Chapter 15 Two Days Before the Wedding
Two Days Before the Wedding
On the last working day before her wedding, Tam stayed late to tie up all her ends before packing up the presents that people had brought for her. There were loads, and some of the messages in the cards really had a sweet punch:
Be Happy and Thank You for everything you’ve done for me – Sheila.
Congratulations to you both. Hope you are as brilliant a wife as you are a boss.
Your groom is a really lucky man. You’re a star – Jason (Grocery)
The whole Operations department had gathered at her desk that afternoon with a cake from the artisan bakery around the corner.
It was a cream sponge, decorated in pink-and-yellow Battenberg colours because someone had tipped them the wink they were her favourite.
A plastic bride and groom stood on top, the groom so much taller than the bride, which was exactly how she was going to look in her lace pumps.
Tam had got quite emotional making a speech thanking them all.
She’d noticed, though, that Jack hadn’t been there to witness her having a sob.
But then, he’d seen too much of her underbelly since he joined the company, so she was glad he wasn’t there.
She was just about to leave when Jack raced in through the far doors.
‘Thank goodness you’re still here,’ he said, breathless as if he’d been running a distance. ‘I’ve got something for you.’
He flew into his office and came out with a large square box, a silver ribbon around it. He set it down on her desk and said, ‘A wedding present from me.’
‘Oh, you shouldn’t have,’ she replied quickly, as her heartbeat seemed to double in speed. ‘I presumed that the presents I got were partly from you anyway.’
‘Wrong,’ he said, ‘I got my own. But I will warn you, it’s not conventional.’
He nodded at her to open it. She lifted the top off the box and inside was a felted Siamese cat, about half the size of Walter, but looking so much like him that she gasped in delighted shock.
‘A lady in Scotland makes them. I remember you telling me in the lift about Walter so I hoped you might like this. I had to go hunting on social media to find out what he looked like. Luckily, you had quite a lot of photos of him on Facebook,’ said Jack. ‘No Wiki page, though, so I win.’
He smiled and she felt a series of small bombs set off inside her.
Just gratitude, she thought, that’s all it was, this warm feeling swirling inside her – gratitude for caring, for taking the time to find something special.
Something she loved already. Something that Harris wouldn’t want on show in their new home because .
. . aren’t you a bit too old for toys? She heard his voice and shooed it away.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ she mumbled, afraid she might cry again and she’d done enough of that today.
‘That you like it is enough.’
‘I really do.’ She took a deep breath to counteract the vortex of emotion rising within her.
‘I know it’s not exactly a present for both of you but I thought you’d have enough toasters and John Lewis vouchers. I wanted to give you something . . .’
He tailed off and grinned and she grinned back because they both knew what the missing word was.
‘For an exceptional woman,’ he went on and she wished he hadn’t, she really did.
‘Be happy, Tam.’ And he turned away, leaving her trying to quell a whirl of thoughts she didn’t want to have at all.