Chapter 6 #2
After she’d eaten and cleared up, she went over to the sideboard and took out her wedding album.
She flipped through the memories of her own big day slowly, savouring the pictures of her and Anthony, the casual ones taken at the venue; the photographer had captured them the best when they didn’t even know anyone was watching.
Anthony and Chrissie had married quickly after they met, inside of a year.
Chrissie had known without a doubt that it was right.
But that day had also marked the end of her close relationship with her sister, Meg, and as a consequence, Meg wasn’t in any of the pictures.
She’d been at the church but after she stood up during the exchange of vows and said ‘I object’ in a voice that echoed and bounced off the cold stone walls, adding that Chrissie shouldn’t do it, she shouldn’t become the wife of someone who would never put down roots, she’d left to the shock of not only Chrissie but every single guest. It had been a devastating moment, upsetting, embarrassing.
Anthony had taken hold of both Chrissie’s hands, looked into her eyes, and with the silent question of whether she was okay, she’d nodded and they’d carried on.
If he hadn’t done that, she might well have collapsed on the floor in floods of tears.
But he had, and when they kissed as newly announced husband and wife, she knew even more that she’d made the right choice.
That day, Meg had taken their happy occasion and ruined it with her outburst. Chrissie couldn’t stop thinking about the words, no matter how many times she told herself not to.
After the ceremony Meg had been around, but Chrissie had refused to let her sister be in any of the photographs.
She hadn’t even wanted her at the reception, but she’d snuck in and tried to talk to Chrissie.
Chrissie had ordered her to leave, and she’d looked like she was about to go before she made even more of a scene.
But she hadn’t even managed that and after what happened next Chrissie was even more adamant that she had nothing left to say to her sister.
Meg had expected Chrissie to be willing to hear her out when she and Anthony returned from their honeymoon, then again every time she sent one of her letters, but Chrissie couldn’t forgive her.
Their parents had tried to engineer a time for the girls to meet on neutral territory and Chrissie had almost given in because she loved her mum and dad and could see how much this was hurting them, but it soon became clear that Meg was only sorry she’d said those things at the wedding.
She still believed the marriage was a mistake.
And that was unforgiveable in Chrissie’s eyes.
The resentment had grown the more time marched on, even more so after Anthony’s funeral and what Meg did there.
But what Chrissie would never admit was that over the years she missed Meg more and more.
She missed the way they’d been as young girls, skipping hand in hand along the beach whenever their parents took them down to Devon to their favourite spot.
She longed for the late nights when they’d stay up talking.
She even yearned for those crazy chocolate experiments of Meg’s that hadn’t always been edible.
They’d had so much laughter and love between them until it had all gone wrong.
She put the wedding album back in its drawer when there was a knock at the door.
‘Hey.’ She smiled at Nolan. Whenever she saw him, her troubles always felt that little bit smaller. ‘Isn’t your daughter arriving today?’
‘She’s here.’
Chrissie stood back and let him inside, out of the cold. ‘You haven’t fallen out already, have you?’
‘No, but she’s unimpressed that I don’t have a hairdryer. Well, actually she’s unimpressed that she forgot hers. Any chance I could borrow one? I’ve ordered one to be delivered tomorrow.’
‘Of course. I’ll go get it for you.’ But her phone went before she reached the stairs. ‘I need to get that. Hairdryer is on my bed – go on up.’ These terraced houses all had the same layout, so he wouldn’t need directions to the main bedroom.
She reached for her phone, hoping that it was Sarah.
It wasn’t. It was a wrong number.
She slumped down on the bottom stair before she realised Nolan was trying to come downstairs with the hairdryer. Rather than pass her, he sat down.
‘You okay?’ It wasn’t the widest of spaces on the single stair and their bodies were almost touching.
She was about to say that of course she was, but she shook her head and confessed, ‘Not really.’
‘What’s up?’
‘It’s Sarah.’ And she found herself blurting out about Switzerland, about Rhys and her doubts, about how she’d told Sarah she wasn’t sure whether she was making a mistake.
‘And now she’s in Switzerland, well away from me.
I’ve no idea what’s going through her head right now.
She’s always talked to me. We’ve always been able to discuss things.
’ She looked at the phone still in her hand as if she might have missed another message in the last few minutes. ‘I’m going crazy thinking about it.’
‘I can’t pretend I’m an expert with young women; Ella is an endless mystery most of the time.’ He gave her a sympathetic nudge. ‘But I do know Sarah and she’s a lovely girl, she’s sensible and she’ll do the right thing. Maybe she needs a bit of space.’
‘Maybe. But this close to the wedding?’
‘I’ll admit that is a little odd. Could you call the fiancé?’
She could. She had his number. ‘Do you think that’s wise?’
He made a face that suggested he was carefully considering his reply. ‘I think in this case it’s probably okay.’ He lifted the hairdryer. ‘Thanks for this.’
She barely registered the pat on her knee before he left her to it and closed the front door behind him.
At a loss as to what else to do she decided to follow Nolan’s advice, although it took a couple of attempts before she was brave enough to let the call to Rhys connect. She felt bad reaching out to him when he would know that she hadn’t approved of the wedding.
His first question, however, warmed her to him when he asked, ‘Has something happened? Is Sarah okay?’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you any panic. Nothing specific has happened,’ she said, ‘but she’s gone to Switzerland.’
‘Uhm… she has.’ So he knew. ‘To be with her grandparents.’
‘Did you two have some sort of fight?’
‘No, not that I know of. She wanted to see her grandparents, and she said she had a decorating job to do as a favour for her grandad. Or rather, his neighbour.’ His voice faltered.
Sarah was painting when she was over there? Sarah hadn’t said, and her mum hadn’t mentioned it to Chrissie either. Had Sarah made up an excuse for Rhys’s benefit? If she had, Chrissie wasn’t going to be the one to say it now because it might make matters worse.
‘Thank you, Rhys. I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t argued, that’s all.’ She was still sitting on the bottom stair and Tessa climbed up to sit next to her.
‘Mrs Finnigan, what’s going on?’
The plea in his voice had her warming to him even more. ‘It’s Chrissie, please. And I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called. Perhaps I’m worrying over nothing.’
A pause. ‘I know you think this is a mistake, us getting married. But I love your daughter.’
She’d been told that by Sarah, of course, but hearing him say it felt different. She wished she could see his face, know how sincere he really was.
‘Have you heard from her since she got to Switzerland?’ Chrissie asked. She didn’t want to make this about her opinions; she wanted to know what was going on with her daughter.
‘On and off. As far as I know she’s coming back a few days after Christmas. Which is cutting it fine.’
There it was again, that nervous edge that seemed so unlike the Rhys she’d met. ‘It is,’ she agreed.
‘Mrs—Chrissie, if you hear anything else…’
‘I’ll let you know.’
Before she’d made the call, she’d assumed the wedding was going ahead no matter her disapproval, but there had been doubt in Rhys’s voice. She hadn’t imagined that at all.
And she felt terrible.
Had her initial disapproval about the wedding made Sarah question her relationship and keep her feelings from everyone, including her fiancé?
And did the fact she was in Switzerland mean that Sarah might just stay there rather than come back and get married at all?
Right now, Chrissie was wondering whether this was all her fault.