Chapter 7
As they got closer to the coast, it seemed to Jade that the July sky got bluer and the air got warmer.
It felt as if she’d left all of the daily minutiae behind.
Sarah was right. She did need to have more fun.
Much as she loved her life at Duck Pond Rescue, which was a vocation, not work, it was actually incredibly hard work too.
Getting up at the crack of dawn every single day of your life and feeding and cleaning out and exercising, no matter what the weather, was relentless and it was physically hard work too.
Jade was fitter than she’d ever been since she’d set up the sanctuary.
She knew this must be how farmers felt. Animals never had a day off so their keepers couldn’t either.
Owning a rescue centre was hard work emotionally too.
Some of the animals came with tragic stories, although it was amazing when they were rehomed.
Even so, the weight of responsibility hung heavily on her narrow shoulders and rather oddly, the responsibility was something that she didn’t notice too much until it was lifted a little. Like today.
The further away they got from the sanctuary, the lighter she felt.
‘It’s a gorgeous drive, isn’t it?’ she remarked to Sarah. ‘Have you ever wanted to live in Dorset?’
‘No, because it’s expensive, well, this part certainly is. But it is beautiful.’
They’d not long gone through Wareham, a pretty little town that nestled on the banks of the River Frome. A picture-postcard town if ever there was one, Jade had thought, with its quirky houses and olde worlde pubs.
‘I must admit I never get tired of the view of Corfe Castle though,’ Sarah added. ‘It’s mystical, isn’t it, the way it suddenly appears on the hill when you come round the bend in the road.’
She was right about that, Jade thought, following her gaze expectantly. Corfe Castle, which had been built by William the Conqueror in the eleventh century and destroyed by the parliamentarians six hundred years later, was an impressive sight. Even in ruins.
And it did suddenly soar into view when you drove towards it from Wareham.
The huge pillars of light grey Purbeck stone, which were all that remained of the castle, dominated the hilltop skyline.
It was spectacular. One of the South Coast’s most iconic views.
Jade wasn’t surprised it was now a World Heritage site.
As usual, its appearance on the horizon triggered the same conversation that happened every time they passed it.
‘That picnic was brilliant, wasn’t it?’ Sarah said.
They’d gone up there as teenagers and pretended they were ladies from King John’s court, issuing orders to their servants while they swanned around on top of the world, peering through arrow holes in the castle’s ramparts.
‘Yes and we need to have another one. We could take Ben. He’d love it.’
‘We say the same thing every time we go past,’ Sarah answered.
‘I know.’
They both laughed.
‘We’ll do it after the wedding,’ Jade said firmly. ‘We can take our husbands as well.’
‘They can take us,’ Sarah corrected. ‘We’ll let them pay, shall we?’
There was more laughter.
Ten minutes later, Sarah pulled into the gravel car park of the Bluebell Cliff Hotel.
The long white art deco-style building might not be quite as impressive a sight as Corfe Castle, but it was still beautifully iconic, outlined as it was against the perfectly blue sky on the top of the cliffs.
In its grounds stood an old lighthouse that had once warned sailors of the treacherous rocky coast, but which had now been refurbished and transformed into a luxurious honeymoon suite.
Sarah and Callum had insisted that Jade and Finn spend their first night there, as it only slept two and they had Ben to consider.
Jade had finally caved in and despite herself, she was really excited about the prospect of sleeping in a lighthouse and waking up to a spectacular view of the English Channel.
‘I hope the weather’s still like this for our wedding, Sarah.’
‘It will be. I’ve booked warm sunshine with Zoe. I went for a little bit of cloud cover too because she said that’s most flattering for the photos.’
They both laughed again, and as they got out of the car and Jade followed her friend round to the impressive front entrance with its wide plate-glass doors, she found herself believing that Sarah really had booked warm sunshine.
On a day like today, surrounded by the fresh salt tang of the sea and with nothing to mar the blue sky except a handful of circling, squawking seagulls, anything seemed possible.
A few minutes later, they were inside a foyer that smelled sweetly of vanilla and cinnamon – could that really be air freshener? It smelled divine. And they found Clara King herself manning reception.
‘Welcome, and how are my favourite two brides to be?’ She smiled warmly at them and Jade thought not for the first time what amazing clothes she wore.
Today she had on a beautifully cut powder-blue suit and was carrying a blue and white striped Radley bag, which Jade recognised from the distinctive dangling dog charm.
‘We’re very well, thank you.’ Jade felt suddenly shy and even Sarah was quieter now in the plush surroundings. Oh goodness, were they really going to get married here?
‘How are you, Clara?’
‘I’m good, thank you. I’ll just call Zoe for you. Would you like to go through to the restaurant bar? I’ll arrange for some coffee to be brought through.’
‘I could get used to this,’ Jade whispered as they did as Clara suggested and found two comfy red armchairs, pulled up to a walnut coffee table.
There was a man sitting at the other end of the bar, his face half hidden behind a broadsheet and muttering to himself. ‘Zounderkites. Pediculous scumbags. A four-year-old could do it better.’
Jade and Sarah exchanged glances.
‘Could do what better?’ Jade mouthed, although perhaps not as quietly as she’d meant to because the man put down his paper and looked their way.
‘Run the country,’ he said. ‘Good morning, ladies.’
Jade recognised the enigmatic chef, who went by the name of Mr B, and felt slightly fazed. He’d sounded so cross.
Sarah didn’t have any such qualms. ‘The government?’ she said. ‘I couldn’t agree more. What have they done this time? And what’s a zounderkite when it’s at home?’
‘It means bumbling idiots,’ Mr B clarified.
‘Which sums them up perfectly. Zounderkites the lot of them. I was just reading the latest suggestions to make more space in the prisons. Turfing them out halfway through their sentences. They’ll be turfing them out before they arrive at this rate.
Or sending them off to the moon. Have you seen this? It’s totally ludicrous.’
They were saved from being told what was totally ludicrous by the arrival of the bubbly blonde Zoe, who interrupted smoothly.
‘I don’t think our brides to be are here to discuss politics, are you, ladies?
Fascinating as it is. Ooh, I’m sorry. Has the coffee not arrived? We’re a little short staffed today.’
‘I’ll sort it,’ Mr B offered and went to speak to a man who was laying tables at the other end of the restaurant.
He came back sunny faced, with no more mentions of the government, and Zoe pulled up two more chairs to the table. She sat in one, putting a deluxe padded white folder with their names embossed on it on her lap, and Mr B folded his tall, gangly frame into the other one.
By the time the coffee came they were discussing the top table arrangements and the fitting in of the extra best man.
‘I understand you don’t want to abandon the idea of having everyone sitting together,’ Zoe was saying.
‘So what I propose is either an E-shaped table or a U-shaped table. Either of those would work. I’ve sketched it out on paper, but I thought as we’re here, we could show you what it actually looks like too.
In the restaurant. I believe Mr B has organised a staff member to move some furniture, haven’t you? ’
‘You’re looking at him,’ Mr B said, his dark brows rising slightly.
They really were short staffed, Jade thought, if Clara was manning reception and Mr B was shifting tables around.
A few minutes later, after they’d finished their coffee, which had been accompanied by some deliciously light sweet pastries Mr B had told them he’d made earlier, they moved into the main restaurant.
This was a beautiful circular space, which had a sweep of glass windows that overlooked the extensive lawns which sloped down towards a stone wall that bordered the gardens.
Beyond the wall could be glimpsed a blue swathe of sea that ran towards the horizon and was today dotted with sailing boats.
Zoe was right. It was much easier to see the seating arrangement for real than rely on visualising it from a sketch and they finally decided on an E-shaped table, which had the added advantage that everyone could see the wedding couples clearly, but didn’t have to be too close to each other.
‘This also works well, should you have any guests who are maybe slightly more introverted than others,’ Zoe said. Which Jade and Sarah agreed later was a very diplomatic way of saying who might not like each other.
Finn’s biological parents were the only ones who came close to that description. Although Ray, Finn’s father, insisted he was fine sitting near Bridie, his ex-wife, it couldn’t be easy knowing that she’d left him for the man she was now married to.
After they’d sorted out the seating, Sarah asked Zoe about the dog care arrangements she’d mentioned.
‘I can show you those too,’ Zoe said. ‘If you’d like to follow me.’
She led them outside and around the back of the hotel where there was a little herb garden and also a little fenced enclosure that neither of them had seen before.
‘Mr B has two pet kunekunes,’ Zoe told them gleefully, ‘and once when they were in between homes he used to bring them into work with him.’
‘They’re pigs,’ Jade told Sarah, who was looking bemused.