Chapter 6
6
Tom studied his reflection in the mirror. He was dressed in a navy-blue suit with matching waistcoat, a crisp white shirt, and a grey silk tie. His black shoes were polished to perfection and he’d chosen silver cufflinks inlaid with mother-of-pearl. A plain grey pocket square completed the suit.
It was Saturday morning, and he was ready to be a plus-one wedding guest—if only just in the nick of time.
The work trip to Manchester had run on a day longer than planned, thanks to some last-minute requests made by the potential new client he was there to woo, which had kept him stuck at the office revising the sales proposal in which he’d already invested many hours of work.
As his time at the Manchester office had included several other work tasks, too, he’d been hard pressed to complete the proposal revisions in time and had stayed an extra day to meet further with the potential client that his company desperately wanted to win.
By the time he’d met with them again on Friday afternoon and then accompanied the area manager and the new client to a dinner laid on to seal the deal and keep them happy, it had been ten o’clock at night before Tom had got behind the wheel of his car for the drive back down south.
He’d crawled into bed at two-thirty in the morning, exhausted from the hectic day which had started before seven. When his alarm went off at eight on Saturday morning, it had taken him a long moment to remember why on earth he’d set it in the first place, instead of allowing himself to catch up on lost sleep following the intense work trip he’d just completed.
The reason had soon dawned on him.
In just a few hours’ time, he was supposed to be his neighbour Carole’s plus-one at her cousin’s wedding.
He still had to pick up his suit from the dry cleaner’s and get a haircut at the barber’s shop before setting off at noon for the short drive to Petersfield for the wedding ceremony.
It was all doable—assuming he got a move on, which is exactly what he’d done.
Now, as he adjusted his tie in the mirror, his phone rang, and he saw Carole’s number flash up on the screen. They’d already swapped texts throughout the morning to confirm their departure time.
“Good morning,” Carole said when Tom answered the call. “Are you suited and booted for the wedding?”
“I’m ready whenever you are,” he replied.
“Excellent. Listen, I know it’s only just gone eleven o’clock, but would you mind if we get on the road sooner rather than later? My sister Jane phoned a few minutes ago to say the parking might be a bit of a nightmare around the church because of road works in the area. They got there early because my nieces are flower girls in the wedding, and Jane said they had to park half a mile away and walk back to the church. I don’t want to end up late for the wedding because we’re driving around searching for a parking space.”
“No, we definitely don’t want to be late and have to push past the bride while she’s already walking down the aisle.”
Tom grinned at the sound of Carole chuckling at his silly remark.
“Give me five minutes and I’ll meet you at my car.”
“Oh no, I’ll do the driving, Tom!”
“I’m happy to drive. It means you can enjoy a few drinks with your family to celebrate the big day.”
She hesitated before answering. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“It’s no trouble. To be honest, I was late back from my Manchester work trip last night. Actually, it was early this morning before I got home, and I doubt I could handle much more than a glass of wine, to be honest. I’m a lightweight.”
There was a murmur of laughter and a pause as she considered this. “Okay, well if you’re driving us to this wedding, then I’m driving us to the next one.”
“Deal. See you in a few minutes.”
Tom straightened his tie in the mirror, grabbed his wallet, phone and keys, and locked up the house. He was walking down the front path to where his car was parked on Foxglove Street when Carole hurried out of her house next door.
Tom did a double take, hardly recognising her. Since meeting her for the first time a few weeks ago, he’d only ever seen her in grungy leisure clothes, the ancient jeans and faded t-shirts that were every home-mover’s and DIYer’s sensible uniform of choice.
So, it came as a shock to see her now wearing a stunning blue dress and heels, with her hair falling in tumbling curls around her shoulders and with full make-up on, too.
“Wow, you look terrific, Carole,” Tom said.
“Thanks,” she said, a smile lighting up her face as she checked him out in turn. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”
Tom opened the passenger door for her and then walked round to the other side and got in behind the wheel. As he started the car, he was amused to find Carole already kicking off her shoes.
“I hate high heels,” she said, peering at the vertiginous shoes with annoyance.
“Then why are you wearing them?” Tom laughed, perplexed.
“Because they go with this dress and make me look tall. And although I hate them, I love strutting around in them. Well, until they make my feet hurt so much that I want to cry.”
“It’s a long day at a wedding. Will you survive an entire day in those things if that’s how they make you feel?”
Carole held up the tote bag she’d brought and lifted out a pair of low kitten heels. “When the pain gets too bad, I’ll change into these. By that point, we’ll be well into the wedding reception and most of the guests will have had too much to drink and no one will notice what anyone’s wearing on their feet. With these on”—she gestured with the kitten heels before sliding them back inside the tote bag—“I’ll still be able to dance and have fun. Plus, I brought plasters and blister packs in case things get bloody.”
Tom laughed, but the idea of Carole limping around with blood seeping from her feet made him wonder what she was thinking. “Are you sure you don’t just want to wear those other shoes for the entire day?”
“No, I want to have these heels on for the wedding ceremony and the first part of the reception at least, because…”
When she trailed off, Tom glanced away from the road and saw Carole was frowning.
“Because?” he prompted, wondering at her odd expression.
She blew out a breath. “Okay, there’s something I haven’t told you about this wedding we’re going to. The reason my mother was trying to set me up with a date for the day was because it turns out that one of the guests who’ll be there on the groom’s side is an old boyfriend of mine and… well, let’s just say our break-up was one of the worst things that’s ever happened to me.”
Her suddenly solemn tone had Tom glancing her way again. “Ah, I see. I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago, fifteen years to be exact, and I got over it. I mean, you have to get over it, right? But this is the first time I’ll have seen Steven since then and…” She sighed and gave a slight shrug. “And although my mother was definitely meddling when she tried to set me up with the awful son of her friend, she was right in thinking I wouldn’t want to see Steven for the first time after all these years at a wedding where he’s there as someone’s guest and I’m there all by myself.”
“You need some moral support. That makes perfect sense, and that’s what I’m here for.”
“You and these killer heels,” Carole said with a laugh, nodding to the shoes she’d kicked off. “I hate those shoes, but I love how I look in them. Call me vain, or maybe stupid, but wearing those shoes makes me feel confident and… ridiculously tall.”
Tom couldn’t help laughing. “I understand.”
“When I see Steven again after all these years, I want to look amazing.”
“You look amazing whether you’re wearing those high heels or not,” he said, and meant it.
Carole returned his smile. “Thanks. See, this is why I know you’re the perfect date for this wedding. Keep talking me up. I need it.”
Tom laughed as he focused on the road. He wanted to ask Carole about what had happened with her ex all those years ago, because the strained expression on her face when she’d mentioned the break-up had surprised him.
During their limited interactions since she moved in next door, he’d never found her as anything other than upbeat and cheerful, but the glimpse he’d caught of her just now spoke of pain and heartbreak, barely concealed.
Still, he didn’t want to put a downer on the day by asking more about the mysterious Steven and what had happened between the two of them. Carole was heading to a family wedding, after all, and was no doubt looking forward to a fun day filled with celebrations. It wouldn’t be right to ask her to dredge up hurtful memories just because he was curious, and risk her turning up at the wedding ceremony feeling glum.
He was about to change the subject and start talking about something else when Carole surprised him by saying, “Ever since I found out that Steven would be at the wedding today, I’ve been thinking about what to wear to make sure I look my best, because it’s easy to think about all that stuff. But now that we’re in the car and driving to the church, I’m getting nervous about seeing him again. Nervous and… embarrassed.”
Tom glanced away from the road and saw those nerves etched across her expression once more.
“Why are you embarrassed?” he asked. “Whatever happened between the two of you is in all in the past, right?”
“The long distant past, yes. But you see, the thing is…” She trailed off and stared out of the window for a moment before continuing. “Steven and I were engaged to get married, and then two weeks after he put the ring on my finger, I caught him in bed with one of my friends.”
Tom blinked in stunned surprise. “Carole, I’m sorry. That’s bloody awful.”
“It happened on the night of our engagement party, which made it even worse, if that’s possible.”
Tom’s eyes widened further and he gave her a sympathetic look, encouraging her to continue with the story, if that’s what she wanted.
“We’d booked a function room at a local hotel to celebrate, and I was supposed to meet Steven there before the party kicked off,” Carole said. “I was still living at home with my parents in our old house in Winchester. I was only twenty at the time and couldn’t afford my own place yet. Steven was seven years older than me and had his own flat and I thought it would be fun to surprise him at his place before the party.”
A wistful look crossed her face, her eyes distant.
“I’d got him a special engagement gift, you see, a framed photograph of the two of us in the pub where we met for the first time. I’d had the frame engraved with our names and the date we met and thought it would be a cute gift to give him on the night of our engagement party.”
“It sounds like you put a lot of thought into it.”
“I did,” Carole replied on a long sigh. “I was young and na?ve and my head was filled with romance. Well, at least it was, until I let myself into Steven’s flat and heard all the grunts and shrieks coming from the bedroom. When I pushed the door open and saw him on the bed being straddled by some woman, I froze in total shock.”
“Jeez, that’s horrendous, Carole.”
“When Steven noticed I was standing there, he jumped up and pushed the woman off him and I realised it was my so-called friend he was in bed with.”
She trailed off again, shaking her head. “I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It’s one of those phrases we use all the time, isn’t it? I couldn’t believe what I was seeing . We all say that at some point about something or other, and mostly it’s just an exaggeration, a turn of phrase. But in that moment, it was no exaggeration. I literally couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
“I don’t blame you. It must have been hell.”
Tom caught the faraway look in her eyes as she recounted what had happened. Part of him wished he wasn’t driving the car at that precise moment, because he wanted to comfort her.
But then he saw a steely expression replace the faraway look on her face and he realised that Carole didn’t need comforting. Far from it. She was made of sterner stuff.
“I had a lucky escape,” she said. “I found out who Steven really was before it was too late. He tried to apologise, and tried to blame my friend—well, my ex-friend, inevitably, by that point—for leading him astray and seducing him. Obviously, that was a load of rubbish.”
“With friends like that…” Tom said with a wry grin.
“Exactly. And don’t get me wrong, I did have a lucky escape, but it took a while for that to sink in. At the time, it was just completely awful, and it’s still the worst thing that’s ever happened in my entire life. It was humiliating having to cancel the engagement party when everyone was already gathered in the function room, and it was humiliating having to call off an engagement, and it was humiliating when word inevitably got around my family and friends about the reasons behind it. I felt like a complete fool.”
Tom turned his gaze from the road and gave her a sympathetic smile.
“But eventually, once I got over the shock and the humiliation, I realised it was better that I’d caught him sooner rather than later. We’d only been together for three months at that point, and there was a lot we still didn’t know about each other. Much though it pained me to admit it, the truth was I hadn’t known Steven nearly well enough to agree to marry him. I had no idea he was the sort of man who’d cheat on me. And much though it also pained me to admit it to my parents, they were right that I’d been too young to get engaged in the first place.”
“They weren’t happy about it?”
Carole shook her head. “They thought it was all too fast. Like I said, I was only twenty at the time. I was still living at home, still trying to work out what I wanted to do for a career, and still very far away from figuring out who I even was. My mother was livid when I breezed into the house with Steven at my side and announced we’d got engaged, and my poor dad turned as white as a sheet and almost keeled over with shock.”
“Poor guy.”
“I was too self-involved in my own romantic drama to realise what a fright I’d given them. It was only later that I realised how furious they were. I mean, they were polite enough to Steven while he was still in the room with us, but once he left, they went berserk. What are you thinking? Getting engaged at twenty to someone you only just met? Have you lost your mind? ”
Carole gave him a wry grin before continuing. “Naturally, I thought they were being completely unreasonable and unfair and willfully blind to the fact that Steven and I were in love and wanted to be together for the rest of our lives. God, I must have sounded so na?ve.”
“Love does strange things to us.”
“It certainly did strange things to me, that’s for sure. And I think I probably did lose my mind, like my parents’ accused me of. I was completely and hopelessly in love, which is what made Steven’s betrayal so much worse.”
“Clearly he was an idiot who didn’t deserve you in the first place.”
“Which is exactly what I told myself over and over again once I got my wits back after finding him in my bed with my friend. Yes, Steven was an idiot who didn’t deserve me, and yes, I’d had a lucky escape, and yes, my parents were right, and I probably was too young to get married and to make such a huge decision when I was barely out of my teens. But what I could never understand was why .”
Confused, Tom glanced her way and frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it was Steven who proposed to me . He was the one who said he wanted us to get married. It never would’ve occurred to me to suggest we get engaged just a few months into our relationship. I was crazy about him and totally head over heels in love, and although we talked about the future and how much we loved being together, getting engaged and married is a big deal. Steven was the one who proposed and said that all he wanted was for us to spend the rest of our lives together. So why did he do that and then jump into bed with my friend two weeks later, on the night of our engagement party?”
Tom heard frustrated bafflement in her voice at the question she couldn’t answer.
“I thought we agreed the guy was an idiot,” he said. “Isn’t that explanation good enough?”
She let out a weary laugh. “You’re right. It should be good enough. And Steven was an idiot. Probably still is, for that matter. But what he did… it just never made any sense.”
“Terrible people do terrible things all the time that don’t make any sense to the rest of us who are more or less normal and decent.”
Carole laughed. “I suppose that’s true.”
“I hope you haven’t brooded over the ‘why’ of what that plonker did for all these years, Carole. He doesn’t deserve the space inside your head.”
“I know. And in all honestly, I haven’t been brooding over him or what he did, not for a long time anyway. Knowing that I’ll see him at this wedding today has stirred things up, that’s all.”
She gave him a bright smile and straightened her shoulders. “Anyway, I’m glad I filled you in on the lurid history, so you know what happened and you know that if we have to say hello to Steven at some point, which I expect we will, you won’t be taken in when he turns on the charm.”
“Got it. I’m your wingman today and I’ll do whatever you want me to do.” Tom gave her an amused grin. “Well, within reason.”
He was pleased when she let out a rumble of laughter. The frustrated unease of just a few moments ago was gone now that she’d finished recounting the story of her ex-fiancé’s treachery, and he was glad she’d got it out of her system.
“If I’m being honest, what happened with Steven was a big wake-up call for me back then,” Carole said. “Ever since I’d left school, I’d been faffing around, not sure what I wanted to do with my life. When everything went so horribly wrong with Steven, I realised I needed to think more about what I was doing and where I was going. I ended up applying to university, which was the big move I didn’t realise I needed. When I’d finished school, I’d said I was done with education and just wanted to get a job and make some cash. Surviving on crappy pay at crappy jobs had lost its appeal by that point, and the combination of a wrecked romance and no meaningful career to speak of and still living in my childhood bedroom suddenly all felt very depressing.”
“It was a wake-up call,” Tom said gently.
“Exactly. I’d always got good grades at school and so I managed to get a place on a degree course studying psychology, which, it turned out, I absolutely loved. If things hadn’t gone so horribly wrong with Steven, I might never have gone to university and just kept messing around and getting nowhere.”
“Silver linings and all that,” Tom smiled.
“Got to love those silver linings. When things ended with Steven, it was early summer, and by the autumn I was off at university. Moving away helped put it all behind me. I left Winchester, where I’d always lived, and went to London to start my degree, and I had a wonderful time. New city, new friends, new challenges, new things to study which I loved, and eventually it all led me to a career I now adore.”
“I’m happy it turned out that way for you, Carole.”
“Me too.”
Tom glanced away from the road and saw the contentment in her expression. She might still harbour lingering hurt over the circumstances of her broken engagement all those years ago—and who wouldn’t?—but it was obvious that her past didn’t rule her present.
“I just realised I have no idea what you do for a job,” he said, picking up on her comment about her career.
“I’m a psychological counsellor and mental health therapist,” she replied. “After my undergraduate degree, I did a masters in mental health psychology. I worked in a few different London hospitals before I got my new job working with the NHS here in Hampshire. I split my time between a couple of different local hospitals as part of a special initiative to expand mental health services in the community.”
“That sounds like a wonderful and worthy job, Carole.”
“I love it. Mental health issues were ignored for so long, but I think there’s more awareness now than there’s ever been before about how important it is for people to feel able to ask for help when they need it, and then to actually get that help, too.”
“This special initiative you mentioned, was that what attracted you back to this part of the world after living in London?”
“The NHS initiative was a big part of it, yes,” Carole replied. “But I also wanted a change from London after living there for so long. My parents and my sister and her family are all here still, my parents in Hamblehurst and my sister in Winchester, and I was excited to get back here and be closer to them all.”
“It sounds like it was the perfect move for you.”
“It was.” She turned in her seat and smiled. “I don’t know what you do for a living either, Tom.”
“Oh, nothing as exciting and worthwhile as what you do,” he said with a laugh. “I’m a sales executive for a business software services company. I bring in new clients by showing them how our products and services can help them run their businesses more efficiently, and I work with our existing clients to showcase new products and services as they’re rolled out and persuade them to upgrade.”
“That sounds like a great career. Sales jobs are tough.” She gave him a thoughtful look. “Funny, I never pegged you as a salesman, Tom.”
He laughed, understanding the subtle point she was making. “Salesmen get a bad reputation for being pushy and sometimes even a bit sleazy. I make a point of being neither of those things. If customers feel pressurised into buying what I’m selling, then I’m doing it wrong.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“Well, it’s my job to persuade them that they genuinely need the business products and services we’re selling. That means I not only have to know everything about what I’m selling, but also everything about what potential clients need to grow their own businesses. If I’m doing my job right, I’m not only helping my own company’s profits but those of our clients, too. It should be a win-win for us both.”
“That’s a great way to think about it.”
“It’s the only way to think about, in my experience. Recruiting new clients is hard work and it costs a lot of money. If new clients don’t stay with us, I have to replace them. So, it’s much easier to make sure I’m selling them what they want and need in the first place, rather than a load of products or services they don’t use and end up feeling they’ve wasted their resources on. Happy clients will buy more from us, if they believe we’re helping them rather than ripping them off for a quick sale.”
“You sound like you must be a great asset to your company, Tom, and that they’re lucky to have you.”
“Sales is a tough career, and there’s never any chance to stand still, but I enjoy the job and I enjoy getting out and meeting our clients, too.”
“Ah, so that’s what you were doing up in Manchester last week?”
Tom nodded. “I was there to lead a sales and contract negotiation with a big legal firm in the area that’s in the process of expanding. We agreed terms for a product and service contract before I left which will mean a lot of extra revenue for us.”
“Well done. You must be thrilled.”
“Thrilled and relieved, too. Winning their business helps me meet my sales targets, and it was touch and go while I was up there, which was why I stayed an extra day to persuade them and win them over. They only agreed to sign a deal with us once we’d wined and dined them yesterday evening. I think they wanted to squeeze every penny of hospitality out of us.”
Carole laughed and then gave him an apologetic look. “So that’s why you were home so late last night? I bet you’d rather have spent today recuperating from work instead of coming along to this wedding.”
“I’m looking forward to it. We’ll have fun.”
“We will. I promise.”
A sign beside the road announced their arrival in Petersfield.
“Oh, we’re here already,” Carole said as they drove into the town. “The time flew by, we were talking so much. I’d better put my shoes of torture back on.”
Tom laughed as she slid her feet back into the killer heels and gave him a wincing smile for effect. The traffic slowed as they wound their way through the town centre, following the directions to the church.
After taking a few turns, the satnav told them they were almost at their destination, and they soon passed the road works Carole’s sister had mentioned and which were causing congestion in the area. On their final turn, Tom glanced along the road to where a pretty church stood further along.
The road was lined on both sides with parked cars, and wedding guests in formal attire were walking along the pavement towards the church, clearly having come from further afield on account of the congested street.
“Good thing you suggested arriving early,” Tom said. “I think we’ll have to drive around for a bit to find a space.”
For the next ten minutes, they circled the streets around the church in search of a parking space. On their fourth loop around the area, a car pulled out of a space just a few minutes’ walk away from the church, and Tom flicked on his indicator and quickly reversed into the tight spot.
“That was a lucky break,” Carole said as Tom turned off the engine. “And we’re nice and close to the church, too. I won’t have to limp too far in these ridiculous shoes.”
“If you need a fireman’s lift, just say the word,” he laughed.
“You might regret that offer later when I’m forced to take you up on it.”
They got out of the car and met together on the pavement.
“Shall we?” he said, offering her his arm.
“That’s very gentlemanly of you,” Carol said with a laugh, sliding her arm through his.
“I just want to make sure you’ve got something to hold on to, so your ankles don’t snap while you’re walking in those shoes.”
She laughed again as they started walking towards the church, the sound warm and melodious to Tom’s ears.
“So, any sign of your ex-plonker yet?” he asked.
Carole let out another low laugh and shook her head. “Not yet.”
“It looks like a big wedding,” Tom said, taking in the crowds heading into the church. “Maybe with so many people here, you won’t even see him at all.”
“I don’t have that kind of luck, Tom, but we can live in hope.”
It was Tom’s turn to laugh. Being Carole’s plus-one at this wedding was only supposed to be an arrangement of convenience, but he realised he was already having fun in her company.
Which was just as well, because with many, many hours of wedding celebrations ahead of them, it would feel like an awfully long day if they weren’t having fun.