Chapter 8
Standing awkwardly in the vast hallway of Pennycress Inn, Ellie shifted from foot to foot as she glanced towards the closed door to the sitting room.
Perhaps she should have rung the doorbell or knocked instead of letting herself in.
She never knew what to do in places like this.
On her previous visit, Jill had told her to go straight in, but had that just been because Jill was out the front?
Should she have rung the doorbell and waited?
And now she was inside, what should she do?
Voices rose and a hoot of laughter escaped the sitting room before the door opened and Laura appeared. ‘Hi, Ellie. I hope you’ve not been waiting long?’
‘No, not long.’ Ellie shook her head and smiled. ‘Sorry, I’m never sure whether to let myself in or not.’
‘You’re always welcome to come straight in.’ Laura glanced back towards the sitting room door before indicating the kitchen doorway. ‘The only time the door gets locked during the day is if we have a kids’ party or something going on.’
‘You sound busy though. I can come back later if another time is better for you?’ Ellie followed her through to the kitchen, the heat from the oven hitting her as soon as she stepped into the room.
‘Oh no, this is perfect timing. Miss Cooke is holding a Community Hub meeting in the sitting room, so I’m more than relieved to have a legitimate excuse not to hang around and get myself roped into helping organise the Summer Vegetable Growing Competition or tidy up the village planters.
’ Laura laughed as she beelined for the kettle. ‘Coffee?’
‘That would be amazing, thank you.’ Having finished off the last of the instant coffee granules Rick had left her with yesterday, Ellie could feel a caffeine withdrawal headache developing.
As she lowered her bags to the table, Ellie tilted her head.
Above the chatter filtering through from the sitting room, she could hear a rhythmic tapping coming from out the back.
‘Have you got some work going on at the moment?’
‘Ah, yes. The carpenter. Believe it or not, he started on the decking early this morning. I know he said yesterday that he had a free slot for us, but it hadn’t occurred to me or Jackson that he meant he could literally start work the next day!’ Laura grinned as she poured coffee into two mugs.
‘Wow, that is good.’ Sinking into the chair, Ellie rummaged through a large canvas bag and pulled out her trusty notebook. She’d spent yesterday afternoon looking through Laura and Jackson’s wedding ideas before drawing up her own suggestions and a plan of action.
‘Yes, there’s a lot to do, but at least with him being able to start today, the repairs should all be completed before the big day.’ Turning, Laura lowered the two mugs to the table before sitting opposite Ellie.
‘Lovely, thank you.’ Drawing her mug towards her, Ellie took a deep breath, savouring the bitter aroma of a proper coffee before taking a long sip.
‘Haha, I can tell you needed that, didn’t you?’ Laura picked up her own mug and took a gulp.
‘Sorry, is it that obvious? I ran out of coffee yesterday.’ Ellie grimaced. ‘Just instant, mind. Not a patch on real coffee like this.’
‘Oh, in that case, take one of our jars.’ Jumping up from the table, Laura pulled open a cupboard and pushed some tins aside before pulling out a jar of instant coffee. ‘Here, take this.’
‘It’s okay, thanks. I’ll pop to the grocery store on the way home.’ Ellie shook her head as Laura pushed the jar towards her across the table.
‘I insist. After all, I’ve no doubt you used yours up when you were trawling through mine and Jackson’s billions of ideas.
’ Laura smiled. ‘Besides, it’s been in the cupboard for ages now.
We don’t tend to use instant since we use the cafetière.
’ Laura glanced behind her towards the work surface and the cafetière.
‘In that case, thank you.’ Gratefully taking the jar, Ellie slipped it into her bag. After another restless night last night, that was one thing she didn’t want to forget and leave here. ‘No Jackson today?’
‘No, I’m afraid not. He told me to send his apologies, but there’s been an emergency with the ovens or something down at the pub, so he’s had to go in, see if he can fix it.’ Laura glanced at the clock on the back wall. ‘He’s been gone a couple of hours already, so hopefully he’ll be back soon.’
Ellie nodded. Broken ovens might be a disaster for the pub, but it would mean she could have a quiet word with Laura on their own. ‘No worries. In fact, it’ll give us the chance to have a bit of a chat about your wedding dress. Or lack of dress.’
‘Ah.’ Laura’s shoulders slumped. ‘I’ve left it too late, haven’t I? I will be walking down the aisle in my jeans.’
Ellie forced herself to smile. The last thing either of them needed was for Laura to start panicking or worrying about the situation. ‘There are options open to us. We don’t need to resort to the jeans quite yet.’
‘Really? What are the options? Just getting an outfit from the high street? It’d serve me right.
I know I should have started going round the wedding dress shops and trying dresses on as soon as we decided we wanted to get married, but everything just got too much.
’ Laura leaned her elbow on the table and lowered her chin to her hand.
‘We’ve been so busy here, and we had so many different ideas about the wedding – what colours to have, what theme to go with. It all just felt so overwhelming.’
‘Hey, it’s okay. I understand.’ Reaching across the table, Ellie laid her hand on Laura’s arm. ‘Your wedding day is a big deal, a really big deal, and it’s only natural to feel overwhelmed. There are a lot of decisions to make, but the best thing to do is to take things one step at a time.’
‘Yes, that’s true. And at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter much what happens on the day, or what I’m wearing. As long as me and Jackson get married, that’s all that matters.’ Laura straightened her back and took a deep breath.
Taking her hand back, Ellie nodded. ‘Exactly. You marrying each other is the most important thing. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have the day you’ve imagined or be wearing a beautiful wedding gown whilst you do it.’
‘So, you said there were options? I did actually ring a few wedding boutiques last week, and one of the owners even laughed at me and wished me luck finding anything in time. And the others, well, they were kind with it but said about the same thing.’
Ellie took another sip of her drink. She’d hazard a guess who had laughed at Laura. Mrs Snotty-Nosed Smythe from Glowing Bridal Boutique, that sounded like something she’d do, the condescending woman.
She lowered her mug before pulling a leaflet from her notebook and sliding it across the table towards Laura. ‘Take a look at this. There’s a wedding dress sale this Saturday. It’s an hour or so away, but I think it’ll be a great opportunity.’
‘Ooh, a wedding dress sale?’ Taking the leaflet, Laura looked at it. ‘What if they don’t have what I’m looking for though? Not that I have a clue what style, cut or colour would suit me, but what if I don’t find it there?’ Laura grimaced. ‘Back to the jeans?’
‘No, not back to the jeans.’ Ellie laughed and stabbed her finger towards the leaflet.
‘There’ll be every style and shape you can imagine.
Plus, an assortment of colours too. But if you don’t find what you’re looking for, there’ll be other opportunities.
It won’t be the end of the road for a dress. ’
‘Even though we’ve got less than three months until the wedding?’
‘Absolutely. The sale will give you the chance to figure out what style you’ll feel comfortable in and then if you don’t find anything suitable, anything you fall in love with, then we can always find a local dressmaker who would be willing to make a dress in the given time frame, or another sale.
Most wedding dress boutiques have a selection of off the rail dresses too. ’
‘Not according to the horrible woman I spoke to on the phone.’ Laura sighed.
‘No, well, she might not, but I happen to know a fair few who do. What do you think about going to the sale?’ Ellie nodded towards the leaflet.
Laying it on the table between them, Laura shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’
Ellie frowned. That wasn’t the reaction she’d been expecting from Laura. She’d assumed she’d be thrilled that she had the opportunity to find her ideal dress.
‘My mum and sister are away next weekend… although I could see if Jackson can get the day off from the pub to look after the inn, and ask Nicola. She’s off today but she normally works here on the reception desk as well as taking care of all the social media and planning of events.
But she’s also a close friend…’ Laura shrugged.
‘I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve never done this before.
I look at all the amazing brides in the magazines, and they all say that they just knew they had the right dress the instant they tried it on.
What if I don’t feel that? And why am I so worried about it anyway?
It’s just a dress, I shouldn’t care that much what I wear to my wedding. ’
She was nervous. That made sense. Over the years, Ellie had encountered numerous brides who felt the pressure Laura was feeling.
Yes, wedding dress shopping was the most exciting part of planning the big day for a lot of brides, but for every one who was excited about the prospect of finding the perfect dress, there were an equal number of brides-to-be who dreaded the same task.
And quite often they had similar worries over forced expectations, just as Laura had.
‘That’s understandable. It can feel daunting, but if you go without any expectations and try not to put any pressure on yourself, then you might find you enjoy it. ’