Chapter 32
You know how, in the movies, the key scenes always take place in epic places?
Well, the gardens here at Rosewood are looking especially perfect today – hopefully making them the perfect place for me to make sure Cordelia and Andy get their happy ending.
And me too – but I’m choosing my battles carefully.
Everything out here is painfully serene.
The lawns are clipped to perfection. The gravel paths curve gently between flower beds like they’re guiding you to beautiful thing after beautiful thing.
Roses climb trellises in pretty pinks and dreamy creams, petals drifting lazily onto the gravel, almost as if the universe has decided today is a day for romance and nothing else.
It would be a real shame to ruin such immaculate vibes with chaos and arguments and a failed wedding day.
I walk without really thinking about where I’m going, my shoes crunching softly against the path. I know Cordelia is here somewhere. I saw her running this way, but where?
I stop near a low stone wall overlooking the lower gardens and grip it with both hands as I catch my breath – if I survive today, which is the goal, I really need to get fitter, because it’s embarrassing that a little pre-wedding drama is tiring me out.
Then again, I haven’t got much sleep these last couple of nights.
There’s a real clarity in huffing and puffing my way through these gardens though because I’m a woman on a mission to put things right, and what that tells me is that I am definitely not in love with Andy.
I want him to marry Cordelia. I think they’ll be so happy together if they can smooth all of this out.
The end of their relationship has fallen into my lap and I can either save the day or put the final nail in myself.
I could go after Andy instead, back up everything JJ told him, talk about what bad news Cordelia is…
but I don’t want to. I don’t want him. I want to save the day.
Eventually I find Cordelia, near the far edge of the gardens, hiding behind a hedge.
She’s sitting on a low stone wall, shoulders curled inward, crying into her hands.
‘Oh,’ she says when she sees me. ‘Of course it’s you.’
‘Hi,’ I say weakly.
She rubs at her eyes almost angrily.
‘Did you come to tell me you’ve won?’ she asks.
‘Because I’m assuming it was you who told Andy everything – I thought you understood, that we were friends.
That was until he mentioned something about you being in love with him, then it all clicked into place.
You’re sabotaging me. Well, well done, you’ve succeeded. ’
She gives me a slow sarcastic clap.
‘No,’ I say immediately, stepping closer. ‘I came to make sure your wedding goes ahead.’
She lets out a broken laugh.
‘It’s a bit late for that, isn’t it?’ she replies.
‘Not if you come back with me,’ I say.
She shakes her head.
‘I can’t go back there,’ she replies. ‘Andy hates me – he looked at me like he didn’t recognise me.’
I sit down beside her. I’m a bit too scared to touch her though.
‘He’s confused,’ I tell her.
She laughs again, sharper this time.
‘You don’t get to tell me how he feels,’ she snaps. ‘Oh, wait, I forgot, you’re in love with him.’
She says the last few words in such a mocking tone.
‘I’m not in love with him,’ I insist. ‘I love him as a friend, honestly, but nothing more. I don’t want him as anything other than a friend and the person who told him that I did love him, and all that stuff about you, well, they were misinformed and thought they were doing the right thing.
And maybe I don’t know exactly how he’s feeling right now, but I know that he loves you.
I’ve seen him with other girls. He’s never been all that into anyone.
No one has ever been able to truly turn his head, until you.
You’ve got the man using Disney nicknames, for crying out loud – that’s so not him. ’
She laughs.
‘He really does love you,’ I continue. ‘Things have got messy – but the kind of mess that can be cleaned up if you’ll go back.’
‘I can’t go back alone,’ she whispers.
I stand and offer her my hand.
‘Then don’t,’ I say. ‘Come back with me. I promise you, I will fix this.’
She hesitates for a split second before taking my hand. Then we head back to the lodge.
‘I’m a snotty mess,’ she says.
‘It’s okay, go to the bathroom, I’ll see where Andy is,’ I reply.
While Cordelia goes to her room I pop into mine, to see if Jake is there.
I imagine finding him lying back on the bed, his arm behind his head, flexing his bicep in that way that makes me crazy.
He’s not there though; of course he’s not, because he thinks I was only with him to make Andy jealous, like he was just this big sexy prop I was using.
I head downstairs to find Andy standing in the middle of the living room, one hand braced against the back of a chair, the other raking through his hair in that way he always does when he’s thinking. He looks up when he sees me, and the relief on his face hits me harder than I expect.
‘Whit,’ he says as he comes over to hug me.
‘Hello,’ I reply. ‘How’s your day?’
He laughs.
‘All the better for seeing you,’ he replies. ‘Things aren’t great. JJ told me everything.’
‘Yeah, she said,’ I reply.
‘Is it true?’ he asks.
‘Which part?’
‘All of it,’ he says. ‘Cordelia. The divorces. You.’
‘It’s…’ I sigh. ‘It’s all true, but it’s not all as it seems.’
He swallows hard.
‘You’re in love with me?’
I take a breath, then another, choosing my words carefully because this is the kind of conversation you only get one chance to have properly.
‘I thought I was – briefly,’ I say honestly.
I swear his jaw drops ever so slightly.
‘But I was wrong,’ I continue, gently but firmly.
‘Whit, I don’t understand,’ he replies.
‘I’d been on so many bad dates, and every man I met treated me so badly, and then I thought: hey, Andy is a man, he doesn’t treat you badly, why can’t you find a man like Andy?
And then I realised you’re you,’ I explain – or try to at least. ‘But I think what I loved was the safety of you. The fact that you were always there. The love you give me as a friend.’
Andy leans back, staring at the ceiling.
‘Jesus, Whit,’ he blurts. ‘If you’d told me you wanted to be more than friends when we were single, I would have jumped at the chance.’
‘And that would have been a mistake,’ I reply.
‘Because we’re not right for each other, not like that.
Our friendship wouldn’t have survived it, but it can survive this.
I do love you, you’re my best friend, and I don’t ever want that to change.
Plus, without you, all I have is JJ, and look at the fucking mess she’s made today. ’
He laughs.
‘When JJ told me. About Cordelia. About you. It all came at once, and I thought maybe I’d been blind. Maybe I’d missed something obvious,’ he explains.
‘JJ has it all so wrong,’ I reply. ‘It’s Cordelia’s place to tell you her stories, but trust me, she isn’t still married, she’s been doing everything she can to make sure of it, and maybe she has history – but who doesn’t? Just hear her out and I promise you, I know you, you’ll understand.’
‘Right, yeah, okay,’ he replies. ‘I think I saw red.’
‘Understandable,’ I say. ‘JJ is a bit like a bull when she’s got her sights set on something.’
‘She said you were only pretending to be with Jake to make me jealous,’ he says – the final piece of the puzzle to address.
‘She’s wrong about that too,’ I reply. ‘I like him. I really like him. But now I’m worried I’ve lost him.’
‘Well, I know you like you know me, and from where I’ve been standing it looks like you’re in love with him,’ he replies. ‘And I’m pretty sure he feels the same way.’
‘What makes you so sure?’ I ask.
‘He’s been here all week, by your side, doing dance lessons and playing board games,’ he points out. ‘That’s got to mean something?’
‘Well, let’s sort your mess out first, then we’ll have a crack at mine,’ I half joke.
‘Cordelia does love me, doesn’t she?’ he replies. ‘Like, she trusts me? I can’t believe she didn’t tell me.’
‘Respectfully, you haven’t known her that long,’ I remind him. ‘No one gets all the heavy stuff out there early on. But she loves you, without a doubt. She’s terrified though. Sacred of repeating past mistakes. Terrified of losing the best thing she’s ever had.’
‘I remember once, she said she didn’t think she deserved this.’
‘Then she needs you to show her that she does,’ I reply.
‘How?’ he asks.
‘We could talk?’ Cordelia says as she walks down the stairs. ‘Who knows, we might even have time to still tie the knot?’
She has an optimistic smile. Andy is smiling too. It’s enough to tell me it’s all going to be okay.
‘I told him he’s got it all wrong,’ I say gently.
‘And?’ Cordelia replies.
Andy takes a step toward her.
‘And I wondered… will you marry me?’ he asks quietly.
Cordelia lets out a broken laugh.
‘Are you sure?’ she asks.
‘I’m certain,’ he replies.
‘Do you want me to explain?’ she checks.
‘No, I don’t think so,’ he says with a smile. ‘You can tell me what you want, when you want.’
‘I’m going to leave you guys to get ready. There’s something I need to do,’ I tell them. ‘But I’ll see you at the wedding?’
‘See you there,’ Andy says. ‘And thanks.’
‘You’d do the same for me,’ I reply.
I leave the lodge with purpose, cutting across the gardens towards the main house. Staff buzz around me, chairs being straightened, flowers adjusted – everything is almost ready for the wedding. It seems like Andy and Cordelia have figured things out in the nick of time.
There’s something I need to sort though, something that can’t wait.
I head straight for Arty Morgan’s office. Luckily the door is open. Arty is in there, standing by the window, looking out over the grounds.
He turns when he hears me.
‘Whitney,’ he says. ‘Don’t you have a wedding to attend?’
‘My next stop,’ I say with a smile. ‘Have you seen Jake today?’
‘I haven’t,’ he replies. ‘Trouble in paradise?’
I chew my lip.
‘I thought you two were the real deal,’ he says quietly. ‘I thought you were in love.’
‘We are,’ I say immediately.
‘I overheard what you said earlier,’ he points out.
‘I was just being dramatic,’ I tell him. ‘But we’re all good. It was wedding drama, but we’re sorted, I promise.’
He raises an eyebrow.
‘Is that so?’ he replies.
‘It is,’ I insist.
Arty nods thoughtfully.
‘His late mother’s ring,’ Arty says, nodding towards the ring on my finger. ‘I think it means a lot, when a person hands over a piece of their family history.’
This was his mum’s ring? I had no idea. I know, he didn’t give it to me seriously, but he’s trusted me with it all this time. That means a lot.
‘Because he’s a great man,’ I say honestly. ‘We got caught up in other people’s drama, but we’re solid. I love him. I want to marry him.’
Wow, I actually do. The words leave my lips so effortlessly, so honestly. What a fun way for me to find out I’m in love.
‘Then make sure he knows that,’ Arty replies.
‘I will,’ I say. ‘And we’ll come see you later, smooth everything over.’
He nods.
‘Enjoy the wedding,’ he says. ‘If you two really are as solid as you say, then, very well, I think we would make fantastic neighbours.’
‘Thank you,’ I reply.
It isn’t hard to try and mask my relief, because I do still need to find Jake, smooth things over, and hope he still wants to be here, and for me to help him. Oh, and then there’s the wedding I have to attend. Mustn’t forget that.
I head back to the lodge to get ready. There’s no sign of anyone – I wonder if they’ve all headed to the ceremony, which means I’m the one holding things up.
But when I go to grab my dress, the one I really don’t love, I notice that there’s another dress in its place, the gold one, the one I loved.
There’s a note next to it, from Cordelia, that says:
Thought I’d get this one as a backup, think you’ll be much happier in it. Thanks for everything. x
I smile. Almost everything is falling into place. I need to find Jake, to work things out.
But first, the wedding. Time to put on a brave face – and a beautiful gold dress.