Chapter 30 #2
‘That’s even more bizarre. Ginny having a casual “nothing” – with anyone,’ Kira insisted.
Three sets of eyes were on her and now she had to say something. ‘I don’t really want to talk about it,’ she squeaked.
‘Oh, shit,’ Sophie groaned. ‘If he hurt you, I’ll—’
‘No!’ she tried. ‘I just need to… make these discoveries myself at the moment.’
Kira blinked at her. ‘Since when? Usually you can’t shut up about your “discoveries”.’
‘Yeah, well…’
‘Wait, it’s serious?’ Sophie marvelled.
‘No!’ Ginny maintained. ‘I’m sorry, but you all know him and… I don’t want to talk about it – yet.’
They shared an alarmed look and Ginny inwardly cursed. She hoped Laurie never got wind of this. It had been kind of fun seeing Rhys jealous, but Laurie would never let her live it down.
‘Wow, you think you know someone,’ Kira said, clapping her too hard on the back.
‘You do know me,’ Ginny contradicted her. ‘I’m just the same as always,’ she lied.
‘You are quiet,’ Sophie commented as Ginny smoothed the gauze veil down her back.
They were well ahead of time. The wild and vibrant bouquet of pink chrysanthemums, eucalyptus, hawthorn berries and antique roses from Petra’s own garden was sitting in a vase on the windowsill, matching the miniature bouquets now adorning the end of each pew in the little chapel.
Sophie had been buttoned into her off-the-shoulder organza number with subtle poof and some embroidered leaves on the bodice.
Ginny had joked that she would marry this dress, which made her wince to remember, it was so typical.
The bridesmaid dresses were in shades of green, from bronze to olive, all with satiny shine.
Ginny’s was closer to olive, with gold embroidery along the neckline and a slit to the thigh that made her feel like a contestant on Strictly.
The hair and make-up artists had been and gone.
The orders of service, beautifully printed on parchment paper with a pine tree motif down the side, were already in the car, along with the bag of contingency items Ginny had learned to take to each wedding over the past few years.
Whether Sophie needed hairspray or plasters or packing tape – which was surprisingly useful for all kinds of emergency repairs – Ginny would have it with her.
Ginny had no reason to be quiet, except that Rhys was in the room, forgotten by everyone else as he hid behind his camera, and she knew he was taking note of everything she said and did.
She knew, because she kept accidentally meeting his gaze and then her hair would stand on end while she panicked that someone would work out they’d been sleeping together.
It didn’t help that he was wearing a smart grey jacket over pale trousers, everything fitted and dashing and, God, he looked single and available, even if Sophie hadn’t included him in her calculations. No, he didn’t look single and available. He looked like hers.
‘I’m really sorry about this morning,’ Sophie said, grasping her hand. ‘I shouldn’t have said anything about this thing with Laurie.’
Oh, fuck. That word had skipped through her head far too many times today for a wedding that was going perfectly to plan. But she saw in her peripheral vision how Rhys lowered his camera and she could feel him looking at her.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ she reassured Sophie. ‘But I really don’t think it’s going to be… anything.’
She felt Rhys bristle and couldn’t help glancing at him. His eyes were so haunted, it alarmed her. When she listened back to her words, she had to wonder whether he thought she was talking about them.
‘Well,’ Kira said, peeling herself out of the chair she’d been lounging in.
‘I think we should get to the church.’ Her nod to wedding attire was a flowy jumpsuit in olive green that truly looked very smart, not that Kira wanted to hear that.
It would only make her feel awkward. ‘It’ll take us half an hour to get that end bit of the dress in the car anyway. ’
Half an hour was definitely an exaggeration, but it was difficult to tuck the train of Sophie’s exquisite gown into the little hire car. They’d decided to forgo the white limo as a cost-saving measure, but Ginny was regretting it now.
‘No photos of this part,’ she warned Rhys when he raised his camera and she heard the click of the shutter just behind her. ‘There’s no way to get into a car in a dignified manner when we’re dressed like this.’
Finally, Sophie pulled the door shut and Ginny needed to get into the driver’s seat, but she was desperate to talk to Rhys, so her feet didn’t take her there. ‘I’m sorry about the—’ She gestured helplessly, hoping he understood what she was talking about.
‘I understand.’ He gave a grim nod and a pained smile. Then he said, ‘You look nice.’
‘So do you.’ She paused. ‘You’ll have to get some shots of me,’ she blurted out with an awkward curtsey to dispel her self-consciousness.
But he obliterated the awkwardness with a single, murmured sentence. ‘I already have. Several.’
He hesitated, then lifted a hand to her ear, the top piercing where she’d slipped in her favourite gold stud with a loop of chain dangling from it.
After a heavy swallow, he continued, ‘I won’t be able to let anyone see my photos until I’ve gone through them. It would be obvious. But I’ll make sure no one realises.’
It took a moment to remind herself to breathe through the muddle in her head at his words, some kind of short circuit flaring in her existential crisis.
‘We should go,’ he said.
‘You can’t just say something like that and—’
The door opened behind her. ‘No fighting, you two. Not today. Shouldn’t we be leaving? Everyone else has.’