him being a no-good liar, it turns out he’s my landlord. ’
‘Bloody hell, are you serious?’ said Agatha, her eyes widening.
‘Deadly serious. He’s obviously just incapable of telling the truth. I knew something that perfect had to have fundamental flaws.’
‘Okay, but maybe there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation,’ Agatha suggested, although she seemed quite doubtful herself. ‘Keeping an engagement secret is a big deal, but maybe he was planning to tell you. It could be that it really is ancient history.’
‘When, then? When was he going to tell me? God, I feel like such an idiot!’ Eliza pressed her fingers to her temples.
Maybe it was time she took up tapping, that was a thing people did to calm down.
Or maybe what she needed was to learn witchcraft and hex the whole place down.
‘Fuck, Ags, I can’t believe I fell for it again – first Henry, and now Luke.
’ She felt tears threatening as she peered up at her big sister through her eyelashes.
‘Are all men arseholes, Aggie? Or just the ones I’m fucking? ’
‘Oh, Eliza, this isn’t the same as Henry, don’t be ridiculous. Just because one man has betrayed you doesn’t mean that every single man in the world will. You can’t spend your life looking for the bad in people.’
‘Everything all right, my darlings?’ came their mother’s voice, wafting from behind them.
‘What a fabulous evening. I’m having the most wonderful time!
I’ve made so many new friends. I do like that Jean Pierre fellow, he’s been taking me through a tasting of all his wines.
He is rather dashing, I must say. And as for that Luke, well, he looks just like this man I met once in Ibiza during the Seventies. Oh, in fact, here he comes now!’
Eliza looked up and saw Luke heading towards them, his eyes lighting up as he saw her.
‘I need some air,’ muttered Eliza, before slipping through a side door, unable to face him just yet.
Outside the evening air was cool. There were a few people wandering around in the distance, and a couple kissing under a willow tree.
It looked so romantic with the fairy lights twinkling in the darkness, but it all felt at odds with the fury mounting inside her.
She had just wanted tonight to go without a hitch, the perfect wedding, and now it felt like all the men in her life – past and present – were trying to fuck it up for her.