Page 30 of Lie For Me

‘That was intense,’ Jack murmured.

‘Mmmm,’ was all Lucy would say, shredding a pineapple cube with her fingers. ‘But mercifully brief.’

She felt a mellow buzz take hold as the glass of champagne––her third of the evening––worked its way through her system.

Her gaze lighted on her brother across the room. He was listening patiently and nodding while Valerie counted things off on her fingers.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ Lucy murmured, shoving her half-finished plate of food onto a table and tugging at Jack’s sleeve.

‘What? You want to leave? We can’t, we’ve been drinking and I—’

‘Not leave the wedding,’ she said, looping her arm through Jack’s. ‘Leave this function room.’

She grinned up at him.

‘Let’s get out of here and get some fresh air.’

She eyed her mother across the room. Valerie was gesturing in their direction.

‘Quick,’ she let go of Jack’s arm and gave him a gentle shove. ‘Before my mother can return….’

She wrapped a piece of cake in a napkin, swiped another glass of champagne from the table and made for the exit.

9

Jack, at Lucy’s urging, led the way across the function room towards the French doors. He held open a door just in time for Lucy to canon through it, cake and drink in hand.

‘Ah, thank goodness!’ Lucy flung an arm wide as she barrelled out onto the terrace. ‘It’s so much cooler out here.’

The hotel gardens were quiet at this late hour, with just a handful of guests scattered around tables on the terraces. A young couple tucked into a dark corner draped with clematis only had eyes for each other. Across the lawn an elderly, overweight Labrador ambled slowly along, nose to ground, pursued by its elderly, overweight owner.

Jack followed as Lucy wandered down the steps onto the lawns. It was darker down there, away from the lights cast from the windows of the hotel. She eventually came to a stop and perched, a little wobbly, on an old stone wall in front of a shrubbery.

‘Isn’t it nicer out here?’

She beamed at Jack as he sat down beside her, her face luminous in the moonlight. He felt a sudden lump catch in his throat.

‘And look at this…this…um.’ Jack waited to see what she’d come up with, knowing full well Lucy knew little about plants. ‘This…bush thing. Isn’t it pretty? Such pretty…leaves.’

She grinned happily at him and gestured a little too enthusiastically with the hand holding the cake while clutching her glass of champagne with the other. Awash now with a little too much bubbly, she overbalanced and fell backwards, off the little wall, into the unnamed bush. The cake flew off behind her into a hedge.

‘Oof, no, help!’

Lucy flailed her arms, trying to keep her balance. Jack tried to grab her and keep her upright, but Lucy, who was convulsing with giggles, was now as heavy and impossible to lift as a bag of wet cement. He grabbed onto the wall to try to stay upright himself as Lucy slid backwards.

Lucy, who had hung onto her champagne glass (but not the champagne), was now lying on her back, her head under the bushes, laughing uncontrollably and clutching at her dress to try to preserve some modesty. Her legs were at right angles, her feet still on the wall, and her head was lying under the bush she had been wittering on about moments ago.

‘Argh, my pants!’ she gasped as she tried to one-handedly cover her underwear.

‘Help me!’ she wheezed between bouts of laughter.

She tried to roll over, but laughter and champagne sapped her of all strength, and she lay there like a fish on a boat deck. She clutched her stomach and waved an empty glass, emitting squeaks and gasps of laughter. Jack burst out laughing at the sight of Lucy stuck on her back, like a beetle that couldn’t flip itself back over.

He wiped his eyes and looked down at her, hair-do all askew, mascara running and eyes watering from laughing. She looked happier and more relaxed than she had all day.

‘You look pretty,’ he said, smiling.

The words almost caught him by surprise. Jack knew Lucy was attractive, but it didn’t usually elicit more than objective appreciation from him. Tonight, as she giggled and wiped tears of laughter from her eyes, it tugged at something deep inside him. He shook his head and pushed the thought from his mind.

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