Chapter 15
After watching them walk away, Ellie turned back to the long line of dresses hanging in front of her.
She’d had clients like Laura before, women who either couldn’t ever imagine getting excited over a single dress or else just felt more comfortable in their favourite pair of jeans and a hoodie, but every time as they’d discovered what shape, fit, style, fabric and colour suited their body, they’d each fallen hook, line and sinker for the gown they’d chosen.
With any luck, Laura would be the same. Even if she didn’t get there today and didn’t walk away with the one perfect gown, then at least hopefully she’d have had some fears allayed and would be more receptive to wedding dress shopping come the next sale or fair they attended.
‘Ellie? Ellie Newton? Is that you?’ a shrill voice called from the end of the aisle of dresses.
Swallowing, Ellie turned slowly. She’d be able to match that voice to its owner in the dark and blindfolded. Her only regret was that she hadn’t heard it sooner and hidden.
Forcing a smile, she hoped the sudden tic in her jaw didn’t give her true feelings away as she locked eyes with the woman who had spent the last three years working for her and Melissa’s competition, Weddings ’r’ Us. ‘Fiona Worthington.’
‘Oh, Ellie. You know it’s Fi. All my besties call me Fi.’ Fiona marched towards her, her arms held open.
‘Fi, how are…?’ Before she’d had the chance to finish her question, Ellie found herself gripped by the shoulders, false long nails digging into her flesh as Fiona pulled her into a shoulder hug and gave her an air-kiss.
First one side and then the other. Stepping back, Ellie resisted the urge to cough as Fiona’s strong perfume filled her lungs. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m wonderful. Wonderful, Ellie. Aren’t I always?’ Fiona dismissed the question with the slightest wave of her hand and repeated it back to her. ‘But how about you, darling Ellie? What’s going on in your little world?’
‘Oh, I—’
‘I heard the news. Terrible. Absolutely terrible.’ Fiona tutted as she shook her head. ‘Enough to ruin someone.’
Freezing to the spot, Ellie opened her mouth to speak before thinking better of it and shoving her hands in her pockets.
It was out then. Melissa’s rumour, she’d spread it amongst the wedding planning circle.
Balling her hands into fists inside her pockets, Ellie tried to remain calm.
She knew Fiona would be looking for a little drama to feed back to the gossip mill, and she wouldn’t give it her.
‘Not you, of course.’ Fiona smiled sweetly. Sickly sweetly. A smile which encompassed her lips but didn’t reach the eyes, which were darting all over Ellie as though to try to work out what she was thinking.
It was no good. She couldn’t just let Fiona think that what Melissa had told her was true, she had to say otherwise.
She’d spent years of Melissa walking all over her, basking in the glory of planning a huge, high-profile wedding, taking all the credit as well as the recommendations, while handing Ellie the smaller and trickier weddings.
The ones such as Laura and Jackson’s, which had to be organised in less than a quarter of the usual time it took or the ones with the difficult mothers-in-law or the brides who’d make Godzilla look tame.
Well, no, not anymore. Ellie had her own business now, so she didn’t need to put up with Melissa’s manipulative ways any longer. ‘I’m not sure what Melissa—’
‘Oh, not much. I wouldn’t even worry about it.
’ There was that dismissive wave again. Fiona knew exactly what she’d said and exactly what she was doing by not giving Ellie the time or space to tell her side of the story.
Fiona may have worked for a rival wedding planner, but she and Melissa had always been good friends.
Enemies in business, chums in play as Melissa had always described it.
‘Anyway, she mentioned you were organising a tiny affair in the little village you live in. How’s that going? ’
Taking her hands out of her pockets, Ellie ran a finger across the diamanté detail of the gown closest to her. ‘It’s going well and will be a lovely, happy gathering. A special wedding for a special couple.’
‘Lovely.’ The word, spoken by anyone else, may have been a compliment.
Spoken by Fiona, however, it was a downright insult.
‘I’m working on a wedding being held in a stunning large and attractive manor house on the outskirts of Chipping Norton itself.
Think horse-drawn carriages, fireworks at midnight, two hundred—’
‘Doves.’ Finishing the sentence, Ellie could feel the heat searing across her cheeks. She knew exactly whose wedding Fiona was currently planning, and she also knew… ‘You’re Melissa’s new business partner then. You’ve jumped ship from Weddings ’r’ Us to All Things Love.’
‘Yes, yes, that’s right. I didn’t realise the news would have reached you out in little Meadowfield.’ Fiona smiled that sickly-sweet smile again. ‘But I suppose a company as prestigious as All Things—’
‘It didn’t. I assumed it, as Melissa had passed across that wedding to me to organise when I was still working with her because the housekeeper of the manor house had had an affair with her husband.
’ Biting down innocently on her bottom lip, Ellie watched as the realisation that Melissa had only given Fiona that wedding to plan because she hadn’t wanted to sank in.
Next, Fiona would grasp at the knowledge that Melissa’s husband had cheated on her.
Ellie swallowed. She’d gone too far. She shouldn’t have said that.
Although Melissa hadn’t been distraught that Mike had been seeing the housekeeper because she’d been seeing someone else at the time too.
No, she’d been angrier that his choice of mistress had affected her line of work and ability to hire a venue.
Still, it had been a rubbish move of Ellie’s to tell Fiona.
She shouldn’t have let that slip, but the way the other woman had been looking at her, all pity-eyed because she’d thought Ellie had messed up the McCloud wedding when in fact it had been Melissa who had messed up and passed the blame to her…
Twisting the gold bangle on her wrist so the tiny diamond heart pendant was sitting square in the middle, Fiona didn’t miss a beat.
‘Oh, yes, she mentioned that. Poor Melissa. Imagine your partner having an affair. Absolutely awful beyond belief. I’m only more than happy to help her out in the circumstances.
Anything for a bestie, isn’t that right?
Anyway, lovely to see you, Ellie. And all the best for your tiny company. ’
Ellie mumbled a goodbye as Fiona stepped forward and shoulder-hugged her once more.
‘Ta-ra.’ Turning her back on her, Fiona held her hand in the air and wriggled her fingers.
Ellie felt sick. What had she done? She’d told Fiona something Melissa had spoken to her about in confidence.
That wasn’t like her, and whether Fiona had really known or not didn’t matter one bit.
She’d still done it and she’d done it in retaliation to Melissa stomping all over her reputation.
And that wasn’t right. She’d stooped to Melissa’s level.
Turning back to the dresses, she blinked as tears filled her eyes.
Her reputation was well and truly squashed.
She quickly glanced around before staring at the dress again.
Was it her imagination, or was everyone around her right now staring directly at her?
One thing she was certain of: she knew why the caterers had shut her down and, yes, it may have been because they were genuinely busy, but she also knew even if they hadn’t been they wouldn’t have taken business from her, anyway.
Fiona wasn’t known as the Gossip Queen for nothing, she wouldn’t have thought twice about muddying Ellie’s name to all who would listen.
Especially if it had meant she could get her foot in the door of All Things Love, which she’d been aching to do for years.
Angling herself so her back was facing the majority of the people in the room, Ellie pulled a tissue from her handbag and wiped her eyes.
Yes, the lies Melissa and, now, Fiona had or were still spreading about her were awful, but she didn’t have a choice but to continue now.
Laura and Jackson were relying on her, they’d put their trust in her to plan their wedding, and do it well.
However much Fiona had just made her want to crumble and give up on the whole idea of starting her own wedding planning service, she couldn’t, not yet.
She had to see out this one wedding first.
And she was determined to do it to the best of her ability. She was determined to make it as special as she possibly could.
For Laura and Jackson, but also for herself as she had a feeling this would be the last wedding she’d be planning.