Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
Sorrel knew that her sister Violet felt wrong-footed as soon as she walked into the wedding boutique and saw all of her sisters sitting on two pink velvet sofas.
‘What the…?’ She looked at Sorrel, then Blossom and Primrose, and finally, Bluebell, who was sitting at the end of one of the sofas and looking uncomfortable. ‘I thought this was just going to be me and Heather.’
‘I know. I’m sorry, Vi.’ Heather stood up and held out a hand to her tall, glamorous sister, who was dressed in a designer leisure suit and expensive-looking trainers with her highlighted blonde hair in a flawless high ponytail. ‘But this was the only way to get us all together.’
‘Oh.’ Violet’s voice cracked with emotion, and her cheeks flushed.
Although Violet had always been the sassy one, Sorrel knew that she was as sensitive as her twin, Heather – Violet just preferred to hide behind a hard shell.
‘I didn’t know… I wasn’t prepared to see everyone.
You got me here under false pretences. I flew in especially, from Paris, by the way,’ she added, tartly.
‘I’m happy to be your bridesmaid, Heather.
But I’m not happy to be deceived. There’s been too much of that. ’
However, as Violet dithered inside the door to the boutique, Tam held his hand out to her.
‘Nice to see you, Violet,’ Tam replied, smiling. ‘Come in. Have a glass of champagne.’
‘Hello, Tam. Long time,’ she replied, distractedly.
Violet swore under her breath. ‘If I’d known everyone was going to be here, I’d have…
well, I would have mentally prepared myself.
’ She frowned, obviously cross, but she sat down next to Primrose on the sofa and gave her sister a hug.
‘Hello, Primmy,’ she muttered, and leaned over to kiss Blossom on the cheek. ‘Hi, Bloss. Hi, Blue.’
‘I suppose we have you to thank for this,’ Violet muttered towards Sorrel.
‘Violet, could you just calm down for a minute?’ Heather approached her sister and knelt down in front of her, as if she was soothing a skittish horse.
‘I’m so grateful that you flew in to get your dress fitted.
We do actually need to do that, so it wasn’t a lie.
But I – we—’ she indicated Tam and Angus – ‘we felt that this bad feeling couldn’t go on any longer, and we wanted to get everyone together. In person. This was the only way.’
‘Oh, Heather. Bless you.’ Violet sighed, glancing at Tam where he stood at the door. ‘Well, I see Tam’s decided he’s some kind of bouncer for the event, so I guess I’m staying.’
‘Good. Your father and I can’t stand this infighting for one more minute, quite honestly,’ Tam said, his arms crossed over his chest. ‘So, you’re all going to sit here and talk to each other and make up. Because you all love each other, and you’re sisters,’ he added.
Sorrel couldn’t help admiring the rise of Tam’s considerable bicep under his dark green sweater, and his well-muscled forearms that were on display because he’d pushed up his sleeves.
Tam and Sorrel had been virtually inseparable for the past week. Sorrel felt they were making up for lost time; she didn’t want to be apart from Tam at the moment for any longer than a day. They’d spent every night together so far, and it had been blissful.
‘Quite right, laddie. Quite right.’ Angus patted Tam on the shoulder. ‘You girls need tae be friends again. Sorrel and your mother have made their peace. Now it’s your time tae do the same.’
‘How long have you been planning this?’ Bluebell asked, her quiet voice strangely loud in the room; usually, if the sisters were together, it would have been busy with chatter. But no one seemed to know what to say.
‘A week or so. Now, my dear young ladies.’ Angus tapped his youngest daughter lightly on the top of the head with his index finger.
‘We are going tae leave you in the capable hands of the boutique. And you’re all going to have your measurements taken an’ your dresses fitted, and you’re all goin’ tae make up, and then, when everything’s done, we’re all goin’ for tea at the Inn.
The kitchen’s done. Mum’s got it all prepared.
’ He nodded and blew them all a kiss. ‘We’re trustin’ you all tae stay an’ be adults. No more silliness.’
Tam gave Sorrel an apologetic wave and mouthed sorry. She got out her phone and texted him:
I can’t believe you did this. But thank you.
Because she was relieved. As difficult as it was to see all of her sisters together after all the arguing over messages, she knew that it was a thousand times easier to make up with people in person than remotely, where tone could be misread and feelings misconstrued.
‘Thank you, Heather,’ she whispered to her sister, as they all stared at each other. Heather pressed her hand affectionately.
‘Don’t thank me yet. We need to get through the fittings first.’ She pulled her lips tight in a grimace. ‘I’m sort of regretting this already.’
Bridesmaid dress fittings could be, Sorrel came to realise, an exercise in tact. Sadly, some of her sisters did not possess much of it.
Blossom’s fitting went reasonably well. The dress that Heather had chosen for everyone – a sage green satin empire line dress with a long, straight skirt and cap sleeves – looked nice on her, and Blossom was patient and even-tempered.
Bluebell was next, and stood quietly while her dress was pinned and adjusted by the two dressmakers who ran the shop.
Sorrel tried to make conversation with her, complimenting her on how the dress looked, but Bluebell replied in monosyllables.
However, when it was Primrose’s turn, Violet – who had been stonily silent since her outburst on arrival – took one look at her sister when she walked out a little self-consciously from the dressing room and started laughing.
‘Prim. You look like a sausage wrapped up in a leaf.’ She chortled.
Primrose blushed. ‘Thanks,’ she muttered, tugging at the skirt. ‘Appreciate it.’
Primrose generally wore jeans, trainers and T-shirts. She’d never been a very girly girl, and Sorrel could imagine that she probably wasn’t enjoying having to wear a dress, especially one that she didn’t like.
‘I think it looks nice.’ Sorrel could see that her sister was uncomfortable. ‘Anyway, it’s hard to get a dress that looks good on everyone,’ she said, trying to be helpful.
‘I don’t even know why you’re here.’ Violet turned to Sorrel, eyebrow raised. ‘Shouldn’t you have disappeared by now? Back to London?’
‘Um. No,’ Sorrel replied, slightly taken aback. ‘I’m staying for now.’
‘Oh. For now. Good.’ Violet nodded, an exaggeratedly wise expression on her face. ‘We’ll just all be here, on the edge of our seats.’
‘There’s no need to be so mean, Vi.’ Sorrel sighed.
‘Can we just put all this behind us? I’ve said I’m sorry about being away.
I’d do anything to make it up with all of you, and I’ve started to repair my relationship with Mum.
But maybe we should stop bitching at each other and be here for Heather. This is about her wedding.’
‘Well, I guess you feel like you can take the high road now.’ Violet sniffed. ‘But I’m still angry with you, and I’m angry with Mum and Dad for lying to us for all that time.’
‘I know that. But she’s admitted it was a mistake, and I know that I shouldn’t have disappeared for as long as I did. I was hurting and so was she.’
‘Well, I just feel like now you two have made it up, we’re all supposed to get back on board,’ Violet continued. ‘Maybe I don’t want to get back on board.’
‘Then you don’t have to.’ Sorrel let out a long breath.
‘I’d like us all to be sisters again, and I’d like to try to get close to you all again.
It’s been hard for me too – to feel like I belong, when I know that I’m the odd one out.
That’s my challenge to work on. But. I guess what I’m saying is that I’m here now, and even if I don’t end up living on Skye – I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.
But wherever I go, I’ll be your sister. I’ll be there. ’
Violet looked at her hands.
‘Okay,’ she said, in a small voice, very different to her tone before. ‘That’s okay with me. But you need to make it right with Bluebell. Because she’s the one who missed you the most. And she’s the one that it’s breaking my heart to see so sad.’
They all looked over at Bluebell, who sat alone at the end of one of the pink sofas, listlessly holding onto a glass of lemonade.
‘Blue… Can you ever forgive me?’ Sorrel smiled bravely, even though she felt terrible. ‘I really am so sorry I left you. I’ll never leave you again. And I did miss you. I missed our stories. I was so glad that you wrote to me. It made me feel less alone, being without you.’
Sorrel walked over to where Bluebell sat, and knelt in front of her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the drawing of the robin that her sister had thrust into her hands days before.
‘I made up a story about this little guy,’ she said, softly. ‘But I need your help to finish it. Do you think you could help me?’
‘Okay.’ Bluebell smiled, a tear running down her cheek. Sorrel’s heart was overwhelmed with a sudden rush of relief and love. ‘I’ll help you, Sorrel.’