Chapter Forty-Seven Nico
Chapter Forty-Seven
Nico
‘What do you mean it’s black tie?’ I ask Jack as he thrusts a tuxedo at me.
We’re standing in his and Cynthie’s room at the inn. It’s strange to see it full of stuff, lived in like this, strange but good.
‘I don’t know,’ Jack shrugs, dusting off the cuff of his own immaculately tailored tux. ‘Apparently Cynthie and Gran got involved in Magda’s party planning process and things have… escalated.’
‘Escalated to black tie?’ I groan. ‘Is this why you called me in here? When did this reopening party turn into such a big deal? I’m supposed to be making sure all the finishing touches are in place before people start arriving, and then I’m meant to be going back to pick up Lee.
Has anyone told her it’s black tie? I doubt she has an evening dress with her and you know how much she freaks out about dressing right. ’
Jack presses his lips together and waves an airy hand in the air. ‘That’s all under control. Gran and Cynthie are getting ready with Lee, Tara and Phoebe, and they’re all coming over together. It’s a girl thing.’
‘So where has this tuxedo come from? You had a spare? You travel with two tuxedos on the off chance you’ll need them?’ I grumble. ‘Actually, don’t answer that, it’s exactly the sort of thing you’d do.’
‘Hey, there’s nothing wrong with looking sharp. You might want to rethink your current devotion to plaid.’
I smirk. It didn’t take too many of the romance books Tara recommended before I worked out exactly why a plaid shirt could put that hungry look in Lee’s eyes. I’m filling my entire wardrobe with the things.
‘Your sister likes it,’ is all I say, but it seems that’s enough because Jack makes a brief retching sound.
‘I’m still getting used to this,’ he mutters.
‘Seriously though,’ I say, putting a hand on his arm to stop him as he turns away. ‘We haven’t had much of a chance to talk about it. Are we good?’
His eyes narrow. ‘Would you care if I said no?’
I exhale. ‘Yeah, I’d care. It just wouldn’t change things between me and Lee.’
‘There you go then,’ Jack shrugs. ‘Listen, I’m not in any position to play the overprotective brother part, even if I didn’t think that was dick behaviour. It’s not my business who Lee chooses to have a relationship with. For what it’s worth I know she couldn’t have chosen better.’
‘Fuck,’ I mutter. ‘You know I can’t cope with you when you’re being sincere.’
He grins. ‘Why do you think I do it? Now go and get ready. You’re basically the guest of honour, seeing as you apparently built this whole place with your bare hands.
’ He looks moody for a second. ‘It’s giving Cynthie ideas and I know you’re very down on my DIY skills but I’m going to need you to show me how to put up a curtain rail.
Also where can I get one of those tool belts?
Honestly, I think it’s mostly about the tool belt. ’
‘Buddy, you gotta earn the tool belt.’
There’s a knock on the door.
‘Nico, there you are!’ Magda appears. ‘Why aren’t you ready?’
‘I only just found out about this black tie thing,’ I huff. ‘Don’t you want me to check on things downstairs before people start arriving? You’ve had me up on the second floor all afternoon and I still needed to clean up after those final touch ups.’
‘No, no,’ Magda grips my arm and starts dragging me out the door, ‘that’s all been taken care of.’ She marches me down the corridor and Jack’s amused laughter follows us. ‘But you really need to look your best. The whole town is turning out and people are very excited. Rita’s wearing a tiara!’
Sounds drift up from downstairs. It sounds like a suspiciously large number of people running around.
I’m sure that was Phil that was booming away, and if the Roseport Players are involved, things are almost certainly getting out of hand.
Someone was bashing cymbals together earlier, and when I asked about it Magda said the school marching band wanted to play during the firework display.
My ominous ‘What firework display?’ had been met with silence.
‘Bloody hell,’ I mutter, looking down at myself, covered in dust and paint stains from all the last minute jobs I’ve been crawling around doing. ‘I need to go home and have a shower.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ Magda laughs. ‘There are so many bathrooms here. I thought you and Lee would like to stay over tonight anyway.’ She stops outside the door to the library room. ‘What do you think?’
I smile. ‘Yeah, Lee would probably love that, actually.’
‘Excellent.’ Magda opens the door and basically shoves me inside the room. ‘Then you take your time, and make yourself presentable.’
When she shuts the door behind me I take a moment to look around.
Lee’s favourite room has turned out well, but it’s not the quality of the work that catches my attention now.
Magda has obviously been scheming because the bed is covered in red rose petals.
There’s a tall silver ice bucket next to the two armchairs that holds a bottle of seriously good champagne.
On a table next to it are two champagne flutes and a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries.
Yeah, Lee is going to love this.
Not wanting to delay things further, I shower and change into the tuxedo Jack handed me.
He’s a bit broader than me these days, so I’m surprised to find that it fits like it was made for me.
It’s been such a long time since I wore one of these things that I’m still fiddling with the bow tie when there’s a knock at the door.
‘Come in,’ I call, and Jack slips inside.
He runs an assessing eye over my suit. ‘That looks good.’
‘It’s great. Perfect, in fact. Now I really am worried – are you travelling with tuxedos in a range of sizes?’
‘Hey, all bodies fluctuate,’ he smirks. ‘Sorry if it’s a bit loose in the crotch, though.’
I treat him to a withering look.
His eyes slide away from mine and he coughs before he reaches in his pocket. ‘I figured you wouldn’t have cufflinks.’
‘Not all of us travel with cufflinks on their person, no. I thought I’d just roll up the sleeves or something.’
Jack’s expression switches to one of outrage. ‘This is an Armani tuxedo, Nico. Show some respect!’
‘Fine, fine, sorry!’
‘Anyway, I have a spare pair you can borrow.’ Jack holds out his hand, a pair of simple black and gold cufflinks in his palm.
‘Thanks, these are really nice,’ I say, admiring them as I quickly twist them into place.
‘Yeah,’ Jack swallows. ‘They were my grandpa’s.’
I look up at him. ‘Are you… crying?’
‘What?’ He blinks outraged. ‘Obviously not. There must still be some sawdust or something floating around in here.’
‘Okayyy.’ I watch him, bemused, as he blinks again.
There’s another knock at the door and this time my mum bursts in without waiting for an answer.
‘Oh, Nicolas,’ she murmurs, staring at me, and she definitely is crying. ‘You look so handsome!’
‘Thanks, you look lovely.’ And she does, she’s a knockout in a long blue velvet number. She’s also clutching a large envelope in her hand. ‘But why are you crying?’
‘It’s the sawdust in the air,’ Jack jumps in. ‘You’re just immune to it because you have builder’s lungs or whatever.’
‘Yes,’ Ma sniffles. ‘Some of us have sensitive eyes.’
‘Anyway,’ Jack thumps a hand on my shoulder and gives a light squeeze, ‘I’ll see you down there, yeah?’
‘Sure,’ I agree while he and Claudia exchange a significant look.
Between the tux, Jack’s sentimental non-outburst and Ma being unusually early to an event, something definitely feels off.
‘Darling, I need to talk to you about a couple of things.’ My mum drops down onto one of the armchairs and gestures for me to take the seat across from her. ‘I asked Charles if he’d take a look at something for me, now that this whole mess has been sorted out.’
She hands me the envelope, and intrigued, I open it, pulling out the stack of documents inside. When I see what they are I almost fling them straight into the fireplace.
‘Divorce papers? What the fuck, Ma?’
Her eyes widen innocently. ‘Well, darling, I was only trying to be helpful. After all, better to do it as soon as possible, isn’t it?
I know you and Lee are planning on giving the relationship a go, but you’re hardly going to stay married, are you?
’ She wrinkles her nose. ‘It’s always best to get the unpleasant paperwork out of the way. ’
‘But I don’t want divorce papers.’ My voice is too loud in the stillness of the room.
Her brows lift. ‘Perhaps I misunderstood,’ she says. ‘When you gave me the rings back, I assumed—’
‘Lee gave them to me. I could hardly tell her to keep wearing them, could I? She only agreed to this fake marriage thing to help me out.’ I glare down at the papers in my hands.
‘I was going to wait, to see if… I don’t know.
But I’m not signing these. I don’t care if it’s unreasonable. I’m not divorcing her.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I’m in love with her. I want to be married to her. I want her to be my wife.’ When I look up, my mother is beaming.
‘I know, darling.’ She reaches into the small purse she’s carrying wrapped around her wrist, and extracts a ring box. ‘But don’t you think you’d better tell Lee that?’
I take the box and open it. Inside, the diamond daisy engagement ring sits alone.
‘Where are the others?’
She stands, dusting off her dress, and looks down at me, her eyes full of affection. ‘Jack has them, of course. Isn’t that what the best man does?’